Rather than set up boundaries to contain sexuality, scrutiny has made people see everything in terms of sex. Again, one can turn to Foucault’s research to see the methodology behind this theory. Focault sees the modern concept of homosexuality arising from a desire to see sexuality as a fundamental aspect of who we are. As discussed previously, before the 19th century, sodomy was simply regarded as a criminal act, but since that time, sodomy has been regarded as just one manifestation of a person’s homosexuality.

Homosexuality itself ceased to be associated with certain acts, and became associated with a person’s identity rather quickly. Sexuality became a key to interpreting one’s personality and even one’s behavior. Rather than work to eliminate homosexual acts, the growing discourse around homosexuality saw these acts as constitutive of a person’s very identity as a human being.

For some people, labels are a saving grace to ultimately find solace in as an individual. They serve as something to take comfort in when people finally figure out that’s what they are and that are others like them. It is important to recognize the validity of that situation, even when others believe in leading a life without labels. Those people thrive off of sexual fluidity in its finest. The major take away from these two ideas? They are both valid. Society is most definitely trying to catch up to this notion.

Presently, the world is dominated by heteronormativity. Whether this is because people believe one can’t be “in love” until a certain age (which no one has been able to define), or people don’t actually feel the effects of a same sex relationship until they are personally affected, the world is not sure. Heteronormativity emphasizes that one should be best friends with the person that one falls in love with, but does not allow girls and boys to have similar interests until a common strain is finally found at a later age.

This factor can most commonly be found in entertainment when viewers think that a gay agenda is being forced down the throats of younger viewers or sexualizing a relationship that would have, or should have remained platonic had it been in real life. Yet, when these types of situations are enacted on TV or in film, young LGBTQ+ people often identify with characters and feel braver than normal to be themselves. The world often tells people what to do and what to be. Sexuality is not excluded from this dated notion.

Society also often feels the need to put people into boxes of ‘straight’ or ‘gay’. It feels the need to figure out whether people wholeheartedly like men or women, or even to gain an explanation why there is a new letter being added to LGBTQ+ every other minute (which, by the way, is to make the series of letters more inclusive as a whole).

And for a person to admit that they are the elusive bisexual? Even within certain gay communities, they are deemed to be admitting they are ‘greedy’ and ‘confused’. It insinuates that the reason one would date and eventually sleep with both men and women is because through this series of emotional and sexual encounters, they will eventually be lead to some ultimate truth, when they can finally make up their minds about not who they want, but what gender they want.

So what if someone wants to sleep with a girl, and a guy? There are (in most cases) biologically two sexes in this world, and to bully and slander people who do not deny one half of the population purely based on genetic makeup is quite dated.

However, to say there aren’t people who feel that they are purely ‘straight’ or purely ‘gay’, is not true either (remember, people find solace in labels). Yet, these labels, although very ingrained into us, have simply not been around for very long. Labels can make people feel like they have to be one thing or the other. And educating oneself about these kinds of sexual acts and attitudes in earlier time periods really shows just how strange society’s rigid view on sexuality is today.

That being said, there are plenty of comprehensive lists to define terms that people constantly struggle with, but people never look. Why? In reality, most people don’t feel like it is their problem if it isn’t directly affecting them at the time. However, this methodology of thinking backfires when a friend, sibling, etc. comes out and said person doesn’t know how to handle it, or what to do.

Ultimately, people do not fit into boxes. That is not the nature of humanity. Society is multi-faceted and people, instead of being scared by that fact, should be overjoyed that not one person is simple. Everyone is beautifully complicated in their personality, traits, heritage and sexuality.