"In order for someone to be visible, to 'come out,' there must always be a closet someplace where others clamor or struggle to get out. The rural United States, as [Gray] will argue . . . operates as America's perennial, tacitly taken-for-granted closet" (230-246). I find this to be a powerful quote from Mary L. Gray's text Out in the Country.
She spends a good deal in the first half of this chapter discussing how the urban scene has always been viewed as the place gays and lesbians must flock to to "come out." To have a life as an GLBT person, one must go to the city. She discusses that part of this comes from the feeling you have when raised in the country that you've never met a stranger. She goes on to argue, then, that "without a question rural youth negotiate queer desires and embodiments under different logistical realities" (246-263). She also looks at the fact that nearly all researches have left out any type of investigation into rural GLBTs.
From this discussion, Gray moves on to talk about how media plays a role in our everyday lives, but particularly how we are constantly worrying about the role media plays for our youth. Is it harming them in some way? Gray argues, though, that "new media are part of mass culture--the stories they circulate remediate the stories already out there" (433-450). Reminds me of the old adage that everything old is new again.
I am of the opinion, and always have been, that society (politicians in particular) want to blame anything new, which means technology in today's world, for the failures of society when it comes to their youth. We've seen it over and over again. Let's blame the movies they watch, the games they play, the music they listen too, the web pages they visit, the social networks they are on..... and the list goes on. One huge concern is always predators on the internet. Funny thing is, I can name a handful of people that I know that were molested by family members (the devil they knew), but I can't name one that I know who was attacked by an internet predator (the devil they didn't know).
Bottom line for tonight's post is that I've just made it halfway through the introduction, and I know that Gray is doing a lot of setting up her argument before she moves into the actual proof. So it's a little difficult to get a handle on any one thing, but I think this is going to be a very interesting read.
She spends a good deal in the first half of this chapter discussing how the urban scene has always been viewed as the place gays and lesbians must flock to to "come out." To have a life as an GLBT person, one must go to the city. She discusses that part of this comes from the feeling you have when raised in the country that you've never met a stranger. She goes on to argue, then, that "without a question rural youth negotiate queer desires and embodiments under different logistical realities" (246-263). She also looks at the fact that nearly all researches have left out any type of investigation into rural GLBTs.
From this discussion, Gray moves on to talk about how media plays a role in our everyday lives, but particularly how we are constantly worrying about the role media plays for our youth. Is it harming them in some way? Gray argues, though, that "new media are part of mass culture--the stories they circulate remediate the stories already out there" (433-450). Reminds me of the old adage that everything old is new again.
I am of the opinion, and always have been, that society (politicians in particular) want to blame anything new, which means technology in today's world, for the failures of society when it comes to their youth. We've seen it over and over again. Let's blame the movies they watch, the games they play, the music they listen too, the web pages they visit, the social networks they are on..... and the list goes on. One huge concern is always predators on the internet. Funny thing is, I can name a handful of people that I know that were molested by family members (the devil they knew), but I can't name one that I know who was attacked by an internet predator (the devil they didn't know).
Bottom line for tonight's post is that I've just made it halfway through the introduction, and I know that Gray is doing a lot of setting up her argument before she moves into the actual proof. So it's a little difficult to get a handle on any one thing, but I think this is going to be a very interesting read.
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