Sexuality matters. It doesn't matter according to theoretical, moral, logical, sensible definitions of meaning, but it does matter. For those who don't identify as heterosexual, and sometimes even for those who do, liberation of the self is an ideal that many people find unattainable. No matter how comfortable an individual may be with their sexuality, there have always been and will always be those who view it with ignorant and reprehensible cowardice, who make no secret of it, who seek to minimize, belittle and dehumanize a person because of their sexuality. This is what happens in the story Drown by Junot Díaz. The story of two friends and a relationship gone wrong over sexuality, Drown has a particularly melancholic tone with its sense of futility, loss and lack of understanding. In his story, Díaz supports the idea that sexuality really does make a difference, even in the face of supreme love, and that claiming that it doesn't matter is itself a form of ignorance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Drown, Díaz works to establish that even the strongest and most cherished relationships can become volatile. While love in and of itself may be unconditional, its manifestation and means of being shared with others certainly are not. Díaz's character, Yunior, loves his best friend Beto dearly, but still betrays this friendship and everything it means when Beto turns out to be gay. After the first sexual encounter between Yunior and Beto, Yunior says that "[Beto] was [his] best friend and back then that mattered to [him] more than anything", and that's why he goes to see him again ( Díaz 104). What Yunior makes obvious is that something far more sinister ultimately means more to him, more than Beto, as he ends up throwing away their friendship because he can't accept Beto's homosexuality. Yunior's abandonment of Beto, whatever his reluctance, is ingrained in him to be only a natural reaction to a revelation such as the one Beto offers; Raised in a culture where gay men are called "faggots" and "patos," where it is acceptable to go to a gay bar to point a plastic gun at someone just to see their reaction, Yunior is not trained to recognize or understand homosexuality is fine. As a result, Yunior does not challenge his culture and environment. He says that when he talked to his mother about why he and Beto are no longer friends, "she tried to explain, very wisely, that everything changes, but she thinks this saying exists only so [he] can prove him wrong” (Díaz 95). Yunior proves his mother right when she chooses to believe what he has been taught and told and cuts Beto out of her life, engaging in the cyclical perpetuation of homosexuality as an issue of great importance. .Yunior's abandonment of his friend is not only about Beto's sexuality, but also about Yunior's. He says that when Beto sticks his hand down his shorts (with his hand dry, indicating that Beto isn't nervous, and therefore is probably familiar with what he's doing) comes immediately Whatever love exists between Yunior and Beto, it's far from obvious in their first meeting. There is no emotion, only carnal physicality. Afterwards, he says he was "terrified that [he] would end up becoming abnormal, a fucking idiot" (Díaz 104). Yunior doesn't know who he is, but he knows, or at least thinks he knows, that homosexuality is not allowed, and he is afraid. Yunior's fear about the implications of sexuality is far from unfounded. Asstates Allan G. Johnson in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference, “of all human needs, few are as powerful as the need to be seen, included, and accepted by other people. This is why being shunned or banished is among the most severe painful punishments to endure, a social death. It [is] not surprising, then, that inclusion and acceptance are key aspects of privilege” (Johnson 55). Yunior knows all this, and it is at the origin of his proclaimed terror. Regardless of whether he is gay, straight, or even bisexual, Yunior does not want such punishment for himself, and therefore sees his only chance in imposing that punishment on Beto. He doesn't even stop to truly analyze his own thoughts and feelings, what he believes to be right and wrong. He acts only in self-defense, exemplifying the tragic truth that sexuality is not a matter without consequences. Díaz, while establishing the unfortunate but undeniable relevance of sexuality, also comments in Drown on the line that friendship walks in terms of intimacy. In his book The Transformation of Sexuality: Gender and Identity in Contemporary Youth Culture, Thomas Johansson states that “male companionship can be discussed and analyzed in terms of homosociality. This form of sociability constitutes a mixture of the desire for intimacy... and the need to maintain fixed boundaries in relation to the surrounding world... this apparently strong male communion originates in both the desire and the fear of intimacy, and is characterized by. .. notable homophobia. Hugs, kisses, and other intimate behaviors are enshrined in careful rules and norms” (Johansson 28). Johansson states that male interaction often consists of very rigidly defined predetermined parameters made up of conflicting desires. This is certainly the case with Yunior and Beto. Even before sexual acts occur between them, there is an explicitly sexual element to their relationship. Watching porn together, even if it's heterosexual porn, has extremely homosexual overtones that neither Yunior nor Beto recognize, or even seem to recognize as existing. This, however, is fine in Yunior's eyes, as long as no definitive action is taken to make their interactions explicitly homosexual. It's a thin line they walk, between friendship and something more, between heterosexuality and homosociality and homosexuality, between what is acceptable and what is not, but once crossed there is no way to go back. There is no analysis in Drown of morality, of what Yunior or Beto should or shouldn't have done, what choices they should or shouldn't have made, who they should or shouldn't have been. In his book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? John Corvino states that “morality is about how [people] treat each other… it is about the ideals we hold for ourselves and others. It is about the kind of society [people] want to be: what [they] will embrace, what [they] will tolerate, and what [they] will prohibit” (Corvino 6). While morality marks, as explained by Corvino, are very prevalent in Drown, there is no actual discussion about them. Drown is simply an account of a story, told without remorse or pain, or at least not enough to be truly relevant, and it tells of no hope of reconciliation, understanding, or catharsis. Instead, it implies that there is a need for forgiveness, that Yunior should forgive Beto for being gay in order for them to have any kind of relationship again. This is one of the main tragedies of the situation, that homosexuality must be condoned when it should make no difference. There are many who like to say that it doesn't matter whether a person is gay, straight, bisexual or anything else, and.