Gender-Blenders: Detrimental to the Fantasies of Heterosexuals
The Christina Jorgensen case is a tragic example of how the media could either make or break you. It also reiterates the notion that when it comes to touchy subjects in America, there’s no such thing as an acceptable gray area (Abortion, for or against; Politics, red or blue and sometimes green).
As for the issue of sexuality in America, it’s been generally difficult to accept the lifestyle of a homosexual. Many heterosexual Americans, to this day, cannot fathom a man or woman having mannerisms associated with the opposite sex. With hermaphrodites and transvestites, where the gender-line is superficially blurred by the persons themselves, there is the obvious possibility of a heterosexual gaining a sincere, lustful physical attraction. More often than not, when the truth is revealed, the heterosexual with the attraction feels insulted by the deception and a substantial deal of shame, usually facilitated by his or her peers.
The media is partially responsible for this resentful response to persons of genders that don’t completely fit into the male or female categories. Take the case of Christina Jorgensen. Initially viewed as a beautiful woman with the most charming personality, she immediately lost all credibility of her womanhood once the media found out she was castrated. The media, specifically the journalists at The Daily News, definitely felt offended that they were ‘fooled’ into being attracted to such a freak of nature. And in response to the details of her gonads, the media fueled the public rejection of such an anomaly, supporting the stance that it is not human to feel such sexual attraction to someone not born sporting their current
Tags: Ambiguity, Discourse, hermaphrodite, Identity, Media, Sexuality
