Growing up Hidden and made-up story about best friend who is gay Essay

Growing up Hidden and made-up story about best friend who is gay - Essay Example The paper tells that Linnea Due’s essay titled â€Å"Growing Up Hidden† is an indication of she struggled with being gay. According to the opinion of many, being gay is a phase that society intends one to outgrow but as Due insists she did not have to conform to the ideas of society. On the other hand, Miguel’s life is one that was different from that of Due as Miguel comes from Argentina where being gay is acceptable. In essence, the aspect of being gay in America becomes a challenge for those in America as the antagonists seem to have their ideas peeled. According to Due, she spent most of her life living a lie by attempting to develop an attraction for the male gender as a way of entertaining the existing norms in the American society. She found herself in heterosexual relationships that were not working since she was living a lie. However, Miguel’s gay aspect makes him coexist peacefully with those in his society as Argentine’s are not judgmenta l regarding one's sexual preference. On the contrary, defies the idea of one needs to conform to societal beliefs and attributes as a way of influencing society into accepting him. Moreover, the family experiences between Miguel and Due are quite different as Due experienced minimal love and acceptance from her family because of her being gay. Essentially, the essay presents the fact that she only was part of the family when she pretended to be heterosexual and when she finally revealed her sexual orientation, Due’s family sidelined her.... In essence, hers was a double life that led her to struggle for a substantive portion of her life as she had to keep her act in check. On the other hand, the essay on Miguel has a difference in experience as there is no one time in Miguel’s life that he had to pretend as his parents were proud of him irrespective of him being gay. They accredited his performance in school as they saw him as a child like all the other within their family and received equal treatment as his siblings. Due’s essay portrays, her quest to be a normal child despite her being gay to which her parents denied her constantly. In fact, Due’s parents ought to have shown unconditional support for their daughter as opening up to society forms the trickiest aspect of revealing one’s gay nature to society. This becomes harsh for gay individuals as they aren’t accepted both at home and in their common surrounding. Nevertheless, Due’s friends are as judgmental as a closed minde d society would be in that they are not supportive of her gay attribute. Instead, they alienate her for having stopped to live a life that is not the lie that they had all believed. In contrast, Miguel has a supportive friend as the hard times that he has had in his life he could share and receive encouragement to move forward. In essence, the American culture defies the acceptance of a gay individual in society, and it becomes emotional especially when one is not an American native. Subsequently, Miguel struggled to live his life as he had accustomed himself to because he found himself faced with the possibility of toning down his gay appearances. However, Miguel experienced few problems with acquiring friendship