Sociologists and other scholars who study subcultures through Queer Theory “inevitably straddle disciplines and attend to some of the ways that queer identities, cultures and assemblages can problematize conventional subcultural frameworks” (Taylor 2013). Sedgwick, Eve K.. 1990. viii–xxxi in Fear of a Queer Planet. Thus Adam Green states that by advocating the incorporation of social contingency in this way, Jagose offers neither the critical edge of queer theory nor the clarity of standpoint theory. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Feminist views on sexuality § Feminism and queer theory, personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay, "An audio overview of queer theory in English and Turkish by Jack Halberstam", "Punks, Bulldaggers and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics", "Queer Past, Queer Present, Queer Future", "Gay Assimilationists versus Radical Queers: The Death of Queerness? The independence of "queer" from "gay" came from the alignment of gay ideals with assimilationism and conservatism, while queer coincided with a radical approach. Michel Foucault writes in "The History of Sexuality", critiquing the idea of the "repressive hypothesis" that supposes from the 17th to the mid-20th century, sex was a private matter limited within a marriage between a husband and wife, and discourses of sex have been otherwise prohibited and repressed. Heavily influenced by the work of Lauren Berlant, Leo Bersani, Judith Butler, Lee Edelman, Jack Halberstam,[1] and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, queer theory builds both upon feminist challenges 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. Scientific knowledge is as influenced by systems of power surrounding as social knowledge, and the creation and proliferation of information are inseparable from these systems. For example, the resistance politics of Queer Theory is partly responsible for the creation of the, QUEER THEORY FOR DUMMIES | Heiress Blackstone, Theories of Gender: Crash Course Sociology #33, What is QUEER THEORY? One example is the "welfare queen," a woman of color who is marginalized for her race, sexuality and gender—all identities which intersect to create this kind of oppression.[10]. Straight persons can be oppressed for behaviors that are seen as sexually deviant as well. Kramer writes, "Godbeer is hell-bent on convincing us that two men in Colonial America could have exceedingly obsessive and passionate relationships (he called them, variously, 'sentimental,' 'loving,' 'romantic') . What does QUEER THEORY mean? Pp. Jagose, A. [26] Using Judith Butler's critique of sexual identity categories as a starting point, they work around a "queer epistemology" that explicitly opposes the sexual categories of Lesbian and Gay studies and lesbian and gay identity politics. Queer theory's main project is exploring the contestations of the categorization … Following that same dynamic, the subjection of homosexuality in relation to heterosexuality founded the basis of homosexuality. However, both crossplay groups create “alternative gendered personas” that “expose the socially constructed nature of femininity and masculinity” which clearly demonstrates a huge theme within Queer Theory: the fluidity and performativity of gender (Leng 2013; Butler 1990). The term queer is necessarily indeterminate, taking on different — and sometimes contradictory — meanings in different articulations. Not only were the boundaries of what one could say about sex enlarged, and men compelled to hear it said; but more important, discourse was connected to sex by a complex organization with varying effects, by a deployment that cannot be adequately explained merely by referring it to a law of prohibition. Capitalism and gay identity. This binary has created a misdirection of dialogue surrounding power dynamics. Published 2018-11-14. Queer theory was originally associated with radical gay politics of ACT UP, OutRage! Some argue that queer theory is a by-product of third-wave feminism, while others claim that it is a result of the valuation of postmodernminoritizing, that is, the idea that the smallest constituent must have a voice and identity equivalent to all others. By acknowledging the intersection of multiple oppressions is to dismantle a single-issue framework, and thus, creating a platform for a more intensive analysis. The constructs are animated by futuristic fantasy designed to evade mortality." Recently, the term has been used as an umbrella term for a coalition of sexual identities that are culturally marginalized, and at other times, to create discourse surrounding the budding theoretical model that primarily arose through more traditional lesbian and gay studies. [44], One overlap of queer theory and feminist theory is through the recognition and influence of Judith Butler and Butler's cultivation of the relationship of gender and sexuality that has come to found the basis of queer theory concerns. Durham and London: Duke University Press. Butler goes on to address the notion that an individual’s sexuality and gender identity are fluid, concluding that only societal expectation and construction keep people contained in labelled categories. It creates spaces for subculturists who have been typically marginalized within a scene. [55], The criticism of queer theory can be divided into three main ideas:[56]. "Introduction: What’s Queer about Queer Studies Now?" In this way, an identity is not born but rather constructed through repeated performative actions that are in turn informed by existing social constructions of gender. 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