A Take On Queer Politics

Hey friends! Below is a piece I wrote in a highly educational and informative LGBTQ studies class I took previously. Check it out and lets discuss in the comments! I want to hear your opinions!

"Interrogating systems of power breaks down most forms of oppression at its very roots. A radical queer politic actively makes an effort to deepen the understanding of power and create awareness of intersectionality and experiences among different groups of people. This is significant in understanding that queer theory and queer politics should be deeper than making the queer identity known; we need to understand and dismantle the power structures that work to conceal and limit queer identity through the use of heteronormative and patriarchal values. By doing this, we are destroying exclusive values from an internal standpoint which in turn pushes individuals to become mindful of the of non-normative identities and consider how our systems “regulate and socialize” these identities (Cohen, 458). The potential for a radical queer politic to thrive rests on “its ability to advance strategically oriented political identities arising from a more nuanced understanding of power” (Cohen, 458).

Within society there are many unmarked categories that hold some cohort of power influenced by straight, white, cisgender, able, male values. For example, ability is a category ingrained within the system of our society so much so, that we often fail to recognize the privilege associated with being able. There are unwritten rules about how we are expected to use our bodies and how our bodies should function, thus when we do not fit into this classification we are labeled as “outcasts” (Montoya, 3/6). When your identity becomes, “outcast”, you are often considered deviant from the norm and this applies to queer identity as well. We cannot just focus on queer versus heterosexual, using this method we are dividing ourselves more from society. We need to understand what it means to queer, what it means to be a racial minority, what it means to be disabled and so on, and we need to understand how each of these identities intertwine with one another to influence our mobility in society. Our identities are deeper and separate from our sexuality and if we do not acknowledge this then we will continue to struggle with forward advancement and inclusivivty (Cohen, 480).

We criminalize deviant behavior through the use of alienation in an attempt to create a disposable community (Montoya, 3/1). A radical queer politic combats this by making themselves aware of the privilege of those who hold power and understanding how those who don’t hold power are discriminated against and controlled through the furthering of normative categories. (Cohen, 458). We need to break down and reconstruct the language and power structures that actively work to make minorities invisible by targeting them as non-conformist. The non-conformist rhetoric takes individuals whose identities are not normative and portrays them as a danger to “civilization”.

Queer politics needs a restructured interpretation on what its true focus should be. We need to start recognizing that we are not just queer, we are queer with different backgrounds that influence our representational, political and structural intersectionality."

-Mikayla Bostic, March 2018.