Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling (Gaudium et Spes, n.22).
Saturday, 4 July 2009
How do we define our sexual orientation?
How should you answer a question about your sexual orientation on a form? A useful reflection on this here.
During my many years teaching in the USA, I always refused to check any box regarding race; I invariably wrote the word "human" on the final line which was for those designated "other" to complete. Now that I am in the UK, I do the same for the ethnicity box; should I come across one for sexual orientation, I shall write that I am in possession of one. Demographics be damned, I say.
I agree with Alban about putting 'human' when asked about race. Once you start dividing people into 'races' then you are opening the door to those who want to engage about a 'hierachy' of races.
As for ethnicity...well it is always tempting to put a spoke in the wheel of bureaucrats. Zero has a superb book by the astronmer Patrick Moore on how to do this.
On the other hand, how can agencies establish how minorities are faring, whether they need fairer distribution of resources say, without data?
If, for example, a bishop knows there is a large concentration of Polish speaking church goers he (no need for s/he when talking about the Catholic clergy!)may be able to make special arrangements to meet any specific needs they may have. If, in a moment of anarchy, we all put down Klingon as our ethnicity we don't help!
I think this is called a 'benign' or 'positive' racial discourse.
Amazing how 100's of GCSE exam papers to mark provoke the urge to blog in the wee hours.
6 comments:
Doesn@t the prefix "hetero" in heterosexual have the same root as "heresy"? If so perhaps "orthosexual" is the term we are looking for?
During my many years teaching in the USA, I always refused to check any box regarding race; I invariably wrote the word "human" on the final line which was for those designated "other" to complete. Now that I am in the UK, I do the same for the ethnicity box; should I come across one for sexual orientation, I shall write that I am in possession of one. Demographics be damned, I say.
Yes I don't like the ethnic boxes either..have to think about this one..the word 'normal' comes to mind!
I am always tempted to give my ethnic origin as "Lancastrian" ...
Patricius - Heresy is from haireisthai, the Greek verb "to choose". Hetero from a completely different word, meaning "other" or "different".
I agree with Alban about putting 'human' when asked about race. Once you start dividing people into 'races' then you are opening the door to those who want to engage about a 'hierachy' of races.
As for ethnicity...well it is always tempting to put a spoke in the wheel of bureaucrats. Zero has a superb book by the astronmer Patrick Moore on how to do this.
On the other hand, how can agencies establish how minorities are faring, whether they need fairer distribution of resources say, without data?
If, for example, a bishop knows there is a large concentration of Polish speaking church goers he (no need for s/he when talking about the Catholic clergy!)may be able to make special arrangements to meet any specific needs they may have. If, in a moment of anarchy, we all put down Klingon as our ethnicity we don't help!
I think this is called a 'benign' or 'positive' racial discourse.
Amazing how 100's of GCSE exam papers to mark provoke the urge to blog in the wee hours.
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