More than half of the teenagers
surveyed have heard derogatory words about sexual orientation every day at
school and in the community, “seventy-eight percent of gay (or believed to be
gay) teens are teased or bullied in their schools and communities,” and “the
most likely group to be bullied are ‘kids who are gay or thought to be gay’” (Riese
2014). When we look at these statistics, it is no surprise that non-heterosexual
youth turn to “LGBT-oriented social networking websites [as] spaces of relative
safety, where young people can practice important turning points such as sexual
disclosure before telling friends and family” (Addison and Comstock 1998 as
cited in Downing 2013). As Gary Downing found, “young people identified that
websites aimed at transgender, asexual and queer concerns made alternative sexualities
newly accessible.” Like most youth, non-heterosexual youth are seeking
acceptance and ability to associate with people who are similar to themselves
and across other social groups. However, as the negative stigma of being gay
and rampant bullying of gay youth persists in schools and communities, it will
be far more difficult for gay youth to cross social barriers and possess compartmentalized
fluidity and gay youth will seek support from the internet, which may help in
some respects but this may seclude gay youth from offline social groups.
In lecture, we spoke of the term compartmentalized fluidity, which means “relative
freedom of movement and association” in the context of urban youth and conflict.
The term is associated with “(1) permeable group and spatial boundaries; (2)
multiple places for identities to stick; (3) crossing sociocultural lines,” and
can also give a useful analysis on conflict resolution for gay youth, namely escaping
the reality of being bullied, ostracized, and stigmatized. Since it is difficult
for gay youth permeate among groups that do not accept their sexual identity or
from constant bullying, gay youth are seeking other places for their identities
to stick. For example, my high school’s drama club was the most accepting and understanding
of gay youth, and thus gay youth were often socializing with drama club and
their social groups. However, as Downing explains, non-heterosexual youth grow
up in a predominately heterosexual peer culture and gay venues are not readily
accessible. For instance, gay youth who wish to explore their identity prior to
disclosure, will require to find means of transportation and circumventing other
barriers getting to gay venues for socializing.
With this being said, it seems to
reason that many gay youth would seek out the internet in order to “seek
support relating to a range of sexuality-related issues, which include[e]
sexual disclosure, sexual health and LGBT lifestyles,” and additionally,
according to Hillier and Harrison (2006) “to rehearse new sexual identities, same-sex friendships and intimate
friendships” (as cited in Downing 2013). Moreover, according to Hardie and
Buzwell (2006), although an important part of social networking is creating and
maintaining socio-sexual relations— such as dating and engaging in sexual
relationships—, establishing friendships is a greater priority for most people
online. With the internet, gay youth are able to explore their identities, meet
similar-situated people, and deal with the stresses of being a stigmatized
minority. However, Downing observed that there [was] a hesitation to use the
internet for the stigma of being “perceived [as] fail[ing] to meet sexual
partners in offline environment,” and “one out of every two [LGBT] youths are
regular victims of [cyberbullying]” (Psych Central News Editor 2010). These may
be barriers for gay teens to seek online resources and support but at least statistically,
it seems that gay youth are more likely to be bullied in school and the
community rather than on online forums with similar-situated people.
This leads me to question, just
how much of a remedy the internet is without face-to-face interactions,
socializing with in public settings, friend groups at school, and other modes
of socializing. These gay youth would still be subject to being ostracized,
stigmatized, and bullied during from the school and community. Without support to
deal with and escape from such situations, internet does not seem to be able to
fulfill all the needs of gay youth. Furthermore, the internet’s limitations on
the internet may lead gay youth to stay at home and communicate online instead
of interacting with peers, and thus seclude them. Therefore, although the
internet may be a helpful and supportive utility for gay youth, it does not
give the social interactions and protection from bullying (including cyber-bullying)
which gay youth need.
Downing,
Gary. (2013). Virtual youth: non-heterosexual young people’s use of the
internet to negotiate their identities and socio-sexual relations. Children’s
Geographies, 11(1), 44-58.
Psych
Central News Editor. (2010). Cyberbullying
Rampant for Lesbian and Gay Teens. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/6199-cyberbullying-rampant-lesbian-gay-teens.html
Riese, Jane. (2014). Youth Who Are Bullied Based upon Perceptions About Their Sexual
Orientation. Retrieved from http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/bullying_sexual_orientation.page#1
When I first read the Downing article, I did not expect cyberbullying to be an issue in LGBT sites, considering they are comprised of people in similar situations. However, as Christos mentions, online interactions can ostracize youth as much as offline interactions.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point that Downing points out with regards to this is that even within the gay community, there are certain characteristics--such as having a slim figure--that are more accepted than others. This results in some non-heterosexual youths who do not possess favorable traits to be left out of networking sites.
Combined with the bullying that already happens in real life, I agree with Christos that the internet may not be providing the full range of resources that LGBT youth require for a healthy social life.
Christos referred to an issue regarding LGBT youths using the Internet that how much of the support online platform can actually bring to them. His argument was precise in which even though the youth may be able to get advantages from the Internet interactions, once they step outside of offline world, they would still be excluded because of the intercepting public perceptions that still exist in the society. His essay would have been much more convincing if he had suggested some ways we could approach to solving the problems of how to increase face-to-face interactions so that LGBT youths can feel comfortable in offline social scenes too. Also, as Downing argues in his reading, the Internet is still not a sufficient source for LGBT youths because if they do not fit into what is considered the mainstream or more appealing stereotype even online, they would be secluded as well. Christos did not mention enough about the problems that exist even in online forums, so it would have been a stronger argument if he had pointed it out.
ReplyDeleteVery well presentation Christos. I agree of the argument he brings about social media being the support system for many youth who are teased or bullied in their school years of communities. It is interesting how many negative stigmas continue in our neighborhoods and life. Great job Christos in analyzing compartmentalized fluidity. You bring a good point about your experience of your high school drama club accepting and understanding of gay youth. In my experience my high school choir was the club that was open to gay youth and actually created the first LGBT club. Starting the club not only brought controversy, but at the end it is established for friendships and social network. Downing, brings a great point about bullies have been taken place more in the community rather than social media, but it still creates cyber bullying. Overall, great argument and reference to articles presented.
ReplyDeleteDespite the risk of cyber-bulling, I agree that the Internet can help non-heterosexual youth find an accepting and relatable community, as most high schools do not offer such. As most youth frequently use their phones to text, use apps, or go online while they interact with others, I am less concerned about homosexual youth excluding themselves from face-to-face interactions; youth culture on a whole is widely interconnected with online use.
ReplyDeleteI believe that accepting online communities are essential to navigating the difficult adolescent period if your high school environment is not supportive; a friend of mine used supportive sites to survive being bullied throughout high school and battling anorexia. Non-heterosexual youth growing up in predominantly heterosexual communities need support, access to information, and interactions with people who are more able to relate to their sexuality. Hopefully gay teens will feel more comfortable using online resources as online dating and hook-up apps become more widely used and accepted (such as Grindr, a matchmaker for gay people, or Tinder which is for gay or straight users). Online resources such as dating apps as well as forums and informative sites can help non-heterosexual youth handle the challenges of growing up in a hetero-normative society.
I think Christos makes a really good point in his essay. The internet has become a really good place for non-heterosexual youth to communicate, ask questions, and make friends. It is the sad truth that even in today’s society, many people still aren’t receptive to the LGBT community and thus they resort to the internet as a place of comfort. Although it does act as a good support system for them, it could perhaps lead them to be ostracized and alienated from the real life community. There are not a lot of places in society that are openly receptive to the LGBT community as the internet is. The internet is a good place for the LGBT community to meet one another as well as share stories and advice, but there should also be a place outside the internet that allows them to do this as well. Additionally, on another note, at my school it was also known that the drama club was the most accepting towards the gay community and acted as a safe space for them to be themselves.
ReplyDeleteChristos offers a compelling argument about the issues that LGBTQ youth face and ways that online activities, while being helpful in some ways, still does not protect queer youth from bullying nor provide adequate social interactions. I would argue that while face to face connection for youth regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation is an important aspect to the development of friendships and intimate bonds, the internet certainly can be used as a means of support for bullying. Using online communities cannot necessarily prevent bullying, however having access to similarly situated folks and their stories/experience as well as information and protocols to get out of abusive/bullying situations is an important part of the online LGBTQ youth community that has proven to save lives. There are testimonies of that here: www.thetrevorproject.org/
ReplyDeleteI do however agree that having in-person safe spaces for queer youth to explore their identities is a necessity and while having space like the drama club open their doors to them is good, we need to rethink the whole framework of school spaces and why bullying within these spaces is so rampant, creating an environment where compartmentalized fluidity for LGBTQ and other minorities is hardly possible.
Before reading Downing’s article I never bothered to consider the difficulties LGBT youth faced, mostly because I come from a community where non-heterosexual youth are not highly visible. In a sense my very lack of awareness concerning LGBT speaks to the idea non-heterosexual youth must find communities on the internet when such communities are unavailable back home. Yet, as Christos pointed out, though the internet may provide non-heterosexual youth a space in the virtual world where they can be open about their sexual identity it can not fill the space of face-to face- interactions. Further, from my lack of experience with LGBT in my community, I argue restricting non-heterosexual youth interaction to the internet can in fact become an impediment for a general consciousness awakening. This is to say social barriers cannot be brought down unless communities are made aware of their existence.
ReplyDeleteI believe if there was a space for non-heterosexual youth to interact within my community beyond the virtual world not only would they have benefited; but most importantly heterosexual youth in the community such as I would have benefited.
Christos's observations and argument are valid and informative. While I found myself nodding my head many times while reading the essay, it seems to me that the author saw more negative than positive in online dating and communications both for heterosexual and non-heterosexual youth. While many of the points Christos makes--not decreasing bullying in school, for example--I am still not convinced that online communication is more of a negative thing. Many of the youth interviewed said that they got help and figured out what they wanted with the help of online communications with others in their position or who had been in their position once. Also, the article stated that while most of the communication between the youth on such websites are conducted online, the website offers information on where the "hang out" spots are and help youth find their place in society. Therefore, I believe that these websites do more good than harm.
ReplyDeleteThe essay provides a comprehensive summary of the main points of Downing's article relating to LGBT youth and how they express themselves. In the article, Downing describes the many challenges that these youth face when deciding when to come out, who to come out to, and what modes of support they are able to find. Downing describes how the internet may be a place to find that support, but it can also seclude these youth from their peers and communities. Although I agree with the fact that the internet doesn't allow for face to face conversations which may be more helpful, I believe that it serves at a beginning step for these youth to understand their situation and become more comfortable about it by talking to youth who are similar to them on the internet. This might make it easier for these youth to find ways to deal with the bullying that may result from their sexual orientation. Furthermore, the internet can provide a wealth of information which may include LGBT groups that these youth can join, allowing them to interact directly with one another.
ReplyDeleteI think Christos made a great argument about the difficulties LGBT youth face. Before reading the article and this essay, I thought that the internet would have been a perfect place for LGBT youth to turn to for support and protection from bullying. There were very few non-heterosexual youths at my high school and they were never fully accepted and always bullied. I assumed that by interacting with others online of the same sexual identity, it would make it easier for gay youth to deal with “the stresses of being a stigmatized minority”. However as Christos pointed out, the internet does not protect gay youth from cyber-bullying. I believe that although gay youth are prone to cyber-bullying, interacting with similar peers online does relief stress and help them socialize. Yet, the real problem is that it doesn’t fix the issues in the public setting. The LGBT youth are still ostracized and bullied during school and from the community. By relying on the internet, it might ostracize them even more because they aren’t finding ways to interact publicly and dealing with the real issue.
ReplyDeleteWebsites that are comprised of socially identical peoples I thought would be welcoming and supportive, especially of LGBT individuals who are stigmatized by society, and whom may be more likely to be socially accepted in an identical social field. I can admit that I had an unaware point of view that cyber bullying is also an issue in LGBT websites. I think Christos did a good job at including many of the reasons and issues that that LSBT go through in the topics which included the establishing of community, inclination of last resort to join these sites, or the diversity of problems that the internet may inhibit when people exclusively turn to online socialization. I also liked how the author included issues not only of cyber bullying but the many of the issues that youth undergo in school and the alternative place where youth are more likely to be accepted, for instance the example the author chose of students that may fall under the category of LGBT, are likely to be socially accepted in the high school drama club. I think the author also mentions the issue when people are not accepted and are likely to exclude themselves and turn to websites that are more accepting their orientation. Overall I think the author did a good job in exposing some of the topics that were in the Downing article and connecting some of them to topics we have discussed in the past and making good inferences.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that Christos does a very good job in stating the reasons why many gay youth would seek out the Internet in order to find support. I think that the Internet is not the only solution to the issues that non-heterosexual youth experience daily, but it is a very valuable asset which could come to help the LGBT community in many ways. “Nothing has increased individual self-acceptance, nothing has promoted more straight understanding and nothing has diminished the fear and isolation that gay people feel more than the Internet,” Mike Alvear. The Internet is a new venue to the world, which can help the LGBT community to organize and express themselves with a louder voice. Certainly the Internet alone may not address every problem in different societies, but it does provide a ground for discussion among different people with different orientations and different opinions. With the help of the Internet, users may discuss different issues anonymously to avoid being identified and targeted. Yet we are all aware that cyber bullying is a byproduct of the Internet, but I firmly believe that the benefits of utilizing the Internet for the LGBT community are much greater than the harms .
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