In their social relationships, people often rely on tried and true “recipes” for how to handle such relationships.
- Alfred Schutz
I think it would be very pretentious of me to say that I accept everything about people, that I am not prejudiced, and that I acknowledge and respect every difference in this world. The truth is, I can’t and I don’t; I have my biases, and that everything about society will always be a struggle not immediately for acceptance, but acknowledgment. Recognition and respect.
Baby steps, so to speak.
I can only see so much and accept so much given my very limited perspective of the world. I can’t have a 360-degree view of everything, so I have to settle for so much given how I perceive my reality. The challenge, I think, is to accept your own biases and prejudices as “learning aids” to help you understand society better.
Nothing could be more true for society that that ticklish subject: alternative sexualities.
I couldn’t have known that the person I long acknowledged to be a guy is now a transsexual. The prudent thing would be to be welcoming and accommodating of that new revelation and truth, but I have to admit that I have my biases, and that I’m viewing the world from prejudiced – if not jaundiced – eyes.
Frames, so to speak. When it comes to sex, I am very secure about my sexuality, even if lighthearted jokes have been made about that. I’m not one to impose rules and beliefs, either. My perspective of the world will always be framed by the many things that make up who I am. When it comes to my view of sex, one of those frames is that I’m straight.
