Queer Analysis

Question 1

• Interdisciplinary perspective
• Seeks to disrupt socially constructed systems over meaning regarding human sexuality
• Explores seemingly “natural” binary: heterosexuality/homosexuality
• Theorists work to expose shortcoming of these labels and show how they work to support systems of social power and privilege
o Heterosexuals as the dominant, hegemonic idea
• Political – the implications (*think about politics when taking on these cultural theories)

Answer 1

Queer Theory

Question 2

emotional, romantic or sexual attraction toward others

Answer 2

Sexuality

Question 3

same-sex environment, such as in prison, the military, and schools (can be anti-homosexual as a form of homosocial bonding)

• affects how we talk about sexuality

Answer 3

Homosocial

Question 4

same-sex feelings not acted upon in a sexual manner (“bromance”)

Answer 4

Homoerotic

Question 5

same-sex erotic activity

Answer 5

Homosexual

Question 6

triangular desire by Eve Sedgwick

• Desire is always mediated
• The woman is the mediator, seemingly the object of desire, the one receiving attention but it is toward the men
• Action is b/t the two men, intense relationship is b/t the two men

Example of a homoerotic situation – where the real action is going on between the men

Answer 6

Model of Desire

Question 7

whatever is at odds with the normal, legitimate, dominant; nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers

• Articulates radical questioning of social and cultural norms, notions of gender, reproductive sexuality and the family
• To queer something is to make it seem odd, to counteract, delegitimize, to make strange to frustrate

Answer 7

Queer

Question 8

Coined in 1991 by queer theorist Michael Warner to describe any of a set oflifestylenormsthat hold that people “natuarally” fall into distinct and complementary genders(manandwoman) withdesignated ”natural” roles in life.

Holds that heterosexualityis the “normal”sexual orientation, and states that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between a man and a woman.

Answer 8

Heteronormativity

Question 9

one that aligns biologicalsex,sexuality,gender identity, andgender roles. Anything outside this system is seen as “perverse”

Answer 9

“heteronormative” view

Question 10

a. normal/natural
b. loving/monogamous
c. purity/gender clarity

Answer 10

Heterosexuality

Question 11

Any concept of sexuality is culturally constructed and distorting. The fact that heterosexual stereotypes don’t appear to be constructions speaks to the power of heteronormative systems.

Answer 11

Sexual Stereotypes in Media

Question 12

a. abnormal/deviant
b. hyper-sexual/promiscuous
c. perversion/gender blurring

Answer 12

Homosexual

Question 13

Commercials that assume heteronormativity:

Answer 13

Gay Pepsi Commercial – commercial wouldn’t work without acceptance of heteronormativity; assumption of heteronormativity
• Different emotional responses
• Curious, intrigued, or repulsed

McDonalds Commercial – “Come as you are”
• Emphasize heteronormativity
• The father is the main agent of heteronormativity; reinforces the structure of heterosexuality
• Expectation of heteronormativity
Why make a commercial like this?
• Everyone is welcome despite how far you may have deviated from the norm
• Come on in and spend your money

Question 14

Homophobes might be hidden homosexuals

Answer 14

Reaction formation – Freud, angry battle against the outward symbol

Question 15

No absolute association b/t a person’s gender and sexuality, media texts often portray heterosexuals as having definite gender roles and homosexuals as having unclear ones (they don’t follow the rules)

Answer 15

i.e. Modern Family
• queer theorists celebrate this sort of gender fluidity as a way to eradicate sexual classification
• ambiguity often results in certain level of discomfort in mass audiences toward gay and lesbian people

Question 16

tends to result in a threatening, unsettling sense that “things are not quite right” with queer characters and personalities

Answer 16

Gender androgyny

Question 17

What is the relationship between Queer and heteronormativity?

Answer 17

Like images of gender, the various heteronormative sexual stereotypes we see in media contribute to a social system defined by restricted sexual expectations.

for Women AND Men

Question 18

What’s at Stake?

Answer 18

Bystander effect

Question 19

Bystander effect

Answer 19

situations in which individuals do not offer any help to a victim of violence when other people are present

“the reason none of the bystanders intervened was because they did not want to be considered ‘wusses’ or ‘be made fun of”

Question 20

Queerness and Visibility:The Problems with “Positive” Representation

Answer 20

Queer visibility a paradox:

• Increased visibility not always diverse visibility
• “Types” presented in the media; aspects are always obscured; any representation is incomplete and therefore misleading
• Homosexuality often constructed as a “problem” to solve – e.g. being in “The Closet”

Question 21

The Deployment of Sexuality

Answer 21

Michel Foucalt (1926 – 1984)
Judith Butler (b. 1956)

Question 22

Before the late 19th century, one could not “be” a homosexual. A man could have sex with another man, but this was merely an act, an individual instance, and not a quality of identity.

With the rise of religious, medical and political discourses surrounding sexuality, the notion of homosexuality (and heterosexuality) came to be a coherent classification of people. (late 18th/early 19th century)

o Being a homosexual was merely an act not a quality of identity
• Homosexuality came to be a coherent classification of people (late 18th/early 19th century)
• Scientific revolution – categorizing things; DSM of Mental Disorders
o Saying you are homosexual, you are interpellating yourself into the medical discourse

Answer 22

Foucault

• Discursive Construction (constructed thru language)

Question 23

• Gender only exists b/c people act (perform) as gendered beings
o i.e. Wearing a frilly pink dress = feminine; we are trained to accept that
• Gender is not an objective natural thing
• Is solely and completely a social construction, a fiction
• “We’re born naked and the rest is drag”
• Not necessarily intrinsic to who we are

Answer 23

Judith Butler (b. 1956)
Performativity

i.e. Paris is Burning
Performing ideology and discourse