Understanding The Rainbow Lifestyle

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Understanding the Rainbow Lifestyle An Analysis of Sanchez's Construction of a Gay Teen Culture in Rainbow Boys The topic of homosexuality has historically been viewed as a taboo in American culture. Many heterosexual Americans, especially teens, struggle to understand the perspectives and choices of homosexuals in our society. Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez is a novel which tells the story of three teenage boys struggling with the everyday stress and hardships of being homosexual. Each boy is at a different stage of acceptance and understanding of their sexuality. Through each of their stories, the reader becomes more acquainted with the lifestyles, thoughts and feelings of teens struggling to be accepted among their peers as homosexuals. The boys advocate implicating a gay-straight alliance in their school in an attempt to move towards being accepted among their peers and families. Similarly, Sanchez attempts to help the reader accept homosexuality by telling the stories of Kyle, Nelson, and Jason. Sanchez constructs the characters in Rainbow Boys and their experiences to elicit empathy for them, creating situations of extreme struggle and hardship. Sanchez’s purpose in writing this novel is to bring the struggles and mistreatment of homosexuals in America to light, and hopefully inspire people to advocate for the equal rights of gays. The text is not un-bias, it is a social construct of Sanchez’s perspective. He intentionally emphases the hardships of these boys in an attempt to make readers understand what it’s like to be a gay teen in America. In the novel, both Nelson and Kyle are bullied regularly for being gay. The boys face constant ridicule and harassment, especially Nelson who is the more flamboyant of the two. “Simply because he walks and talks differently from other boys, he’s been hit, kicked, beat up, spit upon, and received death

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