Literary Theory

Series 1; Handout #24

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950-), American pioneer of Queer Theory (late 80s), which argues, following Foucault, that sexual orientations (particularly the homo-/heterosexual binary) are social constructs and inherently ideological (at the service of patriarchy and capitalism, among other factors); “Between Men”: the homosocial (homosociality) is same sex relations, covering the range from acquaintance to sexual relations; however, male relationships are complicated by homophobia (though women are not or are much less so), so they use women to mediate their sexual desire—they become homosocial exchange objects in MMF love triangles. Sedgwick, like other critics, disconnects sexual desire from the sex of the individuals involved. She emphasizes thinking of gender/sexuality as points on a continuum instead of opposite poles (following Kinsey in some respects). Consider the example of the ancient Greeks (consider the meaning of the Achilles/Patroclus relationship revised in Troy).

Q. How do men signify their heterosexuality (homophobia/heterosexism?) when around other men? Do women engage in similar homophobic behaviors?

Q. Why is there greater tolerance for lesbianism (Ellen, mainstream pornography) than male homosexuality?

Q. Does heterosexual marriage reinforce patriarchy and homophobia? Is marriage primarily a kinship system based on property transference between males?

Judith Butler (1956): American pioneering Queer Theorist; Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990): there is no such thing as a “natural” sexual identity though society enforces compulsory heterosexuality by subjecting the non-heterosexual to policing and abjection (violence); identities are performative in compliance with available models, but, apart from identity deviants, there are even bodies that defy male/female binarism (hermaphrodites and the transgendered, see Paris is Burning); Butler calls for a proliferation of identities, until there are as many sexualities as there are people. Butler calls for parody of gender norms and extols the subversive power of drag, which “destabilizes the naturalized categories of identity and desire.”

Q. What is your reaction to “drag” performance in Paris is Burning? How does it relate to your gender?

Q. What does it mean to be a “woman” if a male can do it just as well and maybe better? Can a woman wear drag (that is, signify the “feminine” in an unnatural way)?

Q. How did you learn to perform your gender identity? How much freedom did you have to choose? Can you change course now?

Q. Is it conceivable that, ultimately, there could be no such thing as “gender”?

Q. Is gender indeterminacy a threat to feminism? Who does it help?