Set A.
During the Cold War, homosexuals and other security offenders were considered a national security risk or threat by the Eisenhower administration officials due to many reasons. According to Hines (2017), during that period, homosexual behavior was viewed as an indication of immorality and therefore increased their susceptibility to blackmail. Here, Douglas was demonstrated how the loathing of gays made the Central intelligence to act in intense and overarching fear. The great depression led the Americans to change their perceptions about gender and sexuality. This brought about massive unemployment that resulted in economic calamity making many men unable to provide for their families and social disruption and dislocation. In a society where the majority was heterosexuals, this was considered a huge failure of masculinity. Although heterosexual men were considered to have failed, gays were considered to be worse and hence were regarded as a national security risk.
Initially, they were viewed as a threat to children because the common belief was that they had made children their target amid increased child murder/kidnapping during that particular period (Hines, 2017). They were therefore viewed as security and communists sympathizers’ reasons that were used to justify firing them from their jobs.
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The New Deal period led to the acquisition of knowledge by the federal government that there existed gays in the society and the New Deal FDR’s program is a family-oriented program, viewed gays as a threat to the New Deal and the family values (Hines, 2017). The gays were seen as a national threat during wartime because of the perceptions that they were a threat to children, society and masculinity. It was feared gays would easily betray their country in the event of war and took place amid fears that a fascist 5 th column was covertly in operation in the U.S just like it was during the Spanish Civil War (Hines, 2017). This led to the increased investigation of senior government officials that were thought to be gays as well as removal of gays from the military. The foreshadowed post-war anxiety played a major role in consideration of gays as a national threat.
Homosexuals were forced out of their jobs through the lavender scare that was followed by reports and congressional hearings on the threats of homosexuality particularly gays. Information about gays was collected and maintained which was then distributed to ensure that homosexuals were kicked out of their jobs and to influence bureaucratic appointments.
Set B.
As per Riches (2017), the issues of gender were at the heart of the civil rights struggle for both white segregationists and civil right activists through the inequalities that were seen in the roles that were considered for men and those that were considered for women during the civil war. The role of women revolved majorly around doing household jobs, and as a result, they were left at home. Men went out to the battle to fight. Despite the shared responsibility women were considered the minority group. This is revealed by Young in his diaries in the Birmingham exhibits where he brought out how he was worried around two ladies, Diane Bevel and Dorothy Cotton who were among those in the serene dissent walks. He states that he ensured that he stayed as far from them as he could be allowed when the two marched as he did not believe that he had what it takes to protect them in case they came under attack.
Both sides defined manhood in terms of masculinity and their roles in the society which during the civil war was participation in the war and fight (Riches, 2017). The civil war, however, succeeded in changing the concept of masculinity. The ideas about manhood shaped the debate over nonviolence inside the civil rights movement through the introduction of the concept of tolerance for violence. Women were impacted by this idea because they were not allowed to take part in the military and its activities simply because they were thought to be short of masculinity or masculine power.
References
Hines, H. (2017). The LGBT Community Responds: The Lavender Scare and the Creation of Midwestern Gay and Lesbian Publications (Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University).
Riches, W. (2017). The civil rights movement: Struggle and resistance . Macmillan International Higher Education .
