Skeletons In The Closet Analysis

his article by Patricia Hill Collins is one of the many which she has written. It focuses on Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals & Transgenderd people which she refers to as LGBT. She states how American historians point to the signifigance of sexuality to belong to slavery (pg-235). She categorizes racism and heterosexism as the prison and the closet. One would agree on this metaphor because even though minorities have come a long way since our earlier history, racism still exists in our community. The term prison is used as a form of feeling isolated from society and those who have racism toward them would feel trapped within themselves so the word suits. The word “closet” is self explanatory as the term of having “skeletons in the closet“. If one
has not come out to the world about their sexuality, then that is were the term fits. It is said to be that if racism affects LGBT people then it affects all people. Racism and heterosexism both use similar components to maintain sexual and racial hierarchies. An example would be how they both rely on segregating people as a system of social control. The state has played a major role in supporting both of the forms. In support of heterosexism, the state had laws that refused to punish hate crimes against LGBT people and they did not offer protection when any of those people lost their jobs, which by doing that, sent a message that whoever was LGBT and came out did so at their own risk Although heterosexism was not as supported as we’d like.
The state in support of racism had laws that regulated where black people could live, work, and attend school. Racism and heterosexism also share the same practices such as marriage which many do not accept. So in that case the government is forced to regulate it. If marriage was normal between two straight people of the opposite gender and if it occurred naturally within racial categories there would be no need for laws against it. That is clearly not realistic nowadays so a senses of laws have been passed all designed to regulate marriage, An example of that would be how in the past the tax system has rewarded married couples with tax breaks that everyone else has been rejected to. With that being done, it was clearly a good idea to get married for your own financial reasons. Up until 1967 is when the state overturned these laws and created new ones to keep LGBT people from marrying stating “legal union between one man and one woman” (pg-237). Many might not agree with the governments decision about marriage and have petitioned against it. Marriage should be based on the love that one finds in another with no boundaries and the gender of the two should not be an issue. Over the years some states such as Conneticut and Massachusettes have actually legalized gay marrriage and the gay community couldn’t be anymore pleased. It is only a matter of time before the whole country allows gay
marriage. Race is viewed through two oppositional categories of Blacks and Whites, gender is the same of men and women also sexuality of straight and homosexuality. The ideal “normal” man classified with these categories would be a white, masculine, and heterosexual being (pg- 237).

It is said that black people carry the brand of being promiscuous . This is the sexual aspect that has been assigned to blacks and is used to construct racism. In opposition, LGBT people carry the brand of rejecting straight people and engaging in unrestrained homosexual desire.