Photo credit to Google Images.
The Oxford English Dictionary provides us with multiple, vague, and differing definitions of the term “queer” such as “With the: that which is queer (in various senses). Rare.” and “Strange, odd, peculiar, eccentric. Also: of questionable character; suspicious, dubious” (OED). I found both of those explanations of “queer” to be outdated, however, I did come across a third, more appropriate definition of this term provided by the OED: “colloquial (originally U.S.). Of a person: homosexual (frequently derogatory and offensive). In later use: denoting or relating to a sexual or gender identity that does not correspond to established ideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms”.
During the 16th century, the word “queer” began as an adjective meaning strange or peculiar which is one of the first definitions to show up on the OED. Overtime, as gay and lesbian people began to make themselves known to society, the word “queer” developed into a derogatory word to negatively describe a non-heterosexual person. It is not until the late 1980s that “queer” transitions into a more positive description that the LGBTQ+ community embraces as their own; “By embracing a word that was used to attack or degrade, the gay community has demagnetized the strength of the word, making it a common everyday term. This lessens the effect of the word when used against them” (Johnson). Furthermore, it is important to realize that our understanding of the word “queer” today is a whole lot different than where it originated from. It became a term used against gays and lesbians because during the early and mid 1900s, society publicly consisted of heterosexuals’ relationships. When people begin to publicly announce and show their homosexuality, it is considered “strange” to the rest of the public since it is outside of their “norm”. However, it is so empowering to see this word change overtime and become a term that the LGBTQ+ community claims and is proud of given the history and denotations of the word. It shows how powerful we can be when communities come together and push back against certain outdated “norms” in our society.
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s piece “Queer and Now,” collected in her book Tendencies pushes against the dominant cultural understanding of what it means to be “queer”. Her article fights against society’s political attempt to erase the complexity of queerness. When discussing the question “What’s “queer”?,” she focuses on the Christmas season and how it is a time of year when every institution is “[lined] up with each other so neatly” and “everything means the same thing”. Furthermore, she encourages us to think about what society decides is “family” identity and then provides us with a list that contains the various elements that construct the “family” such as “surname,” “sexual dyad,” “a legal unit based on state-regulated marriage,” and “a mechanism to produce, care for, and accurate children”. I found this list to be unrepresentative of all the elements of “family” or kin because it is, like a lot of identities, one that cannot be strictly limited to specific criteria. However, society constantly continues to press these criteria’s onto identities. Immediately after her “family” example, she asks us to think about sexual identity and provides us with another list containing the various elements in our society that make up “sexual identity” such as “your biological (e.g., chromosomal) sex, male or female,” “the gender assignment of your prefered partner (supposed to be the opposite of your own),” and “your enjoyment of power in sexual relations (supposed to be low if you are female or feminine, high if male or masculine)”. Sedgwick uses these two terms and lists to emphasize the fact that society tries to organize these identities into a “seamless and univocal whole” but when doing so, they leave out important dimensions of these identities.
Sedgwick discusses “queer” as a continuum in that it is a concept that is fluid, open, and changing from one individual’s sexuality to another. She writes “one of the things that “queer” can refer to: the open mesh of possibilities, gaps, overlaps, dissonances and resonances, lapses and excesses of meaning when the constituent elements of anyone’s gender, of anyone’s sexuality aren’t made (or can’t be made) to signify monolithically”. Rather than limiting the term “queer” to a single, static, “set and stone” definition, Sedgwick invites us to think of queer as almost an adventure of discovering, claiming, and embracing our own sexuality. Further, she writes “a lot of the most exciting recent work around “queer’ spins the term outward along dimensions that can’t be subsumed under gender and sexuality at all”. The idea of “queer” opens up a universe of endless possibilities for defining and understanding one’s self.
After completing some background research on Eve Sedgwick, I found out that she discovered “queerness” in one of her essays titled “A Poem Is Being Written” where “she writes of the trauma of finding out that a beloved junior high school teacher had been arrested for a homosexual incident” (Smith). Another interesting aspect about this particular essay is that she associates the rhythm of being spanked as a child with the rhythms of poetry. Sedgwick’s states that her essay, “A Poem Is Being Written” is about the “relationship between art and sex, between poetry and those for whom spanking fantasies, or spanking behavior during sex, are part of their sex life” (Smith). I found this to be intriguing because we often do not discuss our sexual fantasies to the public nor do we associate them with aspects of literature. However, Sedgwick’s writings suggest that art, literature, sex, gender, sexual pleasures, etc. all intertwine with this multifacet, dimensional term known as “queer”.
Here are my two questions for you all:
- Do you think that it is possible for a patriarchal society to not be homophobic? If yes, why or if no, why?
- Can our society bring homophobia to an end, if our economic and political structures do not change?
- What was your definition or previous education of the term “queer” before you read the assigned readings for this week?
- If you have been taught about queer theory or “queerness” – when and where did you learn about it and how was it taught to you? If you have not previously learned about queer theory or “queerness,” why do you think it has taken until now for you to become more educated on the topic?
- Why do you think society is often uncomfortable discussing sexual pleasures, sexual fantasies, and sexual excitement?
Works Cited
Johnson, Ramon. “The Word Queer.” LiveAbout, www.liveabout.com/is-queer-a-derogatory-word-1410154.
“queer, n.2” OED Online. Oxford University Press. <https://www-oed-com.libproxy.cortland.edu/view/Entry/156235?rskey=gGK1yJ&result=1#eid>
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky, “Queer and Now.” Tendencies, Routledge, 1994, pp. 1–20.
Smith, Dinitia. “’Queer Theory’ Is Entering The Literary Mainstream.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Jan. 1998, www.nytimes.com/1998/01/17/books/queer-theory-is-entering-the-literary-mainstream.html.
