Gay Marriage and Three Sociological Perspectives
Some people living in the society are in the favor of gay marriages, while some people are against gay marriage as they consider that such types of marriages exert negative influence on the society. People do not like concept of gay marriage because it paves the way to reduction and corroding of traditional marriages between a male and a female, and is also against the religious values and reasons. But, some people are of the view that gay marriages should be promoted as gays also have the right of getting married, and gay people committing marriages are significantly contributing to the society’s stability. Gay marriages are, however, demanding institutionalization of new moral and cultural values. However, in this regard, three sociological perspectives, which are functionalism, conflict perspective, and symbolic interactionism are worth considering.
Functionalism
Functionalist perspective is of the view that the society is held together with the help of social cohesion in which people living in the society are working together for agreeing on what is most significant and best for the society. The functionalist perspective would, however, explain that gay marriage should be considered and determined with the help of democracy. Further, this perspective does not encourage change, and is in the favor of original or traditional marriage between a man and a woman. It considers society as an organism where the process of reproduction in members of society is possible as well as this process is biological. According to functionalism, decisions are made by considering what is best and effective for overall population instead of just looking at what is best for some people or individuals. By making decisions in this way, productivity as well as stability of the society can be ensured. There are several conflict regarding legalizing gay marriages, the ongoing argument is indicative of the fact that functionalist perspective is trying to make social unity certain.
Conflict Perspective
The conflict perspective described that a society is continuously subjected to the change. According to this perspective, there are unequal groups in the society, which are having different goals, objectives, and values, and these groups unavoidably conflict or fight against each other. Conflicts encourage growth of the society and help the society to adopt changes. However, the conflict perspective is about scarce resources, and according to this perspective, conflict in the society would be a scarce source if an individual is not capable of marrying an individual of same sex. Homosexual people claim that marriage is their human right, and it is not a heterosexual privilege. Additionally, there are many gay people and gay couples who want to show their love, but there are just only a few states that have allowed gay marriages.
Internationalist Perspective
Internationalist perspective is of the view that people interpret symbols on the basis of the meanings that they learn from other individuals. According to this perspective, homosexual society makes use of rainbow colors in order to identify themselves. This perspective displays how people consider and see same sex marriages. Furthermore, this perspective is in favor of freedom of sexuality. This perspective accepts gay marriages, and promotes that people living this society should accept such types of marriages. Additionally, this perspective is based on sexual orientation and on gender that exert influence on determination of marital status. Individuals in the society have their perceptions regarding traditional norms associated with gender because of federal benefits, and sometimes they can also explained as gay couples getting privilege.
