ipl-logo

Queer Theory

442 Words2 Pages

According to Barry Brummett (2014), Queer Theory is based heavily on feminism and the studies on gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. One of the most prominent figures of this theory is Judith Butler. In her book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity(1999), she challenges society’s concept of gender identity and feminism, an activist drive for social equality for women. She brings up a social concept she calls “binary categories” which basically states that when every child is born, they are typically placed into one of two distinct categories: male or female, which, in turn, influences how the child is taught to behave for the rest of their life. The concept that in order to truly be deemed a man or woman, one must behave or avoid behaving in certain ways coupled with the idea that it is even necessary to create and abide by these categories are issues that Queer Theory wishes to dispute. …show more content…

In his work The History of Sexuality, he coins the term “discourse” which he defines as the ways of talking or thinking about a subject that are linked by common expectations (1978). He found in sexuality a development of human subjectification whereby expert discourses (discourse originated from authoritative figures) came to create the sexual subject and his and her desires. Foucault argued, these expert discourses serve as a subtle and dangerous form of social control that shapes human experience and norms more than any event in history (Foucalt,

Show More
Related
1344 Words | 6 Pages

Although this supports the system of oppression for queer people, in the sense that gay men are feminine, it almost empowers

Read More
927 Words | 4 Pages

In their respective pieces about the transgender community, Mari Birghe’s piece falls short due to its lack of detailed examples and its heavy reliance on eliciting sympathy from the reader to persuade as well as its failure to see the other side of the argument while Elinor Burkett’s piece proves far superior due to its multitude of extensive examples in addition to its surplus of concessions. Burkett’s piece is stronger in part due to the surplus of concrete examples provided in contrast to Birghe’s meager examples. In Elinor Burketts’s piece, which states transgender women are not entirely female because of their previous male privilege, she intertwines many specific examples that help to prove her overall message. This is that transgender

Read More
1212 Words | 5 Pages

Activists never acknowledge those contradictions. Instead, they opportunistically rely on whichever claim is useful at any given moment” (Anderson, 34). He is not only creating this writing because he disagrees with the opposition's opinions but because they don't recognize and address their own contradictions making their beliefs confusing. The definition of gender the author would most likely agree with is that gender should directly correlate to sex that was determined before and during birth essentially only male and

Read More
1351 Words | 6 Pages

When analyzed correctly, the texts provided by these scholars may offer an excellent insight into the elements of queer politics. One important factor within queer politics is the goal of disrupting social norms and heteronormativity. Many individuals, such as Cathy Cohen and Dean Spade, believe that in order to create an impact, queer politics need to refrain from striving for acceptance and integration within the larger majority. Instead, they support the disruption of social norms and expectations. For example, Cathy Cohen states, “Thus, if there is any truly radical potential to be found in the idea of queerness and the practice of queer politics, it would seem to be located in its ability to create a space in opposition to dominant norms, a space where transformational political work can begin” (Cohen 438).

Read More
1425 Words | 6 Pages

Inside and beyond the myth and the social impact of the subject as One or Substance. Alan H. Goldman’s essay ‘Plain Sex’ is a central contribution to the academic debate about sex within the analytic area, which has been developing since the second half of the ‘90s in Western countries. Goldman’s purpose is encouraging debate on the concept of sex without moral, social and cultural implications or superstitious superstructures. He attempts to define “sexual desire” and “sexual activity” in its simplest terms, by discovering the common factor of all sexual events, i.e. “the desire for physical contact with another person’s body and for the pleasure which such contact produces; sexual activity is activity which tends to fulfill such desire of the agent” (Goldman, A., 1977, p 40).

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

The unequal treatment of all lives has been seen since many of us can remember. But why is that? Does not stem from genetic make-up of each human throughout our race or, is it due to other factors in each person’s life. The study of Queer theory is able to show why Western societies are set up in a way to enforce gender roles, enforces societies’ social norms of acceptance, maintain control within a capitalist society, and creates a division of superior race, class, and gender that effect power roles.

Read More
1723 Words | 7 Pages

As well, butch lesbians are homosexual, and do not participate in the same type of misogynistic existence as typical straight men. Butch lesbians do not have the same privilege of men, and are kept at a level of disrespect both based on gender and sexuality. Even though stereotypically, butch lesbians are seen as the ‘man’ in lesbian relationships, and expected to fulfill similar emotional and sexual duties. In reality, butch women as personal identities are the bane of heteronormativity, because masculine lesbains oppose traditional gender roles, and are gay. Though, this does not stop the heteronormative binary from existing, and prevailing over other forms of lesbian

Read More
1798 Words | 8 Pages

In the LGBT community, gender is viewed as a wide spectrum ranging from strictly female or male to transgender and even genderfluid. Sexual and romantic attractions also range from heterosexual to homosexual and anywhere in between, and are often regarded as exclusive of

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

In my dissertation I will show the representation of transsexual FtM (female to male) characters and the response of the audiences who identify as non-cisgender. I will show that representation in media is important, therefore I will underline the obstacles that appear in queer cinema. Moreover, I will explore the idea of the character’s identity and relatability to the film viewers. I will focus on the issues that are present in films that could be labelled as “trans’ or “queer”. By explaining these terms, I will link the issues that queer cinema has to deal with, underlining the importance of choosing queer cast for queer films.

Read More
152 Words | 1 Pages

The growing discourse on sex, particularly in the 19th century, had the effect of turning sex into “a problem of truth” (Foucault, 1978, p. 56). Foucault points out that, within this framework of discourses, sex was no longer treated only as a matter for morality, and became treated as a matter of knowledge, and of “truth and falsehood” (Foucault, 1978, p. 56). The knowledge passed on by the ars erotica is a knowledge of sensual pleasure. The truth it contains is the truth about pleasure itself: how pleasure can be experienced, intensified or maximized.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

It’s a cultural production that represents the appropriation of the human body and of its physiological capacities by an ideological discourse. Sex has no history but sexuality does. French Philosopher Michel Foucault thought that sexuality was, “a set of effects produced in bodies, behaviors, and social relations by a certain deployment.” Sexuality for a person can be narrowed down to what a person is attracted to, their desires, and pleasures. In the article, “Is There a History of Sexuality?”

Read More
1331 Words | 6 Pages

Queer theory challenges students and scholars alike to consider the overarching power structures and institutionalized hierarchies that permeate society, culture, and politics. Careful attention to issues such as biopolitics, Homonationalism, and hate crime/civil rights, remain essential to feminist thought. Queer approaches to such issues provide the tools with which to push back and intervene, however, the practice seems imperfect because there are contradictions within queer approaches to these issues. While touting an image of inclusivity, queer theory becomes ensconced in the biopolitics that it seeks to destabilize by positioning some queer populations as more ideal than others and thus promoting a homonational identity. Queer theorizing

Read More
749 Words | 3 Pages

For queer theory, there is no such thing—gender identity is a fiction, an artificial performative product. But the lived experience of many transsexuals of having a fixed, ahistorical self-conception of being a man or a woman presents a challenge to gender performativity’s theorizations. If transsexuals are socialized like everyone else to be normatively gendered according to the sex they were assigned with at birth, then why is it that they keep on affirming another gender, even if they have not been taught to perform it? This is most evident in cases of young transgender

Read More
1274 Words | 6 Pages

Based on Stuart Hall’s (2006) discussion of Foucault’s theory of discourse, a discourse is generally consisting of a group of statements that together offer a way of talking about a par-ticular knowledge on a certain topic. Many individuals can produce it together, in different institutional settings. The discourse thereby enables the construction of a topic in a specific way which at the same time limits other constructions of the same topic. A discourse is made up not only from one but a multiplicity of statements that all share the same style to talk about the same topic. However, it is not a closed off system, it draws statements from and into other discourses.

Read More
1388 Words | 6 Pages

If you’re a female and you do a lot of boyish things then you are a tomboy, and if you are a boy and you like female clothing, then you are a fag. From the reading, “The Social Construction of Gender”, it breaks down gender. Before you are even born you are portrayed to be a certain gender already. You will be told you must wear this because you are a boy, or girl. According to the author, “Gendered patterners of interaction acquired additional layers of gendered sexuality, parenting and work behavior in childhood, adolescents and adulthood” (Lorber, 142).

Read More

More about Queer Theory

Related Topics

Open Document