Stigma on Homosexual People

In reading the book Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair I have noticed how some of the characters have a problem with a girl named Willie Jean who according to everyone is funny. Funny is the word that Carla one of the characters used to describe Willie Jean to Stevie who is the main character. In the book the characters show a stigma towards being a lesbian because they are in some way homophobic. In chapters 8 and 9 it is shown how Carla tries to show Stevie what a person like Willie Jean is and why it is problem to be like her.

In chapter 8 Carla and Stevie encounter a conversation with Willie Jean about basketball in which Carla makes it obvious that she does not like Willie Jean. Carla also tells Stevie that she should not even think about playing basketball because it is a sport for guys. Willie Jean tries to explain that girls can play to and still be able to go out on dates. This shows that the playing of a certain sport can classify you as either being a lesbian or not. This shows that there is a stereotype in which all girls who play basketball are lesbian. I think that sometimes we are driven to believe things because it is what we our influences like friends teach us.

The other incident that occurs is in chapter 9 after Willie Jean makes Stevie look bad in class after giving her the wrong answer. They begin to talk about Yusef Brown who is the boy that Stevie likes. In their conversation Willie Jean expresses her opinion about the boy and tries to give advice to Stevie. In the end Carla tells Stevie that Willie Jean is funny just because she gives her advice. I think that sometimes just because we are given advice it doesn’t mean that you should judge the other person because of their opinions. The stigma with the whole being a lesbian is mentioned a lot because of the way that Willie Jean is looked at.

In these incidents it shows how Stevie is just not aware that Willie Jean is a lesbian. Stevie is also learning that a person is looked down on for being that even though she is a nice person. Instead of following Carla and doing what she says Stevie should try to be friends with Willie Jean. This also shows that our influences make us the person we are and sometimes discourage us of the person that we would like to be.