Queer theory

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Queer theory began as a branch of philosophical investigations of what is known as third wave feminism and gay and lesbian studies. However, in the last 15 years, the term has taken shape as a new branch of thought that is suffused throughout the disciplines. Queer theory’s main project is exploring the contestations of the categorization of gender and sexuality. What is a homosexual? How is the lived experience of a black British lesbian different from that of a South Asian gay man and how do the experiences relate? How do we constitute what defines a man? Can a woman be masculine? These are some of the questions asked by queer theory.

Contents

1 History
2 The role of biology
3 The role of language
4 Prostitution, pornography, and BDSM
5 Media and other creative works
6 Other Readings and Topics
7 See also
8 References

History

Queer Theory is a paring of words coined by Teresa de Lauretis during a "working conference on theorizing lesbian and gay sexualities that was held at the University of California, Santa Cruz in February 1990." #redirect [[Template:Fact]] Around this time Judith Butler published Gender Trouble, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick published Epistemology of the Closet, David Halperin published One Hundred Years of Homosexuality, and countless others went to work on this new area of thought. The beginning debates sometimes focused on social constructionist vs. essentialist ideologies. That is, are the categories of sexuality socially contrived, created through discourse, or are they natural givens, outside of our control to make or change?

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 critics of queer theory hold that physiological, genetic and sociological evidence show that sexual orientation and sexual classification cannot be considered to be solely social constructs. #redirect [[Template:Fact]] In this view, various biological characteristics, some of which are inheritable, can play an important role in shaping sexual behavior. Many critics cite the case of David Reimer who underwent ultimately unsuccessful gender reassignment at the age of twenty-two months. #redirect [[Template:Fact]] The debates about the role of biology still continue to rage.

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. #redirect [[Template:Fact]]

In Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, Anne Fausto-Sterling dispels 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.’ Queer theorists focus on problems in classifying every individual as either male or female, even with scientific facts that support these demarcations. However, some queer theorists are beginning to acknowledge the sexing of the body that occurs as both a combination of social construction and a scientific reality. The disagreement between essentialism and constructivism is still fresh in this area.

The role of language

Michel Foucault discusses the discursive operations that shaped and constructed sexuality in the west in The History of Sexuality Vol. I. With his theory as a common point of interest (if not departure), queer theorist analyze the way sexuality is conceived through the use of language as a tool that structures of knowledge of the positions. Psychoanalysis, with the main figures Lacan and Freud, posit many theories regarding the ways that sexuality functions. Philosophers like Judith Butler use these psychoanalytical theories in their own investigations, usually restructuring those theories in light of what is called heteronormativity, or the unacknowledged assumptions that underline many theories of sexuality, which count heterosexuality as normal and correct and mark all deviations abnormal and strange. #redirect [[Template:Fact]] Literary theorists like Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and historians like David Halperin add to the discussions of languages role in their analysis of and literary historical materials written and performed around or about sexuality. #redirect [[Template:Fact]]

Prostitution, pornography, and BDSM

Queer theory, unlike most feminist theory and gay and lesbian studies, includes a wide array of non-normative sexualities and sexual practices in its list of identities. Not all of these are non-heterosexual. Sadomasochism, prostitution, inversion, transgender, bisexuality, intersexuality, and many other things like fist fucking or seen by queer theorists as more involved investigations into class difference and racial, ethnic and regional particulars allow for a wide ranging field of investigation using nonnormative analysis as a tool in reconfiguring the way we understand pleasure and desire. 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 oppression of women. #redirect [[Template:Fact]] Other branches of feminism tend to vocally disagree with this latter interpretation and celebrate pornography as a means of adult sexual representation. #redirect [[Template:Fact]]

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. Patrick Califia's published fiction also draws heavily on concepts and ideas from queer theory.

In film, the genre known as New Queer Cinema draws heavily on the prevailing critical climate of queer theory; a good example of this is the Jean Genet-inspired movie Poison by the director Todd Haynes. In fanfiction, 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.

References

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