So explain to me why we always have to categorize people. Oh, I know I'm guilty of it too. If I'm describing Franny, I'll mention her red-brown hair and how tall she is, but on the other hand if I'm talking about Stina I always mention that she's half Filipina. I know that race is the most obvious difference between people, but I don't understand why when race doesn't matter, it's always used as a description. Like in a article or some other method of disseminating news, they'll always mention whether the subject is black, Asian, AmerIndian, or what have you. But it's always a given and taken for granted if the person is white. Also, tell me why gender makes a difference. If a name doesn't clearly define a person as female or male, like R. Jones, then they'll be described as a "woman [occupation]," like a woman doctor or a woman attorney. And when did woman become an adjective?! When I was in grammar school, it was a noun. You wouldn't hear someone say, "R. Jones, a man attorney from New York..." But how often have you heard "R. Jones, a woman doctor from Los Angeles..." What difference does it make whether R. Jones is male or female? Does s/he have more authority if s/he's a man, or if she's a woman? That I don't get....
Imagine the following situation.... A friend is telling you about someone they know, and he says, "Yeah, my friend Bob..." You don't know anything about Bob at that point. So you have this really fuzzy notion about Bob. He's just an abstract male. But if your friend says, "Yeah, my gay friend Bob..." There you have a whole slew of preconceived notions about Bob. You know, or think you know, how Bob looks, what he wears, how he walks, what kind of music he likes, who his friends are.... A whole flood of ideas come to you.... Should sexual orientation really be able to give us all that information on a person? And who says that all our preconceived notions are right? I thought for a long time my friend Chris was gay. So I would tell my friends about my "gay friend" Chris, and they assumed the same stuff anyone would. But while some of it holds, not all of it does. It just boggles my mind how just a few words can lead to such a huge set of notions about a person. What ever happened to not judging a book by its cover???
Just a few thoughts to ponder....