Comparison Of Queer Customs And The Not So Lonely Crowd

Reaction Paper #1 After reading “Queer Customs” and “The Not So Lonely Crowd”, I can honestly say I was a little more enamored with the “Queer Customs” section more than I was with the “The Not So Lonely Crowd” section. While I found “The Not So Lonely Crowd” section to be interesting especially with the Ohio State example as I love sports, I just found the “Queer Customs” section to be a lot more interesting for two specific examples that were brought up in the chapter. One was very intriguing and while the other one was very intriguing, it made me almost throw up and I almost never do that. Back to the point, the two main things that caught my attention in “Queer Customs” were the two examples of the woman’s rattlesnake sandwich and the Chicago teacher with her Navajo students. Let’s hope I don’t throw up writing this first paragraph.
First, I mean why? That was literally the first thing that came to mind when I read this short example. Though I could write all day about how sick to my stomach even the thought of eating rattlesnake gives me, it is actually very interesting. Keep in mind, the people that visited this woman were not in any way shape or form forced to eat the snake. They voluntary did so until they were full and even the author of this chapter uses the term “delicious” in order to describe these sandwiches. It’s not until they find out it’s rattlesnake do they violently throw up. It’s interesting because though it tasted great, the norm in our society is that rattlesnake should never be something to eat but rather an annoying creature left outside. It is this paradigm from our culture that we shouldn’t do certain things despite unknowingly liking them which is why the snake story is fascinating. I hope she at least called it something catchy like “rattlesteak wraps” or