Queer theory

The focus for this week is the status of queer people in international organizations and development projects. Lind argues that through conscious effort international organizations positions people who defy heteronormative gender and sexual norms as visible or invisible. This strategic placement of queer people helps their agenda of governing intimacy in order to further a specific development narrative; which founds itself in heterosexuality and traditional gender norms. Lind mentions the…

explicit inclusion of the first queer child, Nico di Angelo, in mainstream children’s fantasy. Though Nico had been present in six instalments beforehand, in The House of Hades Nico came out as having feelings for Percy Jackson. Since The House of Hades, Riordan’s novels have featured gay, bisexual, and transgender characters. While queer themes may not be explicit in the rest of his works, many of his queer characters exist in novels that are not considered to be queer. Some of them, like Nico…

Mary Gray’s Out in the Country provides a concise history of queer scholarship that has led to the privileging of urban spaces and urban perspectives. She then challenges this metronormative notion by exploring the lives and identity formation of young queer people in rural Kentucky. Gray’s book differs from the articles first and foremost in that she focuses on youth rather than adults; the median age of her interviewees was just sixteen and a half years old. In focusing on youth, she observes…

their home lands and away from their newly established country. Even today, Native Americans are still marginalized because some live on reservations away from developed cities where the dominant group rules. Powerlessness is related to Carl Marx’s theory of socialism were some people “have” and others “have-not”. According to Young, “the…

Queer theory stands on the belief that gender is not a component of the essential self and on the foundation that gay/lesbian inquires’ exploits the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities. Unlike gay/lesbian studies, which focus to natural and unnatural behaviour in relation to homosexual behaviour, queer theory embraces all forms of sexual activity or identify that belongs to normative and deviant categories. Jagose (1996) illustrates that queer theory emphasises inconformity…

The author states that some people can actually be a part of the LBGTQ community from the beginning. It is hard not to hear the many theories that state that people choose to be a part of the LBGTQ community instead of being born that way. In the article, the girl remembers wanting a girlfriend in kindergarten, prior to being influenced to believe a certain way was either right or wrong…

is considered normal and critiquing the binaries in society. Queer theory is important to address because of the lack of knowledge our society has on queerness. Butler’s ideas on queerness and gender will not only empower others, but it will help social workers in their practice. One of Butler’s ideas is that sex, gender and sexuality are not linked together. Butler questions the distinction between sex and gender. Butler…

into dichotomous halves. The characters of Osment’s play speak in secret through monologues, subtext, or in collective unison. They are careful not to expose the transparency of their true feelings as being apprehensive of a surveilling gaze. The queer identity begets conflict for the individual’s passions. This disjunction manifests within racial paradigms, social strata, national intrigue, and gender roles which disables certain halves to enable a heteronormative whole. How this appropriation…

indicate a manifestation of the self, a personal alter ego, and not a “real” woman. As such, investigating the different facets of identity present in the performance of Suzanne, a drag queen hostess at Jay’s Bar, offers insight into another aspect of queer characterization through language. For example, Suzanne, though herself white, utilizes African-American Vernacular English to establish a bond with fellow performers, many of whom are people of color (Mann 800). Similarly, some functions of…

Journal 2: Negative Actions Expressing Prejudice My second journal for reflection is centered on my thoughts, emotions, and behaviors around three negative actions expressing prejudice; antilocution, avoidance, and discrimination. Subsequently, I must admit that I have not really thought much about prejudice in the past couple of years since I try to surround myself with like-minded people. Much to my chagrin, I am discovering that this self-induced segregation may not be ideal for my…