Ties That Bind Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition) Sarah Schulman Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Ties That Bind Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition) Sarah Schulman Audible Studios Books
Although acceptance of difference is on the rise in America, it's the rare gay or lesbian person who has not been demeaned because of his or her sexual orientation, and this experience usually starts at home, among family members.
Whether they are excluded from family love and approval, expected to accept second-class status for life, ignored by mainstream arts and entertainment, or abandoned when intervention would make all the difference, gay people are routinely subjected to forms of psychological and physical abuse unknown to many straight Americans.
"Familial homophobia," as prizewinning writer and professor Sarah Schulman calls it, is a phenomenon that until now has not had a name but that is very much a part of life for the LGBT community. In the same way that Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will transformed our understanding of rape by moving the stigma from the victim to the perpetrator, Schulman's Ties That Bind calls on us to recognize familial homophobia. She invites us to understand it not as a personal problem but a widespread cultural crisis. She challenges us to take up our responsibilities to intervene without violating families, community, and the state. With devastating examples, Schulman clarifies how abusive treatment of homosexuals at home enables abusive treatment of homosexuals in other relationships as well as in society at large.
Ambitious, original, and deeply important, Schulman's book draws on her own experiences, her research, and her activism to probe this complex issue - still very much with us at the start of the twenty-first century - and to articulate a vision for a more accepting world.
Ties That Bind Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition) Sarah Schulman Audible Studios Books
Ms. Schulman's approach is left of mainstream and different from much of the literature and advice given to those dealing with familial homophobia. Her approach is that all too frequently, it is the LGBT individual who has to do the work of healing family bigotry, and this is not only unjust, but of questionable value. Her approach comes at the problem from the belief that it is the family that needs the intervention. A survivor (barely!) of such familial failure, I found the author's approach eye-opening, affirming and unlike much of what I had read before, experienced in my work counseling gay men, or discovered in my own journey to a healthy life.Ms. Schulman suggests, quite strongly, (and validly) an alternative to that standard advice given when one's family of origin is dysfunctional: develop a "chosen" family of friends and loved ones. Standard, but again, Ms. Schulman rightly believes that every individual has entitlement to a loving supportive family, and a person who does not, should be supported by others who can arrange an intervention to set right the blood family. Oh, if that could only happen every time; how much pain and loss would we avoid.
From a practical standpoint, I wish the author had explored not just the need for intervention, but both alternatives to intervention and methodology of intervention from the standpoint of the individual experiencing familial abuse. How does a victim, already disempowered by the loss of family support, and who, very likely, has little social support find the resources and stratagem to implement an intervention with a dysfunctional family? The author is entirely right that it is the family that needs the therapy or intervention, but realistically, I wish Ms. Schulman had gone a few steps further. For example, how might a teen or even an adult, whose familial structure has been for a long time (or a lifetime) heterocentrist, begin? In truth, interventions are sometimes neither possible, nor successful.
Further in the book, the author reveals some of the prejudices with which she has dealt in her professions, which some may feel takes the book's titled direction a bit astray.
I found the book otherwise excellent.
That said, the author has the gift of presenting her arguments clearly and interestingly, passionately, but not pompously. Thank you for this valuable voice against this all-too-common problem.
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition): Sarah Schulman, Audible Studios: Books, ,Sarah Schulman, Audible Studios,Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences,Audible Studios,B00L83ICEE
People also read other books :
- Solacium S J de Lagarde 9781537004754 Books
- Graylin Brown (Audible Audio Edition) Rodney Saulsberry Tomdor Publishing Books
- Sunlight book one Sunlight Series 1 edition by C Haynes Religion Spirituality eBooks
- Brian Korea Brian W Boyce 9780557183104 Books
- Seven Little Australians Ethel Sybil Turner 9781438533414 Books
Ties That Bind Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition) Sarah Schulman Audible Studios Books Reviews
Schulman's book is a precise and powerful assault on the various forms of complicity which make familial homophobia much more than an issue faced by only some families. Familial homophobia, she argues, is a pervasive cultural formation supported by silences and complicity even among those who think they are free of it, when they refuse to confront those who abuse others. Her examples, often drawn from her own life, speak poignantly to the ability of seemingly normal family members to practice unexcusable psychic violence on those they are supposed to love and support. Additionally, she speaks to the multiple silences and shunning lesbians and lesbian cultural work is subjected to in the larger society. This may, for some readers, sound like a tangent (precisely the problem), but she tightly argues for the ability of cultural homophobia to divide and allow some voices (male, white, gay) to speak for all. I strongly regret that not having access to Schulman's larger range of work, particularly in the theater, has deprived me and others from hearing this (and other) important voice(s). This book deserves a wide, very wide audience for all who wish to understand the intimate, everyday nature of psychological violence against lesbians and gays and others--and for those who wish to liberate themselves from it.
As one who was lucky enough not to know firsthand the heartbreak of rejection, shunning, sometimes outright hatred from family members, I found Ties That Bind to be a revelation. I know gay people, and have friends who are gay, and I have written about gay characters. So I flattered myself that I understood completely. I didn't, except up to a point. I not only don't understand how family members can turn against their own for something that's not their choice, I don't understand how the victim ever gets through it.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. A reader who is homophobic might just get some insight and question that attitude. A reader who is gay and has never been victimized will get insight into what it's like for those not so lucky. A reader who is on the receiving end of the hatred and rejection will realize s/he's not alone, and maybe have some hope of how to deal with it.
It's not a particularly optimistic book, because even though Schulman tells what should happen within a family to set things right, I don't get the feeling she's optimistic about the chances of its happening. It's a dark read because of its subject, and also because she shows, sadly, that the result of being shunned and treated badly by family can lead to the victim perpetuating the treatment on a partner.
The author "takes no prisoners." She's forthright and honest and compassionate.
It's not a fun, fast, fluffy read. I found myself stopping frequently, thinking, "But why...? How can they...?" and re-reading those parts.
It's an important book, and one that cries out to be read. Schulman shouldn't be left to preach to the choir. This book should be in every public library.
Ms. Schulman's approach is left of mainstream and different from much of the literature and advice given to those dealing with familial homophobia. Her approach is that all too frequently, it is the LGBT individual who has to do the work of healing family bigotry, and this is not only unjust, but of questionable value. Her approach comes at the problem from the belief that it is the family that needs the intervention. A survivor (barely!) of such familial failure, I found the author's approach eye-opening, affirming and unlike much of what I had read before, experienced in my work counseling gay men, or discovered in my own journey to a healthy life.
Ms. Schulman suggests, quite strongly, (and validly) an alternative to that standard advice given when one's family of origin is dysfunctional develop a "chosen" family of friends and loved ones. Standard, but again, Ms. Schulman rightly believes that every individual has entitlement to a loving supportive family, and a person who does not, should be supported by others who can arrange an intervention to set right the blood family. Oh, if that could only happen every time; how much pain and loss would we avoid.
From a practical standpoint, I wish the author had explored not just the need for intervention, but both alternatives to intervention and methodology of intervention from the standpoint of the individual experiencing familial abuse. How does a victim, already disempowered by the loss of family support, and who, very likely, has little social support find the resources and stratagem to implement an intervention with a dysfunctional family? The author is entirely right that it is the family that needs the therapy or intervention, but realistically, I wish Ms. Schulman had gone a few steps further. For example, how might a teen or even an adult, whose familial structure has been for a long time (or a lifetime) heterocentrist, begin? In truth, interventions are sometimes neither possible, nor successful.
Further in the book, the author reveals some of the prejudices with which she has dealt in her professions, which some may feel takes the book's titled direction a bit astray.
I found the book otherwise excellent.
That said, the author has the gift of presenting her arguments clearly and interestingly, passionately, but not pompously. Thank you for this valuable voice against this all-too-common problem.
0 Response to "∎ Libro Gratis Ties That Bind Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences (Audible Audio Edition) Sarah Schulman Audible Studios Books"
Post a Comment