Idealistic versus Realistic

After reading Boy Meets Boy, and through discussion in class I couldn't stil help but ponder on the idea of this created community in the book. When reading the book it was so refreshing to read about a community that accepted each individual for who they were, not for who or what their sexual orientation was. This community accepted gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, cross-dressers, and what seemed to be everything and anything under the sun. It was such a refreshing take compared to the world/society we live in today, but in class the discussion turned to being too idealistic and not even close to being realistic. When reading the book, I never once thought about the community being unrealistic because for me it was just reading. That is why these Question the Text papers have been really difficult for me because I have been trained to read for setting, characters, plot, problem, and solution. I have never had to "question" what the author's intent was or what problems I see with the how the story is being portrayed. After the discussion in class about how unrealistic this community is in today's world I could only think about it isn't just about being "realistic", the author could be doing this as a way to be hopeful to all those that wished a place like this existed. When reading a book it shouldn't always be about being finding whats wrong it in, we should be discussing all of the right concepts in it. The concepts of being a gay being accepted in not only his/her school but in the community as well. The concept of the star football players being a cross-dresser and the concept of a boy finally finding the strength to lead the life he had been longing for. For me, this is what I found throughout the book; even though this community was jampacked with all of these different scenarios that arent usually accepted throughout society as a way to show hope. Hope that one day a community is accepting of even just being gay/lesbian; or a society that understands the world isn't just about black and white, there are a lot of gray areas in between.