Essays on Queer Theory

Speaker Note

Queer theory is defined as a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and women's studies. It challenges “essentialist notions of homosexuality and heterosexuality within the mainstream discourse and instead posits an understanding of sexuality that emphasizes shifting boundaries, ambivalences, and cultural constructions that change depending on historical and cultural context.” (Queer Theory, 2016) “To queer” means to consider “normal” sexuality as strange, to reconsider the notion heterosexuality as a natural social and sexual norm and advocate the notion of “non-straightness,” protesting agaisnt the hegemony of “straight” ideology. ...

Abstract

When Invisible Man, the seminal novel by Ralph Ellison was published in 1953, it quickly established a reputation as one of the most important literary depictions of the struggles of African-Americans in the history of fiction. The central character, the titular ‘invisible man,’ struggles with a metaphorical invisibility that was endemic to the 20th-century attitudes of white hegemony toward African-Americans, and encapsulated the black experience as one of marginalization and oppression. These elements contribute greatly to manifesting a vision of black American life that expressly prevents blacks from achieving the same level of respectability and acceptance as whites, regardless ...

This paper attempts to answer the question “should queer theory be considered a theory for psychotherapy?” This paper takes the stand that queer theory must be considered a theory for psychotherapy.

Queer theory stemmed from the fields of women’s and queer studies in the early 1990s. This theory concentrates on mismatches between desire, gender and sex (Pinar, 1998). To a larger extent, this theory is associated with gay, lesbian and bisexual subjects. In the recent past, this theory has incorporated other areas such as gender corrective surgery, gender ambiguity, intersexuality and cross dressing (Pinar, 1998). As such, queer theory evaluates ...

Summary of the Essay Not Yet Queer Enough The Lessons of Queer Theory for the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality by Stephen Valocchi The queer theory seeks to demystify existing perspectives on sex, and gender issues in society. It presents a reaction to previous thoughts held by society especially in the era of diversified gender roles. The article Not Yet Queer Enough The Lessons of Queer Theory for the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality, written by Stephen Valocchi, seeks to illustrate how sociologists use queer theory to rethink gender and sexuality issues in order to solve conflicting perspectives. This ...

Questions for Women and Cinema

Part I

1. Transgender It is a state in which an individual’s gender is not matching his or her assigned sex responsibility. It refers to the trans-genders, such as homosexual, bisexuals, heterosexual. In the Paris burning film, the issue of Transgender is explored using various characters men and women. For instance, Trans women used as members of the club to show realness. The women are sued to enhance transgender in the film, this shows that as much as they are women they can also compete men and become real (Besnier and Kalissa 34).

2. Monstrous-feminine The female ...

Introduction

Since 1890, XYZ University has been educating children of the middle-class in this part of the US midwest. Originally founded as a normal school for the training of teachers, XYZ has expanded to a respected regional university with an array of undergraduate programs in the arts and sciences. Still proud of its teacher’s college, XYZ also has a thriving business school, as well as a nationally recognized arts and theater division. Located in an area that remains relatively rural, XYZ is a source of vibrant public programming in arts and culture for the local populace. It also runs a substantial continuing education division that ...

In Kimberly Pierce’s 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, the true-life story of Brandon Teena (played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank), a transgendered man who attempts to pass for a biological man in rural Nebraska, is told. Over the course of the film, Brandon (born Teena Brandon) tries to fit in with a group of male friends he encounters, and continues to pose as a man in order to woo her friend Lana (played by Chloe Sevigny). However, by the end of the film, his friends find out about his anatomical femaleness and is raped and murdered by them. The film is commonly ...

The issue of gender equality stands is a major concern on the global agenda although there has been a significant progress towards gender equality in most parts of the world. Women in many societies have limited access to healthcare and suffer pervasive threats from domestic violence. There is a substantial gender gap in the division of responsibilities, access to education and employment due to legal and political barriers . Effective strategies in achieving development and improvement of the status and living conditions of women lack due to injustice and ignorance towards women. The most important concern of achieving gender equality is through the ...

The sexual culture has been a topic of great concern following critics that have faced members of the sexual minority. This is because according to the past, socials and religious beliefs, there only exists one sexual culture of which its heterosexuality. This is due to the way people have been brought up to view the sexual minorities. The society at large beliefs that heteronormativity is the only sexual orientation where man and woman have natural roles. Despite this belief there is the existence of the sexual minority, the queer people who recognize homosexuality as a sexual culture. This has been witnessed ...

Photographs capture the current state of the world in terms of culture and philosophy. Photographs are an integral part of mainstream media. They are used to pass on information about the status quo in terms of both political and cultural power. Though seemingly simple and irrelevant a deep analysis of photographs reveals a lot about the culture of the society from where the photograph is taken. Photographs are also very important in evaluating the psychology of the person taking the photograph. The media artifact in my discussion is photographs. The following essay discusses photographs under the feminist theory and the queer ...

Alienation

The concept of alienation is a one of the central constructs of Marxian theory. This concept was used for description of a capitalist mode of production when workers lost control over the means of production. In accordance with Knox & Pinch (2010) it is described as “a mechanism of social change” and relates another concept of deviant behavior in wider sociopolitical connotation (p.215). Later alienation was used by the early deterministic theorists because it was of a great interest when studying spatial variations of people behavior (Amin, 2002). Marx outlined several reasons of alienation. Firstly, alienated person feels like economic, social ...

Queer theory had been popular since eighties taking the place of gender theory appeared to be more primitive. The ideas of queer theory are widely implemented by those who fight for human rights and freedoms. This paper is devoted to the research of two studies, namely: Wilchins, R. Queer Theory, Gender Theory and Sycamore, M.B. “That's revolting: Queer Strategies for resisting Assimilation”. Before discussing potential flashpoints between persons with non-traditional sexual orientation (gays and lesbians), and queers let us consider similarities and differences between them. At first sight there is no difference between queers and gays/lesbians. Gay ...

The 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, directed by Kimberly Peirce, tells the story of transgendered man Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank, in an Oscar-winning performance), who was born Teena Brandon, a woman. In his attempts to ingratiate himself with his male friends and pursue a relationship with a girl named Lana (Chloe Sevigny), his anatomical differences are discovered, and he is raped and murdered by those same male friends. The film examines the concepts of homosexuality, transgender issues, and identity in a way that few major studio films typically do. However, Boys Don't Cry presents a remarkably gender-binary worldview for its subject matter, as Brandon ( ...

Outline - Boys Don't Cry Presentation

1. THESIS: Boys Don't Cry presents a remarkably gender-binary worldview for its subject matter, as Brandon (and the film) refuses to accept the possibility of a transgender or intersex view of his sexuality, preferring to paint him as a straight male in a crossdressing woman's body. 2. FEMINIST THEORY - 3. Relevant scenes: Brandon's bar fight in the beginning, showing her masculine drive to fight; Brandon's desire to joyride with Tom and John; Brandon's love scene with Lana showing her ability to please as much (if not more) than a man. 4. Brandon's assuming of a strictly male identity speaks to issues ...