Scared Straight: Why It's So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to Be Human

by Robert N. Minor

From the criticism of our universities as purveyors of hopelessness to the
dynamics of "getting laid," Scared Straight is an eye-opening and
penetrating analysis of U.S. culture, explaining why accepting the full
humanity of gay people divides people and organizations.

Dr. Minor shows how homophobia and discrimination against transgendered and
bisexual people and lesbians and gay men is a major ingredient in our way of
defining the world. Without sparing any of our cultural institutions, Scared
Straight identifies our culture as fear-based and in denial. Like software
installed in a computer, our system's messages install a "straight role" in
us which actually has little, if anything, to do with sexual orientation. In
the end it has little to do with religion, tradition, or the Bible, and
everything to do with maintaining quite limiting definitions of a "human
being," a "real man" and a "real woman."

People of all sexual orientations are hurt by being "straight," torn from
their full human potential, and squeezed into the molds which support our
dominant institutions. Human relationships with either sex are incomplete
and unfulfilling. Chapters on "How to Be Straight" and "How to Be Gay"
describe the roles straight and gay people are conditioned to live in order
to maintain this status quo. Yet, not content to merely identify the problem
and its depth, in the final chapter Dr. Minor describes the dual elements of
healing that this cultural disease requires.

One reader said of the final chapter: "This is the most empowering piece on
activism that I have ever read."

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT

220 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Lance Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minor's book is rather complex for the lay reader but extremely profound and useful for everyone as it identifies the elements of "straight culture" that reinforce a variety of expectations, demands, and problems in our culture. He teases out a variety of perceptions about how our culture pushes people towards being "straight." He's careful to distinguish between being heterosexual and being straight, seeing them as quite different. That is, heterosexuality is understood as the desire and attraction to members of the (perceived) opposite sex whereas "straight" is the ways that attraction is expected to be displayed. It's a powerful book that many could glean much from as it comes to how we understand our own and others sexuality.

If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd /

[Resa Boydston · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.29.2012--so far I am LOVING IT!! i was fortunate to see Dr. Minor on 1.25.2012 at Washburn University at our No Name Calling Week--he was our keynote speaker. if you ever get the opportunity to hear him, please do so; you will be forever changed!

2.7.2012--LOVED IT!!! when you are truly ready to do some serious soul searching about why it's so hard to accept gay people and why it's so hard to be human; PICK UP THIS BOOK. some serious examining will occur.

[Wade]

This book is really about heterosexism... the damage done to all of us by rigid and societally enforced gender roles, regardless of orientation, gender identity, or sex. It's not just about the impact of gender roles on those that deviate from them, but also about the pervasive effects these gender roles have on everyone in society in the way they relate to one another, perceive themselves, and subtly condition our actions, thoughts, and feelings.

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really enlightening and showed me how gay bashing is closely linked to the hatred of women. A must read for anyone who wonders where homophobia comes from.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written; an important book for all persons, gay, straight or something else.