The problems gone through by Professor Anderson in Trailblazing. The story presented went almost exactly how it was expected to go, it followed all theories on the subject and most of the people responded to his coming out of the closet

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Matthew Sullivan – 104845514

        The ignorance of some people is amazing, truly astonishing at times; and not just of people you don’t know.  Your friends, your family, people you have known all your life can act in a way you never thought possible when confronted with something outside of their safety zone, something ‘taboo’, something that they’ve never actually sat down and thought about and was always silently taught was wrong; such as homosexuality.  Someone you know all your life could pull a surprise turnaround when the topic of homosexuality comes up, especially when it’s in relation to their children, which is exactly the problems gone through by Professor Anderson in Trailblazing.  The story presented went almost exactly how it was expected to go, it followed all theories on the subject and most of the people responded to his coming out of the closet as stereotypically as possible; almost as if their responses had been scripted.

        It’s no surprise that so many people acted they way they did when confronted with Professor Anderson coming out of the closet, he was seen as a challenge to an institution that had remained unchanged for many years.  Professor Anderson’s principal, who was initially very supportive, quickly turned on Anderson and seemed to be trying to get him fired at every possible opportunity.  He must have been receiving daily complains from parents who could possibly tolerate the fact that their students were being taught by someone who was gay, despite the fact that several members of the faculty were closeted.   Even as early as preschool, boys and girls are treated differently, anything outside of those very specific gender boundaries is considered wrong and must be adjusted.  Boys are expected to play outside, run around, make a lot of noise, and maybe get in a fight or two.  Girls, on the other hand, are expected to play nicely with something sensible, like blocks or dolls, or perhaps even have a nice tea party with their friends and a few stuffed animals.  When a girl goes outside to play tag with the boys, the teacher usually gets worried that she’s going to get hurt, since the boys play so rough and simply because she’s a girl, and thus presumably more delicate.

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        However, if the girl continues to play with the boys the teacher will just peg her as a tomboy, and for the most part she’ll be accepted so long as she follows certain feminine roles.  While tomboys tend not to be the most accepted among their fellow females, and to an extent they are mocked for not following their gender roles, they still find companionship among other tomboys and many males.  Yet, if a male acts in ways that aren’t stereotypically male, even if they’re not necessarily all that female, he’s ostracized, his parents will more than likely become very ...

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