The history and overview of the queer theory
Some argue that queer theory is a by-product of third-wave feminismwhile others claim that it is a result of the valuation of postmodern minoritizing, that is, the idea that the smallest constituent must have a voice and identity equivalent to all others. 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.
Theorist David Halperin wrote: There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence. And it is easy to be misled by the utopian claims advanced in support of particular tactics.
But the range and seriousness of the problem that are continually raised by queer practice indicate how much work remains to be done. Because the logic of the sexual order is so deeply embedded by now in an indescribably wide range of social institutions, and is embedded in the most standard accounts of the world, queer struggles aim not just at toleration or equal status but at challenging those institutions and accounts.
The dawning realization that themes of homophobia and heterosexism may be read in almost any document of our culture means that we are only beginning to have an idea of how widespread those institutions and accounts are. For example, a woman can be a woman without being labeled 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.
Starting in the s, a range of authors brought deconstructionist critical approaches to bear on issues of sexual identity, and especially on the construction of a normative "straight" ideology. Queer theorists challenged the validity and consistency of heteronormative discourse, and focused to a large degree on non-heteronormative sexualities and sexual practices.
The term "queer theory" was introduced inwith Eve Kosofsky SedgwickJudith ButlerAdrienne Rich and Diana Fuss all largely following the work of Michel Foucault being among its foundational proponents.
Queer theory is not the same as queer activismalthough there is overlap. Major aspects of this critique include discussion of: It was at a working conference on theorizing lesbian and gay sexualities that was held at the University of CaliforniaSanta Cruz in February that de Lauretis first made mention of the phrase.
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 a social construction and subject to change.
The essentialist feminists believed that both genders "have an essential nature e. The Constructivists counter that there is no natural identity, that all meaning is constructed through discourse and there is no 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 The History of Sexuality, two hundred years ago there was no linguistic category for gay male.
Queer theory - Wikipedia
Instead, the term applied to sex between two men was sodomy. Over time, the concept " homosexual " was created in a test tube 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. There are three instances of mixed treatment of the subject in queer scholarship: For Barnard, any consideration of sexuality must include its inextricability with racialized subjectivities Green He reasons that the failure to incorporate racial specificity arises because queer theorists are themselves white, and therefore operate from the particularity of a white racial standpoint Green It's not really fair to write a short guide to queer theory.
Queer theory is a diverse field of studies that involves a lot of disparate ideas. What the Fuck is Queer Theory? If anyone scrolled down here for a short summary, basically, queer theory.
Background - Queer Theory - LibGuides at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Queer Theory and Gender Performativity Overview In this lecture on queer theory, Professor Paul Fry explores the work of Judith Butler in relation to Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality.
LGBT history dates back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love and sexuality of ancient civilizations, Degeneracy became a widely acknowledged theory for homosexuality during the s and 80s. A Queer History of the United States. 3) separatism, which seeks to establish female-only spaces and fora where women can determine their own values and beliefs; and 4) "queer theory," which explores the marginalization, radicalism and value of marginalized sexual identities (eg.
homosexuality). Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in the early s out of the fields of queer studies and Women's studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself.
queer theory graphic novel overview of queer introduction to queer understand more about your queer history of the queer accessible academic complex ideas identity graphics Showing of 33 reviews Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews/5(33).