Week 2
The term Queer Studies suggests it is a mélange, the result of blending two ingredients: gay and lesbian studies and queer theory. The formula “gay and lesbian studies + queer theory= queer studies suggests an effortless synthesis which is far from the truth” (Piontek, pg 1), thus is a misleading and inaccurate term.
“The categories of “queer” and “gay and lesbian” work differently; each does work the other is ill-equipped or unwilling to do.”
Queer Theory – A theory informed by feminist studies and gay & lesbian studies aiming to question traditional binary representations of sex/gender and the importance placed on identity politics.
Queer Theory- a hybrid of feminist and postmodern thought
Queer-A cluster of methodologies that lets us explore the taken for granted and the familiar from new vantage points. Thus the more it is institutionalized, the less queer it becomes, since queer gets its critical edge by defining itself against the normal–rather than the heterosexual–and normal includes normal business in the academy: (Halperin, quoted in Piontek 2).
Postmodernism-A late 20th-century style in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism.
Postmodernism: affirms that what we know are social constructs and subject to change. It attacks sharp classifications such as male/female, straight/gay. It claims there is no absolute truth.
Practice of the Self
Metanarrative
telos: the end of a goal-oriented process
teleology: belief in or the perception of purposeful development toward an end
Reification: regarding or treating (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence.
Epistemological-pertaining to epistemology, a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.
Knowledge: “we need to examine the modes of knowledge-seeking that have made history an exclusionary practice in the first place.”
Historiography- The principles, theories, or methodology of scholarly historical research and presentation. The writing of history based on a critical analysis, evaluation, and selection of authentic source materials and composition of these materials into a narrative subject to scholarly methods of criticism.
“Does not a new synthesis risk producing yet another historical master narrative that reduces difference precisely by accommodating it?”
Beginnings, according to Said, function as “intervening techniques that deliver reality to us in palpable form. They allow us to create sequences, periods, forms, and measurements that suit our personal needs.” (Piontek 10)
Minority History, a term that encompasses various subordinate groups’ struggles to recover histories previously overlooked or excluded. (Piontek 7)
modernist gay history
postmodernist queer history
Mattachine Society – a homophile society that attempted to promote gay rights not through radical means but by presenting the gay community as “normal” rather than gender-threatening.
Homophile- Another term for homosexual. It is however derived from the Greek word “-phile,” meaning love. It was believed to be a more accurate depiction by placing emphasis on the emotional aspects of such a relationship. Particularly since homosexual was often used in association with a sickness or disease. When this theory was disproved, the term homosexual became far more common.
In the 1950’s a meeting of more than two homosexuals at a time was illegal.
Stonewall Riots: “The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. At a little after one A.M. on the morning of June 28, 1969, the police carried out a routine raid on the bar. But it turned out not to be routine at all. Instead of cowering- the usual reaction to a police raid- the patron inside Stonewall and the crowd gathered outside the bar fought back against police. The five days of rioting that followed changed forever the face of lesbian and gay life.” (Piontek 9)
Stonewall Riot – A riot between LGBT persons and police officers at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. The police attempted a routine round-up of the predominantly minority LGBT individuals and were met with resistance. The event is commonly viewed as the “start” of the gay rights movement.
Gay Liberation Front (GLF)– the gay militants chose the name Gay Liberation Front in homage to Vietnamese guerrillas and their National Liberation Front. The name, however, also refers to a marked difference between gay radicals and their predecessors. They saw gay oppression as one social issue among many and also opposed capitalism, racism, sexiam, and the Vietnam War. (Piontek 16-17)
Heteronormativity (not Homonormativity)- a term for a set of lifestyle norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (male and female) with natural roles in life. However, it is also the assimilation of heteronormative ideals and constructs into LGBT culture and individual identity.
Homonormativity– the concept of a gay identity that supposedly unites people across race, class, gender, and time, resulting in the policing of that identity’s boundaries and the concomitant exclusion of the gay community’s “other,” be they female, nonwhite, working class, or transgendered. The misrepresentation of the gay and lesbian community that excludes many people because they are so far removed from social norms.
Gender Identity refers to the inner sense most of us have of being either male or female. The term has its origins in psychiatry (Gender Identity Disorder). It is most commonly used to refer to transsexual and transgender individuals, who are those most at risk for feeling some discordance between their bodies and that inner sense. (Wilchins 6)
Primary gender– a person’s gender expression and identity.
Androgynous- Having both male and female characteristics (appearance), so that it becomes a challenge for one to decipher what sex that person is.
Genderqueer– A term that refers to gender identities outside of the traditional binary of man/woman.
Genderqueer- A catch-all terms for gender identities other than man and woman. A person who feels that his/her gender identity does not fit into the socially constructed “norms” associated with his/her biological sex. Genderqueer is an identity that falls anywhere between man/boy/male and woman/girl/female on the spectrum of gender identities.
Intersexual
Transgender– individuals who alter their physical appearance and mannerisms to portray a gender other than what is traditionally associated with their sexual organs.
“As gayness and gender became separate, a new term was needed: transgender.”
“Transgender people had always been around, living under the broad umbrella of the gay community. But as gayness and gender became separated, a new term was needed-transgender”
Transgender vs. Transsexual: Transgender refers to people who cross genders by changing their clothing, behavior, and grooming. Transsexual refers to people who cross sexes by changing their bodies.
FTM’s/MTF’s: Female to Male/Male to Female
A concept I found interesting in the readings assigned was the portion in the gay rights section discussing an issue gay men have with their peers. When the speaker asked who was gay everyone raised their hand, but when he asked who are bottoms everyone lowered their hand. Even in their own community it is seems like the idea of “normal” and “masculine” has an effect on how they want to be perceived.
Gender rights– A movement to give people the freedom to be who they are without the need to conform to societies ideals of gender roles or stereotypes.
“it is difficult-if not impossible-for gay activists to pursue the right to their sexual orientation without engaging issues of gender”
Importance of Ending Gender Roles: Even in same sex partners, a lesbian who wears more masculine clothing and takes pride in being muscular is referred to as masculine or the “husband”. If gender roles were gone, she would just be seen as a partner not the “husband” in the relationship.
Terms explained by the readings
Visibly queer– People who display non-traditional gender expression which is considered an indication of their non-traditional sexual orientation.
Visible queer– A gay person that could not hide their sexuality from others.
Macho gay– A gay man that goes against the stereotypical gay look by bulking up their physic and societies idea of what a straight man should look like.
Avowed homosexual– Any gay person who refused to publicly deny he/she was gay. (Wilchins 11)
Militant Homosexuals insisted on being open about their orientation. (Wilchins 11)
Militant homosexual– Any gay person that insisted on being open about their orientation.
Lesbian feminists– feminists that tend to be more supportive of female masculine expression and questioning of transgender politics than mainstream feminism and portrayed as more separatist, radical and therefore threatening to mainstream audiences.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) – A proposed constitution amendment guaranteeing equal rights between the sexes before the law. The amendment failed to be ratified in the 1980s.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – A law protecting individuals from discrimination in the workplace. Non-traditional gender identities have slowly been added to the ENDA.
Gender defenders– individuals who seek to maintain traditional gender roles in society.
National Organization for Women (NOW): Founded in 1966. Goal is to bring equality to women. Today is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States.
Terms to look up in a dictionary
Demarcation is the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something. Also, a dividing line. (Piontek, pg 3) Source: google.com definition
- A stone wall is a line of demarcation, separating two spaces absolutely from each other- one side and the other or, metaphorically speaking, the before and the after. (Piontek, pg 16)
Juxtaposition is the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also the state of being so placed. Merriam-Webster.com
Watershed [event]– A crucial dividing point, line, or factor…a moment or occurrence where things change.
Psychosexual- Of or involving the psychological aspects of the sexual impulse.
Separatism- The advocacy or practice of separation of a certain group of people from a larger body on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or gender.