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Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of queer studies (formerly often known as gay and lesbian studies) and women's studies programs in universities. The term "queer theory" is broadly associated with the study and theorization of gender and sexual practices that exist outside of heterosexuality, and which challenge the notion that heterosexuality is normal. Following social constructionist developments in sociology, queer theorists are often critical of what they consider essentialist views of sexuality and gender. Instead, they study those concepts as social and cultural phenomena, often through an analysis of the categories, binaries, and language in which they are said to be portrayed.

Queer theory also emerges from the rise of post-structuralist theories that assert that meaning is relative and never self-identical. Queer theory employs deconstruction and other post-structuralist techniques to promote the assertion that gender identity is not fixed, subject to differ from itselff and inherently unstable. As the name suggests, is intentionally disruptive and subversive of mainstream gender theories, including the biological innateness of homosexuality.

Philosophical context

Jacques Derrida

Queer theory is philosophically grounded in the postmodern philosophy of deconstruction, the sociological theory of social constructionism, and the power dynamics of Michel Foucault. Jacques Derrida, the author of deconstruction, based his theory in part on the structuralist linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure. For de Saussure, binary opposition is the means by which the units of language have value or meaning; each unit is defined in reciprocal relationship with another term, as in binary code. For instance, 'hot' gains meaning because of its relation to 'cold,' and vice versa. Meaning is not based on any intrinsic relationship between signifier and signified. As a post-structuralist, Derrida responds to de Saussure by exploding the binary structures, thus undermining the notion of fixed meanings themselves. He created a neologism différance, which suggests both that meaning differs from itself and that meaning is always deferred, fluctuating. The purpose of deconstruction is to undermine the binary thinking that Derrida argues has characterized Western philosophy. Queer theorists employ this approach to questions of sexuality and identity.

Social constructionism argues that identity is socially constructed. Human identity is formed by the social forces acting upon us. Like deconstruction, it places a greater emphasis on the linguistic element of meaning, leading to a growing interest in the inherently political nature of knowledge. Post-modernists came to see meaning as grounded in the political commitments of the community in which it arises, and the power relations within the community. In this view truths emerge from within a certain sociopolitical and cultural milieu. These truths are accepted and codified into the accepted wisdom and become the basis for rules, policy and other instruments of power. This looks to the individual community member as an objective fact or reality, not the result of a socially negotiated process. Queer theory attempts to expose those power relations.

French post-structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault's theory of power traces the influence of power in all relationships, including sex, employing a "genealogical" and "archaeological" approach. In works like Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, Foucault concentrates on the correlation between knowledge and power. He argues that knowledge forms discourses which become the dominant way of thought which govern our lives. The dominant ideology creates the institutions that regulate our lives. Institutions such as schools, prisons, hospitals operate to reinforce the dominant ideological forms of thinking. Knowledge is never the neutral objective fact that it appears to be or that the dominant ideology represents it to be. For Foucault, the discourses become the dominant ideology that serves the interests of the ruling class. Since there is no way out of this kinds of discursive practice, which are always implicated in power relations, counter discourses will emerge as those who are not in power seek to resist.

These theories form the philosophical basis on which queer theory operates.

History

Informal use of the term "queer theory" began with Gloria Anzaldúa and other scholars in the 1990s, themselves influenced by the work of Foucault, who viewed sexuality as socially constructed and rejected the Marxist view of identity politics. Teresa de Lauretis organized the first queer theory conference in 1990. David Halperin, an early queer theorist, relates in "The Normalization of Queer Theory" that de Lauretis' usage was somewhat controversial at first, as she chose to combine the word "queer" which was just starting to be used in a "gay-affirmative sense by activists, street kids, and members of the art world," and the word "theory" which was seen as very academically weighty. In the early 1990s, the term started to become legitimized in academia.

Although it is a discipline that gained traction within academia, queer theory's roots can also be traced back to activism, with the reclaiming of the derogatory term "queer" as an umbrella term for those who do not identify with heteronormativity in the 1980s. This would continue on in the 1990s, with Queer Nation's use of "queer" in their protest chants, such as "We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!"

Early queer theorists include Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Warner, Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, and Adrienne Rich.

Definition

The term "Queer" itself intentionally remains loosely defined in order to encompass the difficult-to-categorize spectrum of gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction. Similarly, queer theory remains difficult to objectively define as academics from various disciplines use the term differently. At its core, queer theory is intended to relate to the marginalization of queer people. This theoretical framework is then applied to a variety fields.

Queer theory and politics necessarily celebrate transgression in the form of visible difference from norms. These 'Norms' are then exposed to be norms, not natures or inevitabilities. Gender and sexual identities are seen, in much of this work, to be demonstrably defiant definitions and configurations.

In an influential essay, Michael Warner argued that queerness is defined by what he called "heteronormativity"; those ideas, narratives and discourses which suggest that heterosexuality is the default, preferred, or normal mode of sexual orientation. Warner stated that while many thinkers had been theorizing sexuality from a non-heterosexual perspective for perhaps a century, queerness represented a distinctive contribution to social theory for precisely this reason. Lauren Berlant and Warner further developed these ideas in their seminal essay, "Sex in Public." Critics such as Edward Carpenter, Guy Hocquenghem and Jeffrey Weeks had emphasized what they called the "necessity of thinking about sexuality as a field of power, as a historical mode of personality, and as the site of an often critical utopian aim."

Michel Foucault

The terms "homosexual," "gay" or "lesbian," signified particular identities with stable referents (i.e. to a certain cultural form, historical context, or political agenda whose meanings can be analyzed sociologically.) The word "queer" is instead defined in relation to a range of practices, behaviors and issues that have meaning only in their shared contrast to categories which are generally thought to be "normal." Such a focus highlights the indebtedness of queer theory to the concept of normalization found in the sociology of deviance, particularly through the work of Michel Foucault, who studied the normalization of heterosexuality in his work The History of Sexuality.

In The History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that repressive structures in society police the discourse concerning sex and sexuality and are thus relegated in the private sphere. As a result, heterosexuality is normalized while homosexuality (or queerness) is stigmatized. Foucault then points out that this imposed secrecy has led to sexuality as a phenomenon that needs to be frequently confessed and examined. Foucault's work is particularly important to queer theory in that he describes sexuality as a phenomenon that "must not be thought of as a kind of natural given which power tries to hold in check" but rather "a historical construct." Judith Butler extends this idea of sexuality as a social construct to gender identity in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, theorizing that gender is not a biological reality, which she call "biological essentialism," but rather something that is performed through repeated actions.

Butler receives the Theodor W. Adorno Award in 2012

Because this definition of queerness does not have a fixed reference point, Judith Butler has described the subject of queer theory as a site of "collective contestation." Butler suggests that "queer" as a term should never be "fully owned, but always and only redeployed, twisted, queered from a prior usage and in the direction of urgent and expanding political purposes." While proponents argue that this flexibility allows for the constant readjustment of queer theory to accommodate the experiences of people who face marginalization and discrimination on account of their sexuality and gender, critics allege that such a "subjectless critique," as it is often called, runs the risk of abstracting cultural forms from their social structure, political organization, and historical context, reducing social theory to a mere "textual idealism."

Lens for power

Queer theory is the lens used to explore and challenge how scholars, activists, artistic texts, and the media perpetrate gender- and sex-based binaries. Its goal is to undo hierarchies and fight against social inequalities. Due to controversy about the definition of queer, including whether the word should even be defined at all or should be left deliberately open-ended, there are many disagreements and often contradictions within queer theory. In fact, some queer theorists, like Berlant and Warner and Butler, have warned that defining or conceptualizing it as an academic field might only lead to its inevitable misinterpretation or destruction, since its entire purpose is to critique academia rather than become a formal academic domain itself.

Fundamentally, queer theory does not construct or defend any particular identity, but instead, grounded in post-structuralism and deconstruction, it works to actively critique heteronormativity, exposing and breaking down traditional assumptions that sexual and gender identities are presumed to be heterosexual or cisgender.

Queer theory in philosophy

In the field of philosophy, Queer Theory falls under an adjacent category to Critical Disability Theory and Feminist theory for their similar approaches in defending communities discriminated against by questioning a societal status quo. Although all three are distinct fields of study, they all work towards a common activist goal of inclusion.

Critical Disability Theory is a comprehensive term that is used to observe, discuss and question how people marginalized due to a difference in their social context (such as physical or mental disability as well as any other difference that would cause them to be seen as "other" in society) are treated in society.

Analysis of same-sex partnerships

Queer theory deals with the micro level — the identity of the individual person, the meso level — the individual in their immediate groups such as family, friends, and work, and the macro level — the larger context of society, culture, politics, policies, and law. Accordingly, queer theory not only examines the communities surrounding queer people, but also the communities they form. Same-sex living communities have a significant priority in the formation of a queer theory. The standard work of Andreas Frank, Committed Sensations, highlights comprehensively the life situation of coming out, homosexuality and same-sex communities.

Queer theory and communication studies

As an interdisciplinary concept, queer theory is applied to different disciplines, including communication studies and research. It was introduced to the field of communication through Jeffrey Ringer's Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality in 1994, which offered a queer perspective to communication research findings. Queer theory challenges the heteronormative society's notions of what's considered deviant and taboo—what is considered normative and non-normative in communication research.

Queering family communication

Queer theory's interdisciplinarity is evident in its application in and critique of family communication. One of the criticisms regarding family communication is its focus on "mainstream" families, often focusing on heterosexual parents and children.

Although more studies on family communication have started to include nontraditional families, critical rhetorical scholar Roberta Chevrette argues that researchers continue to look at nontraditional families, including families with openly queer members, from a heteronormative lens. That is, when studying LGBTQ+ families, many scholars continue to compare these families to their cis-heterosexual counterparts' norms. As Chevrette writes, "Queering family communication requires challenging ideas frequently taken for granted and thinking about sexual identities as more than check marks."

Chevrette describes four ways that scholars can "queer" family communication: (1) revealing the biases and heteronormative assumptions in family communication; (2) challenging the treatment of sexuality and queerness as a personal and sensitive topic reserved for the private sphere rather than the public; (3) interpreting identity as a socially constructed phenomenon and sexuality as fluid in order to expose the ways gender roles and stereotypes are reinforced by notions of identity and sexuality as fixed; and (4) emphasizing intersectionality and the importance of studying different identity markers in connection with each other.

Intersectionality and queer theory

Intersectionality argues that complex identities and social categories form from "structured multiple oppression." Intersectional theorists apply their approach to queer theory to deconstruct social norms. One concern it addresses is that institutions tend to prioritize one marginalized group over others, resulting in limited social change. Groups such as the Human Rights Campaign have previously employed this understanding in formal rights advocacy for Queer legal protection. However, Queer theorists and activists like Lisa Duggan have noted that such groups prioritize the voices of some groups over others by focusing on specific identities like "gay middle-class men" rather than complex and intersectional ones. An intersectional approach decentralizes queer theory and attempts to shift power to a more radical set of narratives, aligning with the definition of Queerness itself: challenging prominent, white, and heterosexual discourses.

According to critical theorist Daniel J. Gil De Lamadrid, intersectionality can be used to examine how queer identity is racialized as normatively white, and the intersectional stigma and resistance that comes from such racialization. Activist Charlene A. Carruthers argues for an intersectional approach in her book Unapologetic. She advocates imagining "alternative economics, alternative family structures, or something else entirely" from her position as a Black queer feminist. She argues that imagination is a crucial aspect of queer theory. It is a tool for creating new worlds that are currently not viable for underrepresented or oppressed communities in order to transform current norms.

Intersectionality suggests that since marginalized people suffer from multiple forms of oppression, the personal identities of such marginalized people are inherently political. They have emphasized the importance of intersectionality in Queer discourse and activism. New directions in Queer intersectionality include Jones' "euphorias" studies showing intersectional differences in diverse LGBTIQA+ peoples' experiences of happiness. Specifically, Jones found that happiness was often used as a reward for performance of intersectional normativity; those who were lesbian and yet also cisgender and mothers were more likely to experience euphoric moments even in discriminatory settings. However, LGBTIQA+ people who had "other othered" identities such as disabilities were less likely to report experiencing euphoria. Jones argues being euphorically Queer should not presume typical happiness narrative arcs and should make room for negativity; Queer diverse people will need to critique society and critique critique of society but can still be euphoric about being Queer and intersectional.

Critique

According to Adam Isaiah Green, a professor at the University of Toronto, queer theory might be doing a disservice to the study of queer people for, among other reasons, unduly doing away with categories of sexuality and gender that had an explanatory role in their original context. He argues that for instance the lesbians documented in Cherry Grove, Fire Island chose to identify specifically as either "Ladies", "Dykes" or "Postfeminists" for generational, ethnic and class reasons. While they have a shared sexuality, flattening their diversity of identity, culture and expression to "the lesbian community" might hide the social contingencies that queer theory purports to foreground (race, class, ethnicity, gender).

According to Joshua Gamson, due to its engagement in social deconstruction, it is nearly impossible for queer theory to talk about a "lesbian" or "gay" subject, as all social categories are denaturalized and reduced to discourse. Thus, according to Adam I. Green, queer theory can only examine discourses and not subjectivities.

A recurring criticism of queer theory, which often employs sociological jargon, is that it is written, according to Brent Pickett, by a "small ideologically oriented elite" and possesses an evident social class bias. It is not only class biased but also, in practice, only really referred to at universities and colleges.

For some feminists, queer theory undermines feminism by blurring the boundaries between gendered social classes, which it explains as personal choices rather than consequences of social structures.

French response

Bruno Perreau, the Cynthia L. Reed Professor of French Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discusses various facets of the French response to queer theory, from the mobilization of activists and the seminars of scholars to the emergence of queer media and translations. Perreau sheds new light on events around gay marriage in France, where opponents to the 2013 law saw queer theory as a threat to French family. Perreau questions the return of French (post-structuralist) Theory to France from the standpoint of queer theory, exploring the way France conceptualizes America. By examining mutual influences across the Atlantic, he reflects on changes in the idea of national identity in France and the United States, especially recent attempts to theorize "community" in the wake of Maurice Blanchot's work. Perreau offers a theory of minority politics that considers an ongoing critique of norms as the foundation of citizenship, in which a feeling of belonging arises from regular reexamination of it.

Scientific response

In their work Cynical Theories, traditional liberal scholars Helen Pluckrose and James A. Lindsay characterize the largely unscientific view on biology and objective reality as an intentional feature of the theory. They state that, "queer theory is a political project and its aim is to disrupt." As such, "there can be absolutely no quarter given to any discourse—even matters of scientific fact—that could be interpreted as promoting biological essentialism." "Biological essentialism" is a term that Butler and other queer use to delegitimize biological statements that run counter to queer theory's assertions about sex and gender. Thus, queer theory knowingly misrepresents biological facts and research, especially on intersex people, to conflate them with completely unrelated issues concerning constructed gender identities such as transgender.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Butler, Judith, Gender trouble : feminism and the subversion of identity. London, U.K.: Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0203902750.
• Carruthers, Charlene. Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2018 ISBN 978-0807019412
• Castronovo, Russ, and Dana D. Nelson (eds.). Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0822383901
• Downing, Lisa. The Cambridge Introduction to Michel Foucault. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0521864435
• Eng, David L, Jack Halberstam, and José Esteban Muñoz. What's queer about queer studies now? Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0822366218
• Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish translated by Alan Sheridan. New York, NY: Random House, 1977. ISBN 0394499425
• Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: Volume 1, edited by Frédéric Gros. translated by Robert Hurley. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1978. ISBN 978-0394417752
• Frank, Andreas. Committed Sensations - An Initiation to Homosexuality: The gay & lesbian Handbook & Compendium on Coming-Out & same-sex Partnerships. Noderstedt, DE: BoD – Books on Demand, 2020. ISBN 978-3751907866
• Denzin, Norman K., and Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-0761915126
• Goldberg, A.E. The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2016. ISBN 978-1483371320
• Jagose, Annamarie. Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York, NY: NYU Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0814742341
• Jones, Tiffany. Euphorias in Gender, Sex and Sexuality Variations: Positive Experiences. London, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. ISBN 978-3031237560
• Littlejohn, Stephen W. Theories of human communication. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Incorporated, 2021. ISBN 978-1478646679
• Muñoz, Jose Esteban. Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. New York, NY: NYU Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0814757284
• Newton, Esther. Cherry Grove, Fire Island : Sixty years in America's first gay and lesbian town. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0807079263
• Perreau, Bruno. Queer Theory, The French Response. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1503600447
• Phelan, Shane (ed.). Playing with Fire: Queer Politics, Queer Theories. London, U.K.: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 978-0415914161
• Pluckrose, Helen, and James A. Lindsay. Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody. Stanford, CA, Pitchstone Publishing, 2020. ISBN 978-1634312028
• Reed, T.V. The Art of Protest: Culture and activism from the civil rights movement to the streets of Seattle. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1517906214
• Ringer, R. Jeffrey. Queer words, queer images : Communication and the construction of homosexuality. New York, NY: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0814774407
• Seidman, Steven. Difference Troubles: Queering Social Theory and Sexual Politics. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0521590433
• Stewart, Jay, Christina Richards, Walter Pierre Bouman, and Meg-John Barker (eds.). Genderqueer and Non-Binary Genders London, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. ISBN 978-1137510525
• Warner, Michael. Fear of a queer planet: queer politics and social theory. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0816623341
• Yep, Gust, Queer Theory and Communication : From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s). Hoboken, NJ: Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-1560232766

External links

All links retrieved December 30, 2024.

• Queer Nation NY History Queer Nation NY.
• Critical Disability Theory Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

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