聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 I鈥檓 going to preface this by saying I鈥檓 still learning many things. We all have much to learn through our lives, but I haven鈥檛 even lived the 25 years that counts as a 鈥榞eneration.鈥� It鈥檚 likely that I don鈥檛 know much about many things people would consider important.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But something I consider important that I do, in fact, know a bit about, is equality. And I think sometimes, people think it鈥檚 okay to be uninformed on the various 鈥榠sms鈥� that permeate our culture-such as racism, sexism, ableism, and so on-because the person who is uninformed comes from a different time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kaare Askildt wrote a story for last week鈥檚 paper, titled 鈥淪truggles with the gap between generations and living in a different world.鈥� I found most of his statements in it funny and entertaining. I, too, have had to deal with discovering that items from my childhood, such as Walkmans and VCRs, are obsolete. A few of his statements, however, were ones I found a tad inaccurate.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 At one point in the article, Askildt mentioned that 鈥淐losets were for clothes, not for 鈥榗oming out鈥� of.鈥� I鈥檓 wondering if he meant to imply that in his generation, people who were not heterosexual did not exist. As long as people have existed, there have been different sexualities, but it wasn鈥檛 until recent movements that people identifying with those sexualities were confident enough to 鈥榗ome out.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Consider William Shakespeare, who wrote his sonnets to a male lover, while having to marry a woman in order to be seen as normal. The White Horse Inn in Oakland, California, is now the oldest gay bar in existence, after starting its operation in 1933. 聽The inn鈥檚 website said that back then, homosexual people were seen as 鈥榖arely human,鈥� and had to avoid touching or even talking sexually to other bar-goers at a place that was supposed to celebrate their existence. Before that, molly-houses were common gathering places for gay men in the 18th century, where one could dance and find a partner without fear of hatred.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Some of the greatest men and women in history were not heterosexual. Alexander the Great had a lover named Hephaestion, and their closeness was described by Aristotle as 鈥渙ne soul residing in two bodies.鈥� Abraham Lincoln had many male lovers, and Alan Turig, the founder of the concept of artificial intelligence as well as a cryptanalyst who decoded messages during the Second World War, was chemically castrated to 鈥榗ure鈥� his homosexuality.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I鈥檓 not even going into the discrimination against bisexuality, asexuality, and so on. People of other sexualities definitely exist, but they were just far more hidden. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a bad thing that they can finally be accepted as they are.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another concept that eluded Askildt鈥檚 understanding was operations for transgender people. He stated that they did not exist in his generation (which is actually untrue, as Karl Meir Baer underwent a female-to-male sex change operation in 1906), and that people just 鈥渕ade do with how (they) were made.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This is another statement that is a little inaccurate. As much as sex change operations for those whose genders do not match their biological sex were not common, there were still plenty of people who identified as a different gender. In the First Nations and M茅tis culture, there is a concept known as 鈥榯wo-spirited,鈥� which was used to describe someone who identified as both male and female. They were actually seen as blessed in their tribes because they were granted both the spirit of a woman and the spirit of a man.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People who were gender-neutral or people who identified as a third gender also existed, and were the subject of a study by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1922. The history of genders shows that even if transgender people did not often get the opportunity to surgically transition in the past, they still existed, and they definitely did not just make do.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I understand how Askildt felt in his article. I know it seems like concepts of gender and sexuality are difficult to understand now, and that some people who are confused by it may wish to go back to the 鈥榞ood old days.鈥� But I think what鈥檚 happening in society now is certainly a good thing, because it means the people who originally were hidden in our history are 小蓝视频 revealed as present, no matter the generation. The world is changing for the better, and that鈥檚 a fact I want to embrace.
