Latino/a Sexuality and the Heteronormative

Latino/a Sexuality and the Heteronormative In his novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz examines Latino identities and sexuality, and the ways in which both are affected and informed by violence. This violence is enacted through institutions like the state, through representation and misrepresentation, and by the very nature of sex and sexuality. Diaz gives an analysis of identity and sexuality, pointing to the way in which it is not only formed and generated by oneself, but also put on and impressed, through violence or with violent repercussions. Reinaldo Arenas’s autobiography Before Night Falls conveys similar themes as Diaz’s novel about the way in which sexuality is policed through violence from the stateparticularly in the form of dictatorships. Arenas depicts life in Cuba at the time of Castro, discussing how Castro, and the state, presented homosexuality as evidence of being unpatriotic and against nationalism, as well as grounds for torture and imprisonment. Many of the men who engage in homosexual acts are not homosexual themselves, and it is in fact such policing that causes more sex acts to occur. This environment of violence and sexuality, then, also carries over to all other aspects of life. Similarly, Diaz discusses the way sexuality comes into play in the Dominican Republic, during the time of Trujillo. Oscar’s mother Beli falls prey to the violence of the state in the form of an attack sanctioned by Trujillo’s sister, who does not agree with her relationship with her husband, the Ga ngster. In this way Diaz, like Arenas, dismantles the idea of the state as a noble protector and enforcer of just laws, illustrating the ways in which it in fact carries out injustices, and performs its own agenda. Both authors also describe how such violent enforcement does not garner successBeli continues to have an amorous relationship with the Gangster, even after the attack, and Arenas continues to have sex with men, in fact gaining more opportunities for sex acts due to state oppression. Foucault, in his The History of Sexuality, discusses the idea of the repressive hypothesis, talking about how sexuality is thought of as having a history of repression, and discussions of sexuality have been withheld since the Victorian era. Foucault points to the inaccuracy of this claim, stating that silence itself performs a certain kind of discourse, and the repression of discourses on sexuality are instrumental in their formation. Diaz, too, discusses a similar idea regarding the withholding of informationhe relates a story in which Abelard, Oscar’s grandfather, is imprisoned and violently tortured by Trujillo for hiding away his daughter and wife from his rapacious sexual appetite. He then contrasts this narrative with mention of another possible reason for his imprisonment, relaying information about a possible book that Abelard could have written about Trujillo, displaying the supernatural qualities of Trujillo and his regime. In doing so, Diaz gives mentions la pagina blanca, the information that is missing or unknown from such narratives, and the ways in which it can speak louder than any words can. The erasure of violence from public knowledge, as well as the erasure for the reasons for its production, does not remove knowledge of its existence or its effects. In this way, sexuality and violence, even when being given the illusion of being silenced, emerge and are spoken about even through its absence from public discourse. Ricardo L. Ortiz, in his article â€Å"Cultural Erotics of Cuban America† analyses the impact of Arenas’s life and death. As a homosexual, Arenas was placed outside of the context of Cuban nationalism, even being categorized as a terrorist subject in regards to his homosexuality, and through his death, Arenas simultaneously reaffirmed his identity as a Cuban in spite of being outside of Castro’s nationalist project, and attacked him as the cause of his death. Ortiz discusses Arena’s death in a pro-life context of protest through calling attention to the flaws and injustices of the Cuban government, while claiming sexuality as an element necessary for sustaining life. Similarly, Diaz constructs a similar understanding of Oscar’s death in his novel. Oscar essentially commits suicide by choosing to stay with Ybin, in spite of knowing that her violently angry boyfriend will come after him. As Ybin’s boyfriend is employed by the state, he can be s een as a manifestation of its violence, as well as a re-embodying of the violence of state enacted in past times, to Beli. Oscar’s sexuality comes to be the cause of his death, and he comes to fulfill his Dominican identity through its expression. As such, both authors point to the nature of protest through death and beyond life, and Latino sexuality as crucial to understandings of Latino identity. Further, the state can be evidenced as manipulating representations of sexuality for its own aims. In A Queer Mother For a Nation, Licia Fiol-Matta analyzes how the state became encapsulated in the image of Gabriela Mistral, and why she became a symbol for the nation. Mistral’s masculine, gender-queer identity and demeanor allowed her to be taken seriously in spite of being female, and still encompass desired state-sanctioned feminine traits like motherhood. Mistral followed in the state’s racist rhetoric, maintaining an â€Å"othering† gaze against blacks and pushing for racial cleansing through producing more white-mixed offspring. This racist rhetoric provided the state with a language in which to â€Å"other† black populations through the passive violence of exclusion and negative representation. Similarly, Diaz presents the figure of Oscar Wao in an interestingly contradictory light. He does not possess any of the traits of a stereotypical Dominican, and throughout his life finds it extremely difficult to flirt, date, or have sex with any girls because of his extremely nerdy and socially awkward personalityeventually coming to do violence to himself in part because of his inability to perform this aspect of his identity and sexuality. In spite of this, he eventually fulfills the saying that no Dominican man dies a virgin, by having sex with his prostitute girlfriendand in doing so comes to exemplify the idea that even as an exception to the rule, he can perform his â€Å"Dominican-ness† to the fullest. As such, Diaz examines in a tongue-in-cheek manner the way Latino bodies are stereotyped, even inside of the Latino community, and the violence of this type of representation, as well as the affect it can have on identity. In this way, both authors discuss the politics of representation and the contradictory and performative nature of identity and sexuality. Philippe Bourgois, in his anthropological analysis of Puerto Rican street life depicted in In Search of Respect: Selling Crack en El Barrio performs a similar violence through his representation of Latino bodies. As an outsider to this community, Bourgois casts an â€Å"othering† gaze on Puerto Rican crack dealers and creates a culture of difference between readers (as well as himself) and the members of the community he depicts. One of the aspects of this distance comes from an eroticisation of violence in the name of providing unadulterated truth (and of course, for consumer marketability)which brings to mind questions of, when is it okay to reproduce structures of violence, when doing so produces the same violence? Diaz asks a similar question in his reproduction of stereotypes of oversexed, hypersexual Dominicans in the figures of Yunior and Oscarwhat is authorial responsibility, especially in regards to the understandings of readerships? How can this violence be avoided? Diaz himself constructs problematic depictions of females and female sexuality, describing women in a somewhat chauvinistic lightmany of the female figures are represented as objects for the males to conquer through sexual pursuit. For both authors, the replication of such structures supports and reproduces racist and sexist ideas through consumerism. Such ideas then become part of a system of capitalism, providing interesting implications regarding the â€Å"selling† of problematic constructions of identity and sexuality. And as sexuality plays a large part in understandings of the formation of identity, these types of representations can have the effect of creating an environment in which violence becomes normalized in everyday consciousness. In his theoretical work Disidentifications, Jos? Esteban Munoz discusses his theory of disidentification, stating the ways in which categorization through sexuality and race, among other things, allows for a dismissal of or limiting understandings of identity. Disidentification, then, becomes a survival strategy, a way of avoiding the way in which representation can be unrelatable, or reproduced through the systemic violence of rearticulation. Much as Munoz examines the work of Carmelita Tropicana or Marga Gomez, and how they reclaim possibly harmful representations through camp, Diaz reproduces tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of Dominican identity and sexuality, and provides alternative representations of Latino identity and sexuality through his characters. Lola, for example, is represented as having a very present sense of sexuality, but is costumed in the role of a â€Å"goth.† Both writers point to the importance of the multiplicity of identity, and find ways to articulate La tino identity and sexuality that do not conform with the violence of heteronormative ideals. Junot Diaz examines the nature of identity and sexuality in regards to Latino bodies, and the ways in which they are impressed, manipulated, or reproduced through violence. Disidentification, perhaps, provides a necessary step towards providing an alternative consciousness and understanding of identity that does not become enmeshed in the culture of differenceand asks further questions about the way hegemonic society, institutions, and normalized violence enforces and regulates these ideas. How, then, can we use disidentification to further remove ourselves from the violent and harmful heteronormative? And what are the ways we can imagine ourselves in a more broad, inclusive sense of being?

Sustainability in Construction and the Integration of Building Essay

Sustainability in Construction and the Integration of Building Services - Essay Example It is in this context, two documents were determined to provide solutions to the built environment designs. The solutions proposed were different from one another because the first one was a proactive solution and the second one was a reactive solution to climate change. The CIBSE Briefing 8 (2003) was focused on providing new buildings and refurbishments design and operation solutions. The purpose of this proactive solution was to minimise or reduce the use of energy, which was identified as the major source of carbon emission that causes climate change. Meanwhile, the CIBSE Briefing 10 (2004) provided solution that focused on the reduction on the impact of climate change on the built environment. It is considered as a reactive solution because the design responded to the effects of climate trend to the built environment particularly to the thermal comfort. On the other hand, the former briefing was considered as proactive solution because it tried to prevent the causation of climat e change before it emerges. Further, both the information on the briefings was considered useful. However, the application of the building designs could be practicable to new buildings and refurbishments. It could also be used for existing buildings at the expense that it would need massive renovation. Likewise, the built environment design strategies that will be presented in the discussion could be considered in designing a social housing development in an inner city because they ensure economic and environment sustainability. Discussion Designing buildings to address the cause of climate change In the first document, the high consumption of electricity was the key issue. Therefore, it provided several recommendations which will serve as guidelines for the engineers and building designers in designing new built environmnet. The purpose was to provide the required internal environment and services with minimum energy use in a cost effective and environmentally sensitive manner (CIB SE, 2003, 1). The recommendations have included the following: energy- efficiency should be integrated in the client’s brief with all the necessary details support such as energy consumption targets, power density, and energy-efficient equipments to be installed, i.e. CHP or variable speed drives. The energy-efficient plan document should be compared to the standards set by the regulation policies. At the same time to be constantly reviewed while the design is in its installation process. The briefing also recommended that in designing building, design team should be considered and appointed before the building started in order to ensure good interaction between the disciplines. Project targets and life cycle costing should be utilized to promote teamwork. Third recommendation, design built form and services carefully in order to keep energy demand to a minimum. Further, using renewable energy sources, ambient energy and passive solution was also suggested in order to achieve this objective. Fourth, the use of ventilation hierarchy (see diagram below) as a guide was also recommended in order to minimize uncontrolled air infiltration. If possible find economical and environment friendly way to generate ventilation. Avoid the use of air conditioning since it could consume up to 50% of energy. Source: CIBSE, 2003 In addition, the building designers should incorporate in the design to optimize the use of heat gains, natural ventilation, and

Poverty and Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Poverty and Obesity - Essay Example Additionally, individual view on obesity contributes to the prevalence. Obese children are at risk of developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, behavior, and learning disorder, psychosocial health problems such as low self-esteem, and depression (Ogden et al, 2010). Indeed, there are various healthcare teams involved in health care education that include practicing nurses, parental and healthcare professionals, community and government health workers. These healthcare teams help in identifying children at-risk, provision of medical referrals, educating parents on the resultant health risks, encouraging consumption of nutritional balanced diets, promoting increased physical activities, and offering counseling for physical and emotional support. Indeed, through the healthcare teams we can clearly assess childhood obesity and promote obesity prevention. Ogden, C., Molly, M., Lamb, M., Carroll, M., & Flegal, K. (2010). Obesity and Socioeconomic Status in Children and Adolescents: United States, 2005-2008. NCHS Data Brief No. 51 Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health