Malinowitz

Before You Read

I am very familiar with the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and know people who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual. 

Summary

In Harriet Malinowitz's "Queer Texts, Queer Contexts", we learn about the role of sexual identity in producing discourse. Malinowitz talks about the context of the gay and lesbian discourse community and how these people are viewed by others. Malinowitz believes that the world is homophobic and that lesbians and gay people are living in fear form the world. The audience of this article can be anyone who is interested in learning about the lesbian and gay discourse community. 

Synthesis

Malinowitz's article can be compared to Swales article because he talks about how to fit into a discourse community. This relates to Malinowitz because she talks about how lesbian and gay people find it hard to fit into some discourse communities. Malinowitz can also be compared to Gee because both of these articles mention individualism and being your own person. Lastly, Malinowitz can be compared to Wardle because he talks about belonging and acceptance. This relates to Malinowitz because she talks about how lesbian and gay people sometimes feel like they don't belong or they are not accepted. 

Dialectical Notebook

Response	Quotation
This quote is a good example of some of the discriminations that lesbians and gay people face.	“’Chic’ lesbians still grapple with unemployment discrimination, inadequate healthcare, violence, and loss of child custody” (pg. 111)
I found this quote interesting because the author has a personal connection to the writing and also had problems with her identity.	“Yet I am also a lesbian teacher who, until four years ago hesitated to come out to my students en masse and to many of my colleagues” (pg. 113)
This quote is interesting because it discusses how some people don’t have a strong belief on the topic of homosexuality.	“Others frankly acknowledge their antigay feeling and beliefs, secure that cultural precedent has rendered them understandable an acceptable.” (pg. 114)
I agree this quote interesting because they relate your sexual identity to your personal identity.	“Often when lesbian and gay existence is discussed at all, it is consigned to the category of ‘personal identity’.” (pg. 115)
This quote is important because it gives a good definition of why and how people act in their culture as well as their discourse community.	“Most contemporary definitions suggest that a culture is a repository of shared ideas, systems, and meaning that find expression in patterns of behavior and custom within a particular social group.” (pg. 116)
This quote is a good example of how the topic of homosexuality is seen in different places and why it is not brought up.	“Leaving sexual identity out of the classroom is not an accident; it is an expression of institutionalized homophobia, enacted in the classrooms not randomly but systematically, with legal and religious precedents to bolster it and intimidate both teachers and students.” (pg. 123)

Applying and Exploring Ideas

2. I grew up in a very Catholic family and was put through private Catholic school all of my life. we use specific words such as sanctuary, eucharist, and crucifix in this discourse community. Although I was raised in this discourse community, I do not associate myself with it now. I no longer have the same beliefs and have fallen out of this discourse community. I no longer use their beliefs, language, or rituals to express myself.

Thoughts

I liked reading this article because I am very much interested in the topic of gay rights. But I was also a bit shocked learning that we were going to be reading an article in this topic (but i guess that is just because I went to a Catholic high school where we never talked about those kinds of things) I was raised Catholic where we did not believe in gay rights, but personally I support them. I also liked this article because it was refreshing and not all about writing and language.