Tale Farewell My Concubine describes the torments and sufferings that homosexuals have to go through. These torments and sufferings are the results of stereotypes from the society. The video Anti-Gay, and the books The Facts on Homosexuality and Gay and Lesbian Stats: A Pocket Guide of Facts and Figures explains the reasons for gay stereotypes, and how they affect those who are homosexuals. Homosexuals are frequently viewed as the outcasts of society and are often subjected to discrimination.
However, with the support of family and friends, they are able to overcome such aggression. Someday, homosexuals will be treated the same way as heterosexuals, and society will learn that homosexuality is not a disease, but just another way of life. In the novel Farewell My Concubine, the main character, Xiao Douzi, is faced with the adversity of being a homosexual in a time when homosexuality was absolutely unaccepted by society. Douzi was born with beautiful facial features and a perfect complexion; because of this, he was chosen to play a woman on stage. Douzi fails to separate his on-stage gimmick from his real life persona, and he falls in love with his partner and best friend, Xiao Shitou. When Shitou married a woman, Douzi collapsed mentally and soon got addicted to opium.
Shitou’s wife was against homosexuality, and she did whatever she could to keep her husband from seeing Douzi; but despite all this, Shitou still cares about Douzi and helped Douzi get off his addiction to opium. He also helps out Douzi whenever he can and supports Douzi’s decision to live his life as a homosexual. Aside from his personal problems, Douzi is also faced with discrimination from the society. During the Japanese invasion of China, the Japanese army found out about his homosexual tendencies, and they forced Douzi to dress up as a woman and have sexual intercourse with them.
During the Cultural Revolution, Douzi was brutally beaten and was humiliated by the Red Guards. Douzi was treated this way because his adversaries believed in the traditional gay stereotypes. According to the books The Facts on Homosexuality and Gay and Lesbian Stats: A Pocket Guide of Facts and Figures, these beliefs about homosexuals were made up by ignorant people, and spreads around through the media. Common beliefs about homosexuals are that they tend to act like the opposite sex, and many believe that homosexuals are all sex-craving perverts. These beliefs are all false.
Gays and lesbians just act like themselves. Although statistics showed that some homosexuals do engage in more dangerous activities such as anal sex, most of them are normal, respectable human beings. Rather than believing in these silly rumors about homosexuals, people should learn more about them and try to understand them. If all “straight” people gets to know homosexuals like Shitou knew Douzi, they will find that homosexuals are no different than anyone else, and that homosexuals can turn out to be great friends. People who despise homosexuals are usually those who are ignorant enough to be deceived by the absurd beliefs about homosexuals.
Recently, more and more people are beginning to learn about the true nature of homosexuals, and are willing to accept them as part of humanity. Gays and lesbians once had to hide their homosexual lifestyles from even the closest friends and family members because they did not want to be discriminated against. Nowadays, most friends and family members of homosexuals accept them as part of society. Homosexuals can now open up to their friends and family members and turn to them for support. According to the documentary film Anti-Gay, homosexual suicide rates have decreased dramatically due to the growing support of homosexuals from friends and family. In the novel Farewell My Concubine, Douzi was able to accept himself as being gay because his best friend Shitou was there to give him support.
There will always be homophobic individuals in society who will bash and look down on homosexuals. However, as long as friends, family members, and other supporters are there to accept homosexuals, they can overcome the aggression of being discriminated by the groups of people who are ignorant about them. Except for their tendencies to fall in love with people of the same sex, homosexuals are just the same as everyone else. Homosexuals are often discriminated by the society because people do not know enough about them.
It is normal to be afraid of something that one does not know about, and that is the reason for the ridiculous beliefs that floats around society today. In recent years, more and more people are learning the facts about homosexuals, and they are now respected more than ever before. However, homosexuals are still not treated the same way as heterosexuals. Rather than being discriminated as members of a stigmatized group, homosexuals need to be understood and accepted into society.
When the public understand enough about homosexuals to disbelieve in the ludicrous myths about them, that will be when homosexuality will be recognized not as some sort of illness, but as just another way of life. When the society learns that homosexuality is just a different lifestyle, that will be when homosexuals will be treated as equivalents to heterosexuals.
