Sexuality

 Matthew R. Berry

11 NOV 2020

Critical Geography

Professor Simpson

Sexuality by Richard Phillips

1. The author utilizes the materialist method to demonstrate the intersections and connections between the individual and space in regards to sexuality, sex, and gender. By utilizing this method, the author makes compelling arguments to demonstrate how these aspects are totally intertwined with the larger societal forces of heteronormativity. By using case studies and snapshots between different sexually based spaces, such as Gayfest, the author juxtaposes the pride and empowerment of an individuals identified sexuality with the heteronormative aspects of other spaces such as Levittown, a state sponsored suburb which bloomed in the Post-WWII era. Using these case studies, the author shows how human geographies can be shaped by sexuality and gender.

2. The connection that continued to come to mind when reading this chapter was the Neil Smith paper, Homeless/global: Scaling places. Smith utilizes the Lefebvrean argument of space as a means of political power and empowerment, and this paper takes what Smith describes and then utilizes individualized sexuality as a means of understanding place and space. I felt that these correlations were pretty strong, as the homeless vehicle is one as a means of empowerment to the disenfranchised, and how these festivals and clubs such as Gayfest can be a safe space and a means of empowerment to those who's sexual identity does not fit into the larger heteronormative society at large.

3. A part of the reading that I found fascinating is one that holds significant personal connections to. On P. 268, Phillips cites another author, Wilson (2000), and says "She has suggested that lesbians and gay men have found ways of coping and integrating socially and culturally in the wider rural community." I really connected with this having had conversations with my mother, who is homosexual and is married to my stepmom Tena. My mom grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, which is in the southwestern part of the state and one that is socially conservative. My mom told me that she had known her whole life that she was gay, but growing up in the 1980s in rural Virginia, she found it more necessary to cope and integrate with the local community rather than embrace her own sexuality. The connections made in the paper gave credence to what my mom, and I am sure thousands of other peoples in the American South, have had to go through.

4. What does the larger modes of production have to do with individualized sexuality? Why are these heteronormative aspects so ingrained and so deep in society? Have the shifts in political opinion and open-mindedness in the 21st century had an impact since Matthew Shepherd in 1999? What could be updated about this reading today? What are some other case studies that could be used in an updated reading?