Queer Theory Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Queer theory is a form of postmodern analysis that embraces four basic political claims: sexuality is central to politics; identity is per formative; politics are ironic; and popular culture may be politically transformative. Queer theory emerged in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, when scholars from the humanities such as Judith Butler, D. A. Miller, Eve Sedgwick, and Michael Warner laid out the basic claims of queer theory. Subsequently, queer theory was further developed by political scientists such as Lisa Bower, Marla Brettschneider, Susan Burgess, Joe Rollins, and Shane Phalen. It is sometimes also associated with radical political responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis that emerged in the form of organizations such as ACT-UP and Queer Nation.

Queer theorists argue that political meaning and power are typically constituted through a series of oppositional categories, or binaries; these may include heterosexual-homosexual, reason-desire, white-black, man-woman. Since each term is constituted and defined by distinguishing itself from its oppositional pair, the terms are mutually dependent for their meaning. However, these binary terms are asymmetrical. That is, while the legitimacy of the second term in each binary is questioned or suspect, the first term gains default legitimacy, remaining largely unquestioned. In this manner, the binary produces various forms of material inequities such as unequal rights and liberties, privileging those associated with the first term and disadvantaging those associated with the second. Thus, heterosexuals are typically granted rights and liberties, such as the right to marry, that are not accorded to homosexuals.

Theoretical Components

Queer theory distinguishes itself from other forms of postmodernism by contending that every binary—even those that seemingly have nothing to do with sexuality—will necessarily be inflected with sexuality, enacting what Eve Sedgwick has called “an epistemology of the closet.” The lesser, even demonized status of the minor term in each binary leads many associated with it to closet themselves, and those who fear such association may out others in order to imply that they themselves are identified with the major term. Thus, status insecure heterosexuals may seek to solidify their own heterosexual identity by gay bashing, by outing “real” homosexuals, or by calling attention to the illicit nature of same-sex marriage. Such moves serve to reveal that heterosexuality needs homosexuality to gain meaning and to maintain a position of superiority; the moves also reveal the material advantages that result.

Queer theorists also claim that identity is fluid and thus per formative. Arguing that the meaning of each term in a binary is a product—rather than a precursor—of political contestation, queer theorists claim that meaning is produced in specific communities at particular historical junctures. These communities tend to reproduce themselves and their conceptual systems. Over time, the meaning of their central binaries appear to be given or natural, rather than politically contingent, performances.

Queer theorists are typically quite skeptical about both the possibility and desirability of resolving the problem of sexual identity. In this sense, queer theory challenges the model of identity politics that had grounded lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) studies in the 1970s and 80s, which promoted coming-out as a significant mode of political transformation. In the identity politics model, coming-out is thought to dissolve shame and foster pride not only in individual gays and lesbians, but also in the gay and lesbian community. Coming-out promises to reveal an authentic self, hidden underneath the facade of contemporary heterosexuality.

Political Implications

In contrast to the identity politics model, which assumes a reconciliation of the problem of identity when the authentic homosexual identity is personally embraced and then publicly integrated into the reformed political order, a queer analysis of sexuality contends that there is no tidy resolution of the problem of sexual identity in this or any other political order. The instability of identity and the persistence of power make stable resolutions of this sort impossible. To come out as a homosexual, one relies on the dependence or entwined nature of these terms and identities, as the action assumes a compulsory heterosexuality from which the newly public homosexual seeks to emerge. Thus, queer theorists argue that coming-out may actually serve to stabilize the politics of the current sex and gender order, as newly out gays may trade one rigid identity for another (e.g., closeted homosexual for out homosexual), unwittingly propping up heterosexuality, which needs homosexuality to continue as a foil in order to maintain a dominant position in the political order. Rather than trying to stabilize identity and political contestation by identifying an authentic self upon which an earnest political struggle may be staked, queer theorists opt to create performances that reveal the irony of the search for the authentic self and the ideal political order. Accordingly, parody and drag are central political strategies of queer theory, as they reveal the irony of the search for the authentic self and tidy political resolutions.

Earnest political struggle to construct a better future, abstracted from a larger more ironic framework, is seen as hopelessly naive at best, and dangerously misguided at worst. While the desire to create a better political order may be irresistible at some level, queer theorists are typically quite sober about the possibility of successfully disrupting the sex and gender order in any sort of permanent way. Rather than either embracing or abandoning earnest political activism, they seek to recast such activity into an ironic parody that more accurately encompasses the contradictions that are inherent to political struggle. The queer parodist commits to working within rather than resolving such contradictions.

As a consequence, queer theory has been concerned with popular culture as a site that might readily accommodate queer performances that reveal the instability of identity, offering alternative narratives that ironically serve to both support and challenge the political status quo. These works offer fresh interpretations of pop culture performances, foregrounding previously overlooked queer narratives that both reflect and evade dominant power, highlighting the centrality, performativity, and irony of the politics of sexuality.

Bibliography:

Bower, Lisa. “Queer Acts and the Politics of ‘Direct Address’: Rethinking Law, Culture, and Community.” Law and Society Review 28, no. 5 (1994): 1009–1034.
Brettschneider, Marla. The Family Flamboyant: Race Politics, Queer Families, Jewish Lives. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2006.
Burgess, Susan. “Queer (Theory) Eye for the Straight (Legal) Guy: Lawrence v.Texas’ Makeover of Bowers v. Hardwick.” Political Research Quarterly 59, no. 3 (2006): 401–414.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Doty, Alexander. Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.
Jagose, Annamarie. Queer Theory: An Introduction. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Miller, D. A. The Novel and the Police. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
Phelan, Shane. Getting Specific: Lesbian Postmodern Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.
Rollins, Joe. AIDS and the Sexuality of Law: Ironic Jurisprudence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Warner, Michael, ed. Fear of a Queer Planet. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.

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