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A recent post at Joe. My. God. referred to a marketing study commissioned by Logo, an American GLBT television channel, that suggested that a majority of the channel's younger viewers didn't identify themselves particularly with stereotypical patterns, hoping for partners, children, suburban living, friendship networks including large numbers of heterosexuals, and so on. The response to this in the comments thread was fairly harsh, with many commenters denouncing younger members of the various non-heterosexual aggregates as not only ungrateful people brainwashed by heterosexual culture but as people who were willing by their lack of commitment to put the security of non-heterosexuals at risk.
I disagree. I can testify Gay assimilation has proceeded as gay rights have increasingly been acknowledged, this acknowledgment coming not in the entrenchment of social difference from heterosexuals but in the acquisition of the various social and economic rights already enjoyed by heterosexuals. The sharp decline of anti-Semitism in the countries where nearly all Jews live has accelerated Jewish assimilation, as traditional Jewish languages like Ladino and Yiddish die along with their associated popular and religious cultures even as intermarriage grows. Other examples of this can be found in Chinese assimilation in Thailand, Japanese assimilation in Brazil, or Italian assimilation in France.
What do you think about these trends? Do you think that there is there any way, in a liberal society, to prevent this assimilation, to successfully combine active participation in a wider society with the active participation in a culture? Or, as legal and societal incentives against assimilation fall, is a very strong shift towards the norms of the dominant culture inevitable? My readers can doubtless think of other examples of minority groups that have largely assimilated as their acceptance has progressed. Examples of minority groups that have not assimilated would be interesting. Also, do you think that younger members you who adopt the norms of the majority culture are making ill-judged decisions?
As always, please be polite in the comments. Yes, anonymous comments are welcome.
I disagree. I can testify Gay assimilation has proceeded as gay rights have increasingly been acknowledged, this acknowledgment coming not in the entrenchment of social difference from heterosexuals but in the acquisition of the various social and economic rights already enjoyed by heterosexuals. The sharp decline of anti-Semitism in the countries where nearly all Jews live has accelerated Jewish assimilation, as traditional Jewish languages like Ladino and Yiddish die along with their associated popular and religious cultures even as intermarriage grows. Other examples of this can be found in Chinese assimilation in Thailand, Japanese assimilation in Brazil, or Italian assimilation in France.
What do you think about these trends? Do you think that there is there any way, in a liberal society, to prevent this assimilation, to successfully combine active participation in a wider society with the active participation in a culture? Or, as legal and societal incentives against assimilation fall, is a very strong shift towards the norms of the dominant culture inevitable? My readers can doubtless think of other examples of minority groups that have largely assimilated as their acceptance has progressed. Examples of minority groups that have not assimilated would be interesting. Also, do you think that younger members you who adopt the norms of the majority culture are making ill-judged decisions?
As always, please be polite in the comments. Yes, anonymous comments are welcome.
