Week 9

It is definitely an odd experience to have signed up for this class to present my creative project when reading the chapter in the text on sexuality. You may ask yourself, "what's so odd about it?" Well, I guess you will have to wait for class on Tuesday to find out. As I came to the section on "misconceptions about sexuality" (Corey & Corey, 2008), I have definitely felt that being attracted to someone of the same gender was wrong. Growing up in a small rural town, same sex relationships were brought up in two contexts: of disgust and homophobia or as a means to be humorous. I am a firm believer in abstinence (Corey & Corey, 2008) and this was something I continued to practice even if I was in a romantic relationship.

After having the opportunity to start the first LGBTQIA graduate group on campus, I knew it was only appropriate for me to get tested. Honestly, I was quite nervous as to how I would be tested for HIV/AIDS. I guess I could have just did a search online to see what the test actually looked like so I felt prepared, but I ended up just going without knowing what exactly I was getting myself in to. Yes, it was a simple mouth swab, but the wait for the results afterward was definitely nerve wracking even though I knew what the result would be. I definitely informed members of the graduate group that it is important to get tested and to take responsibility for taking care of themselves.

I must confess that I have been known to cause jealousy in my current relationship, but unlike my past relationships, my fiancé and I are able to understand that it is not jealousy but concern for one another. She would become jealous when I would talk about interactions with my classmates as she took it as more than just interaction within the classroom (Fleishchmann et al., 2005). After being able to have a conversation as to why jealousy arose when my fiancé knew that I was fully committed to her and had no intention of ever leaving her I began to understand the origination of this jealousy. Unfortunately, individuals in her past relationships did cause her jealousy and upset because it made her aware that this occurrence may happen again. Fortunately, my fiancé and I have been able to strengthen our relationship as we have both let ourselves be vulnerable to one another only to strengthen the trust we have in each other.

References

Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2010). Managing Stress. In Brooks/Cole (9th edition), I Never Knew I Had a Choice (132-169). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Fleishmann, A.A, Spitzberg, B.H., Andersen, P.A., & Roesch S.C. (2005). Tickling the monster: Jealousy induction in relationships. The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 22(1), 49-72