Queer theory is a field of Gender Studies that emerged in the early 1990s out
of the fields of gay/lesbian studies and feminist studies. Heavily influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and other deconstructionists, queer theory builds both upon the feminist
challenge to the idea that gender is part of the essential self and upon gay/lesbian studies' close examination of the socially
constructed nature of sexual acts and identities. Whereas gay/lesbian studies focused its inquiries into "natural" and
"unnatural" behavior with respect homosexual behavior, queer theory expands its focus to encompass any kind of sexual activity or
identity that falls into normative and deviant categories.
Queer theory
"In the late 1960s, closets opened, and gay and lesbian scholars who had up till then remained silent regarding their
sexuality or the presence of homosexual themes in literature began to speak."[1]
Although many people believe that queer theory is only about homosexual representations in literature, it also explores the
categories of gender, as well as sexuality. Although some argue that queer theory is a by-product of third-wave feminism, it is
moreover a result of the (over)valuation of postmodern minoritizing, that is, the idea that the smallest constituent must have a
voice and identity equivalent to all others.
Queer theory's main project is exploring the contestations of the categorization of gender and sexuality. Queer theory
embraces the notion of a "normal" identity, in favour of the subversive. Theorists claim that identities are not fixed – they
cannot be categorized and labeled – because identities consist of many varied components and that to categorize by one
characteristic is wrong. For example, a woman can be a woman without being labelled a lesbian or feminist, and she may have a
different race from the dominant culture. She should, queer theorists argue, be classed as possessing an individual identity and
not put in the collective basket of feminists or of colour or the like. However, Queer Theory is more akin to a personal
philosophy as it is unsubstantiated with regards to what would per se constitute a theory.
Overview
Queer theorists analyze texts to expose underlying meanings within and to challenge the notions of ‘straight’ ideology, and in
this way owes much of its drive to the tenets of poststructuralist theory, and deconstruction in particular. Queer theory should
not be confused with queer activism, which developed as a response to the AIDS crisis of the 1980’s. Although there is overlap,
queer theory became occupied, in part, with what effects necessitated and nurtured new forms of political organization, education
and theorizing.
Queer theory, unlike some feminist theories and studies, includes a wide array of previously considered 'non-normative'
sexualities and sexual practices in its 'list' of identities. Because queer theory is grounded in gender and sexuality, there is
debate as to whether sexual orientation is natural or essential, or if it is merely a construction and subject to change. The
focus of theorists is the problem of classifying every individual by gender; therefore queer is less an identity than a critique
of identity.
The term 'queer theory' was introduced in 1990, with Eve Sedgwick, Judith Butler, and Diana Fuss (all largely following the
work of Michel Foucault) being among its foundational proponents. The existence of queer language and terms is believed to have
evolved from the imposing of structures and labels from an external mainstream culture and created by the 'queer society' as a
means of communication.
History
Teresa de Lauretis is the person credited with coining the phrase “Queer Theory”.
It was at a working conference on theorizing lesbian and gay sexualities that was held at the University of California, Santa Cruz in February 1990 that
de Lauretis first made mention of the phrase.[2] Barely
three years later, she abandoned the phrase on the grounds that it had been taken over by mainstream forces, and institutions it
was originally coined to resist[3]. Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet, and David Halperin's One Hundred
Years of Homosexuality inspired countless others' work.
Background Concepts
In many respects, Queer theory is grounded in gender and sexuality. Due to this association, a debate emerges as to whether
sexual orientation is natural or essential to the person, as an essentialist believes, or if sexuality is merely a construction
and subject to change.[4]
The essentialist theory was introduced to Queer Criticism as a by-product of feminism when the criticism was known by most as
Lesbian/Gay Criticism. The feminists believed that both genders "have an essential nature (eg. nurturing and caring versus being
aggressive and selfish), as opposed to differing by a variety of accidental or contingent features brought about by social
forces"[5]. Due to this belief in the essential nature of a
person, it is also natural to assume that a person’s sexual preference would be natural and essential to a person’s personality,
who they are.
The Constructivists counter, that there is no natural, that all meaning is constructed through discourse and there is no other
subject other than the creation of meaning for social theory. In a Constructivist perspective, it is not proper to take gay or
lesbian as subjects with objective reality; but rather they must be understood in terms of their social context, in how genealogy
creates these terms through history.
For example, as Foucault explains in his The History of Sexuality, 200 years ago there was no linguistic category for
gay male. Instead, the term applied to sex between two men was sodomy. Over time, the homosexual was created through the
discourses of medicine and especially psychiatry. What is conventionally understood to be the same practice was gradually
transformed from a sinful lifestyle into an issue of sexual orientation. Foucault argues that prior to this discursive creation
there was no such thing as a person who could think of himself as essentially gay.
Identity Politics
“Queer theory” was originally associated with radical gay politics of ACT
UP, Outrage! and other groups which embraced "queer" as an identity label that pointed to
a separatist, non-assimilationist politics[6]. Queer theory
developed out of unexamined constraints in the traditional identity politics of recognition and self-identity. Queer identity,
unlike the other categories labeled lesbian or gay, has no interest in consolidating or stabilizing itself. It maintains its
critique of identity-focus by understanding the formation of its own coalition; this may result in exclusionary effects in excess
of those intended.
Acknowledging the inevitable violence of identity politics, and having no stake in its own ideology, queer is less an identity
than a critique of identity. However, it is in no position to imagine itself outside the circuit of problems energized by
identity politics. Instead of defending itself against those criticisms that its operations attract, queer allows those
criticisms to shape its - for now unimaginable – future directions. "The term", writes Butler, "will be revised, dispelled,
rendered obsolete to the extent that it yields to the demands which resist the term precisely because of the exclusions by which
it is mobilized.". The mobilization of queer foregrounds the conditions of political representation, its intentions and effects,
its resistance to and recovery by the existing networks of power.[7]
The role of biology
Queer theorists focus on problems in classifying every individual as either male or female, even on a strictly biological
basis. For example, the sex chromosomes (X and Y) may exist in atypical combinations (as in
Klinefelter's syndrome [XXY]). This complicates the use of genotype as a means to define exactly two distinct genders. Intersexed
individuals may for many different biological reasons have ambiguous sexual
characteristics.
Scientists who have written on the conceptual significance of intersexual individuals include Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ruth Hubbard and Carol Tavris.
Some key experts in the study of culture, such as Barbara Rogoff, believe that the
traditional distinction between biology and culture is a false dichotomy since biology and
culture are closely related and have a significant influence on each other. [citation needed]
In Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, Anne
Fausto-Sterling challenges many of the biological facts surrounding how we constitute gender and sexuality. From genitalia
to brain composition, "hormones and gender chemistry," "toward a theory of human sexuality." A feminist biologist,
Fausto-Sterling navigates the scientific underpinnings of sex. However, some queer theorists are beginning to acknowledge that
the sexing of the body occurs as both a combination of social construction and the objective reality that biology studies.
HIV/AIDS Discourse
Much of queer theory developed out of a response to the AIDS crisis, which promoted a renewal of
radical activism, and the growing homophobia brought about by public responses to AIDS. Queer theory became occupied in part with
what effects – put into circulation around the AIDS epidemic – necessitated and nurtured new forms of political organization,
education and theorizing in ‘queer’.
To examine the effects that HIV/AIDS has on queer theory is to look at the ways in which the status of the subject or
individual is treated in the biomedical discourses that construct them[8].
- The shift, affected by same sex education in emphasizing sexual practices over sexual identities[9].
- The persistent misrecognition of HIV/AIDS as a “gay” disease[10].
- Homosexuality as a kind of fatality[11].
- The coalition politics of much HIV/AIDS activism that rethinks identity in terms of affinity rather than essence[12] and therefore includes not only lesbians and gay men but
also bi-sexuals, trans-sexuals, sex workers, people with AIDS, health workers, and parents and friends of gays; the pressing
recognition that discourse is not a separate or second-order ‘reality’[13].
- The constant emphasis on contestation in resisting dominant depictions of HIV and AIDS and
representing them otherwise[14].
The rethinking of traditional understandings of the workings of power in cross-hatched struggles over epidemiology, scientific
research, public health and immigration policy[15].
The material effects of AIDS contested many cultural assumptions about identity, justice, desire and knowledge, which some
scholars felt challenged the entire system of Western thought[16], believing it maintained the health and immunity of epistemology: “the psychic presence of AIDS
signifies a collapse of identity and difference that refuses to be abjected from the systems of self-knowledge[17].” Thus queer theory and AIDS become interconnected because
each is articulated through a postmodernist understanding of the death of the subject and both understand identity as an
ambivalent site.
Prostitution, Pornography and BDSM
Queer theory, unlike most feminist theory and lesbian and gay studies, includes a wide array of previously considered
“non-normative” sexualities and sexual practices in its “list” of identities. Not all of these are non-heterosexual.
Sadism and masochism, prostitution,
inversion, transgender, bisexuality, intersexuality and many other things are seen by queer theorists as opportunities for more involved
investigations into class difference and racial, ethnic and regional particulars allow for a wide ranging field of investigation
using non-normative analysis as a tool in reconfiguring the way we understand pleasure and desire.
The key element is that as viewing sexuality as constructed through discourse no list or set constituted pre-existing
sexuality realities but rather identities constructed through discursive operations. It is important to consider discourse in its
broadest sense as shared meaning making, as Foucault and Queer Theory would take the term to mean. In this way sexual activity,
having shared rules and symbols would be as much a discourse as a conversation, and sexual practice itself constructs its reality
rather than reflecting a proper biological predefined sexuality.
This point of view places these theorists in conflict with some branches of feminism that view prostitution and pornography,
for example, as mechanisms for the oppressions of women. Other branches of feminism tend to vocally disagree with this latter
interpretation and celebrate pornography as a means of adult sexual representation[18].
The role of language
Queer theory is likened to language because it is never static, but is ever-evolving. Richard Norton suggests that the
existence of queer language is believed to have evolved from the imposing of structures and labels from an external mainstream
culture.[19]
Early discourse of queer theory involved leading theorists: Michael Foucault, Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and others.
This discourse centered on the way that knowledge of sexuality was structured through the use of language. Heteronormativity was
the main focus of discourse, where heterosexuality was viewed as normal and any deviations, such as homosexuality as abnormal or
"queer".
In later years there was an explosion of discourse on sexuality and sexual orientations with the coming-of-age of the
Internet. Prior to this, discourse was controlled by institutional publishing, and with the growth of the internet and its
popularity, the community could have its own discussion on what sexuality and sexual orientation was. Homosexual and heterosexual
were no longer the main topics of discourse; BDSM, transgender
and bisexual became topics of discourse.
Derogatory terms, such as dyke, faggot,
queer and other terms, were originally coined by the 'queer society' to communicate and relate
with each other. It was homophobic and people who turned these words into a slur.
Although homosexuality and queer practices are nothing new, the association between queer practices and deviancy is taking on
new meaning in the modern world as queer community and queer culture becomes more apparent. Queer culture is not limited to queer
sex. Queer culture, from an ideological standpoint, represents the queer community and its arts, lifestyles, institutions,
writings, politics, relationships and everything else encompassed in culture. Two common sects of queer culture are the
"flamboyant" and the "closet." The flamboyant side of queer culture originates in “the streets”
with butch dykes, clubs, bars and drag queens. The closet side of the queer culture is more secretive with code words, separate
social lives and rarely mixes with the flamboyant street culture.[20] Queer culture in general is intertwining with the common "normative" culture, with people being
exposed to the ideas of “gay pride” and becoming more educated about queer studies in schools and society.
Media and other creative works
Many queer theorists have created creative works that reflect theoretical perspectives in a wide variety of media. For
example, science fiction authors such as Samuel
Delany and Octavia Butler feature many values and themes from queer theory in
their work. Pat Califia's published fiction also draws heavily on concepts and ideas
from queer theory. Some lesbian feminist novels written in the years immediately
following Stonewall, such as Lover by Bertha Harris
or Les Guérillères by Monique Wittig, can be said to
anticipate the terms of later queer theory.
In film, the genre christened by B. Ruby Rich as New
Queer Cinema in 1992 continues, as Queer Cinema, to draw heavily on the
prevailing critical climate of queer theory; a good early example of this is the Jean Genet-inspired movie Poison by the director Todd Haynes. In fan fiction, the genre known as slash fiction rewrites straight or
nonsexual relationships to be homosexual, bisexual, and queer in sort of a campy cultural
appropriation. And in music, some Queercore groups and zines
could be said to reflect the values of queer theory.[21]
Queer theorists analyze texts and challenge the cultural notions of ‘straight’ ideology; that is, does ‘straight’ imply
heterosexuality as normal or is everyone potentially gay? As Ryan states: “It is only the laborious imprinting of heterosexual
norms that cuts away those potentials and manufactures heterosexuality as the dominant sexual format."[22] For example, Hollywood pursues the ‘straight’ theme as being the dominant theme
to outline what masculine is. This is particularly noticeable in gangster films, action films and westerns, which never have
‘weak’ (read homosexual) men playing the heroes, with the exception of late the film Brokeback Mountain. Queer theory looks at destabilizing and shifting the boundaries of these
cultural constructions.
Queer theorists also analyze texts to expose underlying meanings in texts and investigate the discrepancies between homosocial
male bonding, homophobia and homosexuality in English literature. King Lear is often used as an example.
Theorists
Further Reading
- Michel Foucault, La Volonté de savoir, 1976.
- Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, 1990.
- Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Between Men, 1985.
- Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet, 1990.
- Annamarie Jagose, Queer Theory, 1996.
See also
References
- ^ Ryan, M., 1999. Literary Theory: a practical introduction. Oxford.
Blackwell. P. 115
- ^ David Halperin. “The Normalizing of Queer Theory.” Journal of Homosexuality
v.45, pp. 339-343
- ^ Jagose, A 1996, “Queer Theory”.
- ^ Barry, P 2002, ‘Lesbian/gay criticism’, in P Barry (eds), Beginning theory:
an introduction to literary and cultural theory, Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp139-155.
- ^ Blackburn, S 1996, “essentialism”, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, (Oxford
Reference Online).
- ^ Blackburn, S 1996, “essentialism”, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, (Oxford
Reference Online).
- ^ Brooker, P, A Concise Glossary of Cultural theory, 1999
- ^ Donna Haraway, “The Biopolitics of Postmodern Bodies,” 1989
- ^ Michael Bartos, “Meaning of Sex Between Men,” 1993 and G.W. Dowsett, Men
Who Have Sex With Men, 1991.
- ^ Richard Meyer, “Rock Hudson’s Body,” 1991
- ^ Ellis Hanson, “Unread,” 1991
- ^ Catherine Saalfield, “Shocking Pink Praxis,” 1991
- ^ Jagose, A 1996, Queer Theory, [1]
- ^ Edelman, L 1994, Homographesis, [2] (accessed
19-4-07)
- ^ David Halperin, “Homosexuality: A Cultural Construct,” 1990
- ^ Thomas Yingling “AIDS in America,” 1991
- ^ Thomas Yingling “AIDS in America,” 1991, p. 292
- ^ [3]
- ^ Norton, R 2002, “Queer language”, A Critique of Social Construcionism and
Postmodern Queer Theory [4]
- ^ Wilson, N 1997, “Our families, our values: snapshots of queer kinship” R
Goss & A Adams (eds), Strongheart Haworth Press, pp 22.
- ^ Matias Viegener, “The only haircut that makes sense anymore,” in Queer
Looks: Lesbian & Gay Experimental Media (Routledge, New York: 1993) & “Kinky Escapades, Bedroom Techniques, Unbridled
Passion, and Secret Sex Codes,” in Camp Grounds: Gay & Lesbian Style (U Mass, Boston: 1994)
- ^ Ryan, M., 1999. Literary Theory: a practical introduction. Oxford.
Blackwell, p.117
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