Hopeful

The times are a changing, I hope. Sexuality and gender aren’t strictly viewed as the two limited options that have shaped societal norms these days. As the history of gender has evolved, so have the definitions and connections to sexuality and sexual preference. There have been a few movements along the way that have helped to shape new meanings and new relationships to how cultures and society relate to these identities and identity in general. Now the term “queer” is used academically and in activism, does the term encompass all the change, growth, and advancement of the issues surrounding sex and gender for society or for the LGBT community? Can the word lose the negative connotations of generations past? I hope so.

I had heard the term used mostly around “queer theory” in my Women’s and Gender Studies classes. I can’t even recall if I have heard it used derogatorily in person— ever. I know it is used in media quite often in this sense, but in my everyday life it didn’t seem to be. I guess because of this experience I had thought it was an accepted term nowadays. I realize that I came from a place of privilege in this aspect, where I need reminding that there is still struggles a oppression due to lack of knowledge surrounding identity. Not until reading Queer Theory: An Introduction by Annamarie Jagose did I understand the evolution of the word much less the use of identity terms in the LGBT community. It helped me to know how the movements for rights and acknowledgement shaped where the US is today. A time, in which same sex marriage and transgender rights are visible along with individuals identifying as gender-fluid or pan-sexual in the media. Recently Mylie Cyrus revealed to Huff Post that she identifies herself as pansexual: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/miley-cyrus-comes-out-pansexual_55e05c7be4b0aec9f352d9f4

Likewise, Australian actress Ruby Rose has been illuminating the public on gender fluidity, bringing to light going beyond the binary: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/17/ruby-rose-gender-fluid-video-interview_n_7603186.html

While these are just some recent incidents in the media today, it helped me to learn that Foucault theorized the term homosexuality came about from medical professionals trying to create an identity for sexual preference beyond the hetero norm. Jagose states that “Foucault’s argument is premised on his assertion that around 1870, and in various medical discourses, the notion of the homosexual as an identifiable type of person begins to emerge (2).” The book goes into identity and use of words used to label. While I can see some use for labeling and as we humans grow it can be helpful to have identities to help shape who we are or want to become. But labels also create separation and notions of being an outsider, which can be very hard to overcome.

Jagose goes on to explain three movements that have contributed to “queer theory” today, the Homophile movement, Gay Liberation, and Lesbian Feminism. All three had a contribution and made a deeper critic of the use of homosexuality and sexual identity. While originally the word was mainly connected with male homosexuality, there were movements to look beyond and at women’s same sex relationships.  There was also delving into definition of behavior and identity, which is an important distinction. She cites this idea from theorist Halperin, “although there are persons who seek sexual contact with other person of the same sex in many different societies, only recently and only in some sectors of our society have such persons—or some portion of them been homosexuals 16).” This quote speaks to me that there was a development of labeling and identifying. In some cases maybe this wasn’t a good thing, but in other areas it did give individuals a sense of order and belonging to a particular community, such as the LGBT community now that are organized to continue providing community and support for each other.

This is where the word “queer” can help, it can help to bring the varying facets of the communities together, not because they are the same gender, sexual identity or anything, but that they have a shared history in certain senses that led one pathway to another. The Homophile movement started up a road, taken up by Gay Liberation, and even further progressed by Lesbian Feminism. The studies of these movements and history have allowed theorists and others to use the term queer to create flexibility and to allow room for self-growth when trying to relate to communities. If someone chooses to identify with specific labels they can do so, but queer gives the possibility of not having to pick any one sexual preference or gender to be labeled by society. It gives options for the individual that chooses to identify as queer, but also options to communities to have more inclusive boundaries. The reclamation of queer and its usage can opens doors; it can bring advancements to create more selections beyond the sex and gender binaries. Then maybe one day the media won’t be posting stories of celebrities using non-normative identities to shed light on the issues, because there will be further progression with either more identities to associate with or using less labeling overall. I know this is idealistic and that breaking the social structures that oppress LGBT identified are ever difficult to tear down (feminism is still working against gender norms), but hopefully it is a start. A beginning, that can help to create larger strides towards tolerance and openness.