One Way Here And Abroad

In “Lusting for Freedom” Rebecca Walker writes that “hiding in shame or running too fast to keep from looking is a waste of what is most precious about life: its infinite ability to expand and give us more knowledge, more insight and more complexity”(24). American culture prefers that all those who aren’t heterosexual should hide and we should all keep moving faster to pretend the ‘problem’ isn’t there in order to preserve the culturally defined norm. Such attempts to homogenize sexuality continue the perception of the “imaginary heteronormative”. Walker speaks about the “widespread genital mutilation and homophobia that dictatorially mandates heterosexuality” (23). These two factors alone keep many people quiet and thus rob them of their power and potential.
In “Chicks Going At It” Higginbotham writes that she would not claim the label “bisexual” for a long time out of fear for “implying indecisiveness, internalized all-out-lesbian homophobia or the perception that I’m just plain easy” (16). She notes that the label has been shunned by friends homosexual and heterosexual alike. Attempts to homogenize sexuality by the government and other sexualities foster, if not, encourage this sort of paranoia. If the people are caught up in their own web of mistrust will they ever stop and realize they can fight the homogeny?
American culture does not stop within its own borders with its attempts to homogenize in favor of heterosexuality. American media, which often conveys a
hetero-ideal, is broadcast all over the world. The media and institutions also try to convey a similar one-option-only standard of beauty, which we read in another Higginbotham article, is thin, tall, white and toned. Any other appearance is dismissed in magazines as not as important by virtue of its absence.
Our CAP project works to fight this homogenization of beauty by making prominent depictions other than the culturally proposed ideal. We want to present images of real people to show appearances of beauty other than what is portrayed by the media in TV shows, advertisements and magazine spreads. Our group hopes to make people aware of other options so that they feel that they control their appearance, not the media.