Fred Jordan Mikhail T. Carnice
The Weekly Sillimanian
July 23, 2008
It is a kind of furniture present in almost all homes. Usually, its purpose is as dignified and protective as your grandmother’s jewelry box filled with different precious trinkets through the years. This keeps everything of value, keeps things hidden unbeknownst by many. Yes, this household object holds secrets both important and rubbish, both clean and dirty. This is called the closet.
With all its unabashed innocence as a common domestic piece of carpentry regardless of its size, the closet somehow parallels the characteristic of people whose number has grown in rapid succession. These people are living in the fine line between the dictations of what must be done and the personal conviction of what is wanted. They are in the middle of secrecy and openness. Thus, they are called “closet people” or “closeted.” The history of the metaphor is not mainly intended for a person’s sexuality in its first conception. It was already used to mean something unsuspected or covert as early as the 1600s.
In the middle of the 20th century, the jargon became a general reference to disclosed behavior, preference, or orientation which, of course, has homosexuality and bisexuality as the most common examples. I always assume that following (or most likely realizing) this path is never a choice—the epiphany of what one is most likely occurs and appears naturally. What is not natural, and therefore a choice, is the act of hiding.
This act of “hiding away from” is usually set towards the family and other areas of corporate life. Seldom can you find them concealing the truth from their friends because they are, more often than not, the only people they are comfortable with. But if the level of concealment is taken a notch higher, then it’s a different story. In this case, the dilemma is tougher than usual. Because staying in the closest already has its liabilities since once is departed from the familial bond where sincerity is nurtured, what more will separation from their dear beloved buddies be?
If the situation is allowed to continue this way, then these closet people must be cautious. In a time when questions are easily answered by persistent analysis aided by mere coincidences, these closets would crumble and fall in an instant. Just because behind those closed lids are all things private, the curiosity of some are aroused. And by this reason alone, unwanted things may happen: the closet may be ransacked and searched through. For all the closeted to know, there’s this breed who enjoys stripping off the intricate décor, the elaborate and skilled craftsmanship of a closet until all humanity can witness a whole new character completely detached from what is familiar. The revelation might be delectably jarring for the suspect and spiteful for the victim but this is the usual case—the hunter pursues the prey and the prey kills the hunter which remains a cycle that forever spins in our sociological setting.
In the process of deconstruction, in which the unattained truth is deemed vague making all discourses gratifyingly suspicious for the nosy, meaning is brought about in the light of complicating assumptions and emphasizing fallacies. This has only resulted more in negating than in accommodating which consequently makes more and more people to hide in the unreal comfort of their closets.
This is merely an expression of concern, not an objection of lifestyle. But no matter how people’s mentality progresses for the better, we cannot get away from how the majority constructs the idyllic setting, the supreme trait of “goodness” which, unfortunately, falls to be dubiously orthodox. Since time immemorial, our community has been built with principles that has conditioned almost everyone to stick like a magnet to a set norms, thus, it’s unavoidable for those who grew up to the opposite force to be considered deviant and their standard of living taboo.
The age of eradicating the stigma is happening and it is good. As for the case of the closeted, it could be the chance for them to come out of the musty scent of oldness, the whiff of naphthalene balls, and the dark confines of the tight antiquated aparador.
With all its unabashed innocence as a common domestic piece of carpentry regardless of its size, the closet somehow parallels the characteristic of people whose number has grown in rapid succession. These people are living in the fine line between the dictations of what must be done and the personal conviction of what is wanted. They are in the middle of secrecy and openness. Thus, they are called “closet people” or “closeted.” The history of the metaphor is not mainly intended for a person’s sexuality in its first conception. It was already used to mean something unsuspected or covert as early as the 1600s.
In the middle of the 20th century, the jargon became a general reference to disclosed behavior, preference, or orientation which, of course, has homosexuality and bisexuality as the most common examples. I always assume that following (or most likely realizing) this path is never a choice—the epiphany of what one is most likely occurs and appears naturally. What is not natural, and therefore a choice, is the act of hiding.
This act of “hiding away from” is usually set towards the family and other areas of corporate life. Seldom can you find them concealing the truth from their friends because they are, more often than not, the only people they are comfortable with. But if the level of concealment is taken a notch higher, then it’s a different story. In this case, the dilemma is tougher than usual. Because staying in the closest already has its liabilities since once is departed from the familial bond where sincerity is nurtured, what more will separation from their dear beloved buddies be?
If the situation is allowed to continue this way, then these closet people must be cautious. In a time when questions are easily answered by persistent analysis aided by mere coincidences, these closets would crumble and fall in an instant. Just because behind those closed lids are all things private, the curiosity of some are aroused. And by this reason alone, unwanted things may happen: the closet may be ransacked and searched through. For all the closeted to know, there’s this breed who enjoys stripping off the intricate décor, the elaborate and skilled craftsmanship of a closet until all humanity can witness a whole new character completely detached from what is familiar. The revelation might be delectably jarring for the suspect and spiteful for the victim but this is the usual case—the hunter pursues the prey and the prey kills the hunter which remains a cycle that forever spins in our sociological setting.
In the process of deconstruction, in which the unattained truth is deemed vague making all discourses gratifyingly suspicious for the nosy, meaning is brought about in the light of complicating assumptions and emphasizing fallacies. This has only resulted more in negating than in accommodating which consequently makes more and more people to hide in the unreal comfort of their closets.
This is merely an expression of concern, not an objection of lifestyle. But no matter how people’s mentality progresses for the better, we cannot get away from how the majority constructs the idyllic setting, the supreme trait of “goodness” which, unfortunately, falls to be dubiously orthodox. Since time immemorial, our community has been built with principles that has conditioned almost everyone to stick like a magnet to a set norms, thus, it’s unavoidable for those who grew up to the opposite force to be considered deviant and their standard of living taboo.
The age of eradicating the stigma is happening and it is good. As for the case of the closeted, it could be the chance for them to come out of the musty scent of oldness, the whiff of naphthalene balls, and the dark confines of the tight antiquated aparador.
__________________________________________________________________
1 comment:
but there are closets that are not quite interesting...
Post a Comment