CAPS 1- Dani Wingard

Identity is about who we are and who others think we are. We communicate our identity to others and we learn who we are through communication. It is through communication that we begin to understand ourselves and form our society (Martin & Nakayama, 2013). The social science perspective emphasizes identity created by self. It is about being an individualized, familial, and spiritual self. The interpretive perspective is about identity that is formed by communication with others. It emphasizes avowal and ascribed dimensions (Martin & Nakayama, 2013). The critical perspective is identity formed by social and historical forces. It emphasizes the conflicts of developing ones identity. The interpretive and critical perspectives both focus on the dynamic nature of identities. Sexual identity refers to one's identification with various categories of sexuality (Martin & Nakayama, 2013). The Iranian president states, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country." These are the types of people that make people confused on who they are and what their sexual identity is.

The Supreme Court in India has refused to review the gay sex ban. The law states that a same-sex relationship is an "unnatural offense" and punishable by a 10-year jail term. The protestors in India are trying to argue that a same-sex relationship between adults should not be considered a crime. In December the government asked the courts to review the ban because it "violated the principle of equality." The article states that this law has never been used to prosecute or arrest gays, but used by police to harass gay people. I believe that people can't control who they are and who they're destined to be. If someone is gay we should just let them be gay. We can't change them. I think that our world is the reason behind one's confusion with their sexual identity because we try to tell them they can't be who they are, basically. We say that gay marriage is illegal, same-sex relationship is illegal. It's all illegal when in reality it's just human beings who love each other. 

Intercultural communication focuses on how cultural groups differ from one another. So how homosexuals differ from heterosexuals. I think that our world can become more competent with homosexuals if we start by treating them as human beings. Yes homosexuality goes against many religious beliefs, but those people have no idea what's going on in that person's head. We can try to understand them and who they are or why they are the way they are. It's all in the perceptions that influence how we communicate and handle conflict between cultures. Our world needs to take a step back and consider what it would be like to be confused about our own sexual identity. We have to put ourselves into their shoes to try to understand. "Culture is the shifting tensions between the shared and the unshared. For example American culture has changed from master/slave to white only/black only to anti war/black power and so on. (Lee, page 89)" Why can't American culture shift from homosexuals being banned to allowing them to get married like everyone else?

References

"India Supreme Court Refuses to Review Gay Sex Ban." BBC News. BBC, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.