Cultural experience Essay

In preparation for this reflection, I began by intending ab emerge what cultural event I would near comparable to attend, what would work for the concession and what would also benefit me in my individualal life by actu eachy forcing me aside of my comfort zone to experience things I never have before. Because Christianity is such a huge discussion section of my life I this instant thought I would want to do something based on some other religion since Ive never re totallyy done for(p) out of my religious comfort zone, but for this appellation I chose to go to a homophile(a) bar. The reason I chose to do this was because I have been raised(a) as a Christian, I grew up in a in truth conservative town and season I support gay rights being around gay good deal is yet something that is foreign and a microscopic bit uncomfortable for me. My roomie also chose to use overtaking to the gay bar for an assignment for her human sexuality class, so while discerning that I wou ld have my roommate going with me make me a atomic bit more comfortable I still knew that this would be something that pushed me way out of my comfort zone. We both live in Elkhart, Indiana so while we were home for spring prison-breaking a gay friend of my roommates offered to take us to a club called Metro which is an 18 summation gay bar located in Kalamazoo, Michigan which is about 45 minutes away.Before going to the gay bar I was so nervous. As mentioned before, while I support gay rights I have not necessarily ever been exposed to them and I wasnt sure at all what to expect. The bar that we went too isnt strictly a gay bar so there would close to likely be other now flock there but I had no cerebration how exactly to prepare myself for the situation. Because we were going with my roommates friend, who is gay, I knew I would feel a little more comfortable since we werent however walking in completely un wide-awake. I was worried what people would think of me when I went , if they would assume that I was gay. I didnt know if it was normal for gays to take straightfriends with them, I was worried about how people would judge me. As I began to possess ready for the night I wasnt rattling too worried about what to wear, I clean wore something that I would normally wear to go out but mentally I was less prepared than ever. I had no idea how I was supposed to act, what if it was awkward once I got there. Before we went my roommate and I met up with her gay friend and several of his friends.His friend group contained a mix of both gay and straight men and women who would be going to the bar with us so I immediately entangle more comfortable, knowing that I wouldnt be the only straight one other than my roommate. I expected the ride there to be awkward, considering I didnt know anyone other than my roommate and she didnt know anyone other than the one guy and me, but instead they were all so golden and told us not to be nervous. Because we were going on a Saturday night they explained to us that there would plausibly be more gays there than the other nights of the week/weekend but that didnt mean they would assume we were gay, and people were usually pretty good about asking before they relieve oneself on you. After the 45 minute drive there we finally arrived and walked in. As we walked in a realized that it wasnt any distinguishable than any other bar would be (not that Ive been in that many since Im only 19) full of people, dancing, music and drinking. The inside of the building was pretty bragging(a) and there was plenty of room. Almost everybody there was dancing. The people we came with were all over 21 so they all went and got drinks while my roommate and I just hung out. It was a little overwhelming at first. There were emphatically a lot of gay people around, dancing together, standing at the bar flirting, and just abatement out with groups of people. Eventually we started to loosen up a little bit, while I didnt sincerely talk and get to know a lot of gay people I was complimented by a lot of them. During our time there we pretty much just hung out and moved in the group that we came with. A few of the people that we came with went off and danced with other people, but because I still felt a little uncomfortable and awkward we didnt unfeignedly venture to far apart from our group and go dance with anyone else or anything. I think it would have a been a very different experience if we had gone when we were 21 and could drink at the bar, I think it would have changed the experience a little bit. We arrived at the bar at a little bit after 10 which is when the dance floor opened and stayed until around 1 in the morning.ExamineThe part of this experience that was the most compelling to me was almost the sensation of community that I felt was just there between the gay community. Like there were a lot of groups of people there that night that didnt even know each other, but you would never guess that by the way they acted like they had been friends for years. Even towards me and my roommate who they didnt know, was just some straight stranger walking in and observing them they were so nice and accepting. They were willing to let us into their environment, knowing that we were not a part of it and I felt no judgment or anything. My fears that I had felt earlier in the day before going were put to rest, while some people were unmistakably friendly to me no girls really tried to hit on me, which was really relieving. As mentioned above, the most solemn thing I noticed was the community, or the way they socialized with and accepted themselves and each other. I think that at the roots of everything its amazing how well they have a grasp on who they are, and who they want others to key out them. Because being gay is looked down upon in many parts of our smart set that makes them part of an crush group. non only are gays an oppressed group but I also motto varying deg rees of sexism. Because the gay community also includes transgender people as well. This forced me to think past my professional understanding of gender. On page 318 of the book it talks about how gender is a social construct, importee that gender is something that society defines which was really different when you read about it and see it in person. In person seeing someone who doesnt associate with the gender they are born with is something that you dont really understand until you experience it in person.Articulate LearningBy attending this event I knowledgeable a lot more about the gay community than I could ever learn from a textbook. They really are a very close knit community. Their community is a lot different than what we observe in our day to day life. In normal everyday life when we see members of the gay community on the street they are treated differently, they are looked out as outcasts and they are oppressed but seeing them in this environment gave me an entirely di fferently outlook on them and made me gaze them a lot more.The reason this matters is because I am certain that there are other peoplejust like me who feel uncomfortable, uneasy and unsure around people that they havent really been around before. Because of the way I was raised I was taught to believe being gay was wrong, so I was never really around them very often so I was unexposed and uneducated about them entirely. I think it was really good for me to experience this because it made me realize that they really arent that different than everyone else.The most important thing I took away from this experience was that contrary to what I personally have been taught to believe, what society has forced us to think they are not horrible awful people. They are people just like me who have been oppressed and faced many challenges to get to where theyre at now and they still dont receive the respect and benefits that they deserve in our country. I took away that it is important for me t o for that very reason it is important for me to form my own beliefs and not just go off of what everyone around me has told me.ReferencesAdams, M. (2007). Introduction. In Adams M., Blumenfeld W.J., Castaeda C.R., Hackman H.W., Peters M.L., & Ziga X., Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York Routledge.