A Sociological Imagination
“Can we all get along? Can we, can we get along?”
- Rodney King (The face of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.)
28 years ago 4 police officers were acquitted for the assault and usage of excessive force during the arrest of a black man. The video footage released sparked a rebellion that had 68 dead and over 2800 injured in just 4 days. Now, 2 decades later humanity struggles yet again in a battle for equality, a rebellion sparked by the death of George Floyd. An advancement into modern society aided by globalization has yet to bring people together in their hearts despite their differences.
A few days ago while on a call with a good friend of mine who had recently started a business and has to deal with and meet new people frequently told of me of an incident where he had been on a call with a stranger about business matters and he felt that the stranger acted ‘weirdly’ with him and proceeded to send him pictures of himself at the end of the call. This friend went on to call this unknown man ‘gay’ and at one point even said that all gay people don’t deserve to live for which milliseconds later he did apologize for. Although at the time of the incident I did laugh and didn't give it much thought, sometime later it got me thinking of how soon we come to assumptions about someone that we don't even know and proceed to make judgements not just within ourselves but to immediate surroundings as well.
Although, a sociological imagination does not require all of us to arrive at the same conclusions. The increase in support for same sex marriages show that the cultural changes in the last three decades has affected the way in which people view the matter at hand. Mental health is another such discussion, only about a decade or two ago it was a matter of taboo and discomfort for many. In the 1960s homosexuality was looked upon as a mental disease of some sort and was even devised treatments such as the gay conversion camps where many untold tragedies came to pass. As seen by the law in the mid 80’s these ‘criminalized’ activities led to other acts such as child sexual abuse and the spread of HIV/AIDS in between the LGBTQ community.
The late 1980s and 1990s saw a positive turnover in the views that people had towards homosexuality. Although in terms of the quest to acceptance, the world might be on a positive path towards it. The question of gay rights in a legal form or to be more specific the question of granting the civil rights that they deserve and we take for granted is what’s more pressing right now. The difference in the sociological imagination towards homosexuality is that the majority of the society before the 1990s viewed it as a behavior whilst the post 1990 society looked upon it as identity.
According to C. Wright. Mills viewing private troubles in a more public-issue perspective allows us to relate and look at troubles in alternate point of views bringing more context to individual actions. In the case of homosexuality and same sex marriage when looked at from an outside the box perspective it might be easier to criticize and not understand the extent of the effects our judgements have on the people who have been denied their basic rights but by looking at gay marriages as an issue of civil rights we shift our understandings in more personal ways. When the political becomes personal social empathy, the act of understanding what others are going through by bearing witness and noticing it can be established more easily. For example, the Rob Portman effect, the first Republican senator to support same sex marriages had a turning point when his son came out as gay. The line of reasoning being, “Is there any rational basis why a parent would want to impose burdens on their children or not allow them to have the same benefits and civil rights as other children?” An interesting sociological aspect of same sex marriages is the speed at which the issue has developed, the rise of the public support owes it to the fact that almost everyone knows a relative, friend or even a celebrity who is either gay or lesbian. Statistics show that while in 1992 only 42% knew someone who’s gay or lesbian in 2013, 77% knew someone of the LGBTQ community. Clearly when the issue becomes personal it is hard to justify denying them the same privileges and civil rights that we expect and enjoy.
From mental disease, deviant behavior to collective identity, the social imagination shifts towards homosexuality at a macro level saw a positive response only in the 1990s increasing the tolerance towards it and the institutional support towards gay and lesbian rights. At a micro level which is the interactions between individuals such as conversation or group dynamics, the society is influenced by religion, education and culture. Stigmas and religious prohibitions have kept a group of people in the dark for years afraid of not just their physical urges but of choosing a partner and companion. Although it is no secret that most organized religions are said to be against homosexuality so were some in regard of inter-racial marriages a few decades ago. The belief and acceptance that love, the foundation of most widely practiced organized religions around the world is what matters in this case is beginning to be understood by many. Social media responses also suggest that whilst some people think that legalizing same sex marriages would encourage more people to be gay a majority believe that legalizing same sex marriage would be a recognition and validation not of behavior, but of identity. Older people are less inclined to agree. They describe homosexuality in more behavioral terms narrowing it down to an action of some sort and not feelings. Some even describe it as unnatural and unhealthy meaning that homosexuality is viewed upon as a disability but one that cannot be helped thus avoiding an expression of negative attitude towards it.
For 12,000 years since the birth of civilization humanity has struggled and is yet to struggle for equal rights in aspects of sexuality, color, race etc. In conclusion a majority of the younger generation classifies homosexuality as related to identity, who you are meanwhile the older generation defines it as a behavior, what you do but this is also due to the rapid changes that took place in just a few years leaving a few generations left behind with the old stigmas and ways of society. The important argument though is that neither of this contrasting view upon homosexuality have a feasible logic that supports the denial of the homosexuals their rights. Let it be an identity or a behavior the extension of equal rights for same sex couples is logical, just and moral. In light of the changing social imagination towards homosexuality the support in bestowing the rights that they deserve and the belief that same sex marriages is a union between two people regardless of gender is more likely to be dominant in the younger generation than in the older one, however the thinking patterns of the older generation is also undergoing change due to the new sociological imagination leading us to believe in a more positive change all around the world.
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about the author: Abinaya Sritharan.
Likes to believe that she’s funny, actually is funny (smirk). Stumbles, falls and tries to get back up only to fall again. Oh and literally falls down a lot too.
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