Queerness in Popular Culture

Queerness

Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning "strange" or "peculiar", queer came to be deployed pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late-19th century. It is often a term used to describe non-normative identities and politics, for example, anti-homonormativity and anti-heteronormativity. Queer theory and queer politics are academic disciplines that share general opposition to binarism, normativity, and perceived lack of intersectionality within mainstream culture. Those who strongly reject traditional gender identities, such as LGBTQ identities, see themselves as oppressed by the homonormativity and heteronormativity of the broader community.

Queer Academia

Mary Bunch

"The unbecoming subject of sex: Performativity, interpellation, and the politics of queer theory" (2013)

Bunch speaks of concepts surrounding queerness in terms of gay bashing as acts out this violence is front of an audience of fellow men to reaffirm their natural and masculine sex of heterosexuality. In this view, homosexuals fail their gender performance and violate societal expectations that are held for men and women. Bunch elaborates on queer theory an theorizes how the "unbecoming" subject might transform oppressive social conditions. Bunch describes homosexuality as a threat to heteronormativity and argues that being unbecoming potentially not only alters subjectivity, but also alters the very law that hails the subject into being stating, "Subjectivity is thus unsteadily anchored at the threshold of the double performative - the performativity of the law and of the subject - each granting the other the conditions of its possibility and threatening the withdrawal of those conditions" (53). Policing of gender occurs through "families, the media, and the education system, including the reprimand and threat of punishment when the 'unbecoming ' subject falls out of line. Bunch suggests we must question normative conceptions of the sexual and gendered self and understand the intersection of gender identity with other forms of difference. The complicated and dual reality of the unbecoming queer subject demands chance, social change, and change in queer theory.

Audre Lorde

"I am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities" (2010)

Lorde theorizes about the intersectionality of oppressions stating, "When I say I am a Black feminist, I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my Blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both these fronts are inseparable" (Lorde, 227). Lorde identifies as a Black, a woman, a lesbian, and a feminist. Lorde focuses on shattering Black stereotypes and homophobic stereotypes suggesting, "Just as racist stereotypes are the problem of the white people who believe them, so also are homophobic stereotypes the problem of the heterosexuals who believe them" (Lorde, 279). Her identity is comprised of all of these intersecting and oppressive aspects of her identity, as both a queer and racialized woman. Accordning to "Even if you do believe any of these stereotypes about Black Lesbians, begin to practice acting like you don't believe them" (Lorde, 279).

Heywood and Drake

Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism (1997)

During a time experiencing a generational divide between second and third-wave feminism, culture, popular culture, and a post-modernist/poststructuralist, this brings an astute awareness to difference, particularity identity. Thinking about culture, and pop culture in particular, is an important aspect to consider when considering the differences between second and third wave feminist thought, taking critical engagement with popular culture as a key to political struggle (Heywood and Drake, 51). This points to one central premises of the feminist thought and its relevance in today's world, suggesting feminism cannot be universalized across all the categories it embraces and touches on the meanings and representations of feminism, femininity, masculinity, and popular contemporary culture in the third wave.

Bromley

"Feminisms Matter: Debates, Theories, Activism" (2012)

In order to further discuss the shift in nature of second-wave and third-wave feminism, one must consider the issues surrounding popular culture and queer theory and areas of feminist activism from the past that have remained central even today. In Feminisms Matter: Debates, Theories, Activism (2012), Bromley discusses how third-wavers are “building on some of the second wavers tactics and enacting new ones in new spaces” (Bromley, 182). Third-wavers offer both the production and critique of pop culture as a way of challenging norms as well as altering social expectations and values (Bromley, 182). Clearly, as other scholars have suggested, third-wave feminism is still relevant and "While feminism has been struggling for equality for well over a century, we have yet to meet this goal. […] We must continue to fight got social change to end exploitation and oppression in all its various forms" (Bromley, 189). Viewing feminist theory through critical intersections of race, class, sexuality, and age show her attempt to make sense of how these intersections are embedded in everyday life and make sense of concepts like power and privilege, which sometimes cause significant consequences for women in the division between men and women and between the public and private spheres.

Third-Wave Feminism

Third-wave feminism refers to several diverse strains of feminist activity and study, whose exact boundaries in the history of feminism are a subject of debate, but are generally marked as beginning in the early 1990s and continuing to the present. The movement arose partially as a response to the perceived failures of and backlash against initiatives and movements created by second wave feminism during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, and the perception that women are of "many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions, and cultural backgrounds". This wave of feminism expands the topic of feminism to include a diverse group of women with a diverse set of identities. Third Wave feminists have broadened their goals, focusing on ideas like queer theory and abolishing gender role expectations and stereotypes. Unlike the determined position of second wave feminists about women in pornography, sex work, and prostitution, third-wave feminists were rather ambiguous and divided about these themes. The shift from second wave feminism came about with many of the legal and institutional rights that were extended to women. In addition to these institutional gains, third-wave feminists believed there needed to be further changes in stereotypes, media portrayals, and language to define women. Third-wave feminists have recently utilized the internet and modern technology to enhance their movement, which has allowed for information and organization to reach a larger audience. Third-wave feminism claims it allows women to define feminism for themselves by incorporating their own identities into their belief system of what feminism is and what it can become. Having the successes of the first two waves of feminism, third-wave feminists felt a need for further changes in the stereotypes against women and media portrayals of women as well as in the language that is used to define women. Third-wave feminism celebrates the multiple and sometimes contradictory identities in today's world and encourages personal empowerment and action. Although third-wave feminists do not reject political activism, the emphasis is more on ones' personal empowerment as a starting point for societal change. Third-wave feminists express themselves through popular culture and the media and use it in their personal journeys to define their own identity.

Queer Culture and Politics

Zines and E-Zines

Several social and political movements surrounding queer identities, such as Riot Grrrl and the creation of Zines and E-Zines, contributed to the notion of queer culture and queer identity. The increasing ease of publishing on the Internet meant that e-zines (electronic magazines) and blogs became ubiquitous. Many serious independent writers, not to mention organizations, found that the Internet offered a forum for the exchange of information and the publication of essays and videos that made their point to a potentially huge audience. The Internet radically democratized the content of the feminist movement with respect to participants, aesthetics, and issues.

Riot Grrrl

In the early 1990s, the Riot Grrrl movement began in Washington. It sought to give women the power to control their voices and artistic expressions. Its links to social and political issues are where the beginnings of the third-wave feminism can be seen. The music and zine writings produced are strong examples of "cultural politics in action, with strong women giving voice to important social issues though an empowered, female oriented community, many people link the emergence of the third-wave feminism to this time". The movement encouraged and made "adolescent girls' standpoints central", allowing them to express themselves fully.It was grounded in the DIY philosophy of punk values, Riot Grrrls took an anti-corporate stance of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Riot grrrl's emphasis on universal female identity and separatism often appears more closely allied with second-wave feminism than with the third wave. Riot grrrl bands often address issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, and female empowerment. These movements describe the ways in which queer and LGBTQ people around the world often attempt to escape or resist the discrimination and ill treatment due to their orientation or gender expression.

Queer Portrayals in Popular Culture

Examining portrayals of queerness in popular culture, with particular attention to portrayals in popular television could help determine whether media representations of homosexuality are effectively breaking away from heteronormativity. It is central to apply scholarly discourse and feminist theory surrounding ideas of normativity, subjectivity, and intersectionality. Although many current TV shows are potentially improving, simply making homosexuality more visible and prevalent in mainstream media does not equate to an increase in societal tolerance of this. Current TV programs potentially reinforce many stereotypes of minorities and reinforce classism, sexism, and homophobia.

Queer Portrayals in Popular Television

Using Friends (1994) and Seinfeld (1989), for example, these popular TV sitcoms lack characters portraying anything but heterosexuality. Even though characters such as Chandler Bing's father being gay/drag, none of the primary characters have represented the gay community effectively. Modern Family (2009) is another TV show that has an evident double standard in terms of homosexuality. Although two of the main characters are gay, the representation of these characters potentially reinforces stereotypes of homosexual relationships, including butch and femme attributes. Take characters Cam and Mitchell, for example. These characters act as a means to place Cam in a feminine role and Mitchell in a masculine role, thus placing them in heteronormative standards. Louis Althusser's theory of interpellation allows the subject to be imbedded in ideology by the response to the hail, as discussed in the hailing a police officer and the law staging the subject's call into being. Thus, when looking at how the media interpellates individuals as certain subjects, interpellation helps us understand how people are called into their identity through communicative interactions. Current and relevant television shows are an example of how interpellation is used to further reinforce cultural ideologies about gender and sexuality. By hailing the subject as oppressed , cultural ideologies force the subject to identity themselves outside of the norm. As many other feminist scholars state, studying media helps make theory relevant to our everyday lives. Examining popular TV shows and various other forms of popular culture it is clear that much of the content portrayed in the media, specifically in popular television shows throughout the past decade, is stereotypical and heteronormative. However, it could be argued that popular TV shows such as Orange Is The New Black, have improved since Friends and Seinfeld, it helps us understand how more accurate representations of LGBTQ and queer culture are yet to come in mainstream media.

References

Bunch, Mary, “The unbecoming subject of sex: Performativity, interpellation, and the politics of queer theory,” Feminist Theory 14(1), (2013): 39-55.

Audre Lorde, “I am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities” in Carole R. McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim (eds.) Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. 2nd Edition. New York and London: Routledge. 2010. p276-280.

Heywood, L., & Drake, J. (Eds.). (1997). Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism. (L. Heywood & J. Drake, Eds.) (NED - New edition). University of Minnesota Press (pp.42-pp.54).

Bromley, V. L. (2012). Feminisms Matter: Debates, Theories, Activism. University of Toronto Press (pp.173-pp.212).