{"id":493,"date":"2015-02-19T08:34:49","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T13:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=493"},"modified":"2015-02-19T08:34:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T13:34:49","slug":"493","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2015\/02\/19\/493\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

” ‘There were plenty of screwballs like you in Atlanta, but me, I don’t swing that way – you got it? This \u00a0might be your ‘thing’ or whatever, but you can definitely count me out.’ He reached for his conch shell and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘I mean, come on now. For God’s sake, kid, pull yourself together'” (17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Judith Halberstam’s\u00a0In a Queer Time and Place<\/em>, she writes “consider the fact that we have become adept within postmodernism at talking about ‘normativity,’ but far less adept at describing in rich detail the practices and structures that both oppose and sustain conventional forms of association, belonging, and identification” (Halberstam, 4). In this sense, Halberstam is saying that there are cultural assumptions within society that create “normativity” – a standardized way of being. People who identify themselves as queer, therefore are opposing the conventional forms of association, belonging and identification which Halberstam mentions.<\/p>\n

In the passage above, Sedaris is recounting his experience with his music teacher, in which he scrutinizes Sedaris for resisting the heteronormative ideals by performing a musical number and being proud of it. Earlier in the chapter, Mister Mancini had questioned David’s sexuality when he chose to name his guitar “Oliver,” after his hamster. Mister Mancini wanted Sedaris to give a feminine name to his guitar, render it a female, and sexualize the guitar so that he could physically dominate the instrument – become powerful and confident in his artistry or lack thereof. Although there are more representations of gays and lesbians in literature, movies, and television than there were fifteen years ago, society rejects the opposition of gays and lesbians to conform within the patriarchal, heteronormative culture in which we live. Instead, associating, belonging, and identifying conventionally within society, considers you to be significant as a person. This is what Sedaris attempts to resist – but in this scene, he succumbs to the influence and pressure of Mister Mancini and hides his lack of interest in women’s breasts and physical stature and drops his dream of becoming a singer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

” ‘There were plenty of screwballs like you in Atlanta, but me, I don’t swing that way – you got it? This \u00a0might be your ‘thing’ or whatever, but you can definitely count me out.’ He reached for his conch shell and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘I mean, come on now. For God’s sake, kid, … Continue reading <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":885,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93618],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/885"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}