Queer Theory is a study that became widely known in the early 1990s, but its studies date back to as early as the 1960s. Queer Theory says we should not be defined by our gender, sexual orientation, sexual acts and personal identities, and that we should challenge the societal construct that forces us to. Although there are many scientists, sociologists, doctors and psychologists who have contributed to the study and works of Queer theory, the
four that this essay focuses on are Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Alfred Kinsey and Judith Butler. Derrida,
Foucault and Kinsey all contributed separate theories, and Butler brought them together to give us one of the most basic understandings we have of Queer Theory today.
First, Jacques Derrida came up with a theory known as post-modernism. He said that language is inherently exclusive and judgmental, and that it turns everything we say into a binary choice; it is completely automatic and we don’t have any choice. Derrida’s theory of language basically states that you cannot have ‘A’ without ‘B.’ The
way society judges is through a process called discourse. Discourse is the conversation that society has with itself that defines where the line is. Derrida referred to discourse, or the line, as a circle with the word ‘chair’ inside of
it. Anything outside of the circle would be defined as ‘not chair.’ Another great example is the word ‘man’ inside of the circle and ‘not man' on the outside. We cannot define ‘chair’ or‘man’ without first defining what is
‘not char’ and ‘not man.’ Discourse is judgmental because being defined as the ‘not’ sounds much worse; short man, scrawny man, gay man, bisexual man. Derrida believed the solution to the discourse was deconstruction. He said that we need to deconstruct our language; or in other words, pull the meanings of our words apart and ask why. Why do slut and stud mean the exact same thing, but are portrayed as two different things in reality? A woman can have sex with 20 partners and immediately be referred to as a slut. A man can have sex with 20 partners and immediately he is seen as a stud. Society needs to break down these barriers, pull apart the meanings of our language, and start asking why. Post modernism exists because of this discourse and deconstruction is the solution to modernism.
Discourse can also be positive. Derrida explains how the term ‘queer’ used to be the most offensive adjective anyone could ever use for a gay human being. Through the process of positive discourse, gays have taken back the term and acknowledge its identification in a positive way. Post-modernism is important to Queer Theory because it challenges us to deconstruct the language which surrounds us and if we deconstruct our language than we can
challenge its judgment and forceful binary choice.
Around the same time of Derrida’s work, Michel Foucault was studying to the gender aspect of Queer Theory.
Although they never met, their individual works were later tied together. Michel Foucault was a French philosopher who published a series of books about the History of Sexuality. Foucault’s publishing about the History of Sexuality dates back to the Roman Empire in 421 CE all the way to the Victorian era in the 1800s. Sex undergoes a major change through history. It begins as a bodily function with the ancient Greeks and Romans and ends, at least in Foucault’s publishing, in hegemony where love, sex, marriage and sin are all linked into one thought.
Throughout this history, heterosexuality was defined.
Foucault took Jeremy Bentham’s idea of the Panopticon and turned it into his own allegory to explain how human beings self police themselves. In the 1700s, Bentham came up with the idea of a perfect prison because
he believed that prisons could reform people rather than thrown them in a dungeon to rot. The Panopticon was
a facility in which the cells would be placed in a cylindrical shape with a watch tower in the middle. Each
cell would have a glass door in which the prisoner couldn’t see out, but outsiders could see in. Because of
the way the Panopticon was set up, the prisoners would be watching each other 24/7, and in turn self policing themselves and creating docile citizenry. Foucault believed that society self polices itself so that it can create a normal and keep it as common as possible. If everyone is constantly being watched, society creates docile citizenry in which everyone is on their best behavior and conforms to the normal.
Foucault’s most interesting theory is one that states it is impossible to know thyself. He went completely
against Plato’s pillar of Western civilization which stated “know thyself.” He uses examples of Plato’s work to
help us understand that such a thing may even be possible. Foucault claims that we cannot step out of ourselves because there is no self to know, everyone can “just be.” This is important to Queer theory because it simply makes homosexuality another dimension or realm within sexuality. You can’t know if you’re not gay or not straight, because there is no self to know in the first place. There is no definition to make of who you are. We are all capable of things we don’t believe we could possibly do.
Alfred Kinsey was a biologist turned sexologist, whom in 1948 published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and in 1953 published Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Like Foucault, he contributed his study of gender to Queer Theory. Kinsey’s research began in 1933 and it is likely that his study of gall wasps and their evolution led to his research on sexuality. His greatest breakthrough was when he finally began to ask people what they actually do. His research proved that people do more and do it more often than anyone ever imagined, and that women and men are fairly similar when it comes to sex. Kinsey’s publishing’s were highly radical because he dared to state that
homosexuality is normal and that women are like men in that they enjoy having sex, are concupiscent and masturbate.
Kinsey developed the “Kinsey Scale,”which consisted of a plot ranging from 0 to 6; 0 being exclusively heterosexual and 6 being exclusively homosexual. Kinsey stated that 0 and 6 are purely theoretical and he concluded that all human beings are bisexual. Most of his conclusions came from taking billions of sexual histories from humans across the nation. Kinsey’s findings are important to Queer Theory because they opened the door to ways that human beings can self identify themselves. Sex, gender, sexual orientation, identification, practice, attraction and aversion, urges and even further down the line, philias, are all categories in which human beings can identify within. With these categories Kinsey’s scale can now be turned from a single-axis plot to a dual-axis plot, with people all over the chart. This is important because it defines what is natural and what is normal. Something that is natural has a cause that can’t be figured out and more often than not has nothing to do with sex. Something that is considered normal is a social construct and is only normal up to what society views or believes to be “normal.” A heterosexual male who only has vaginal and oral sex would be seen as“normal’ within the social construct. But an openly homosexual male who likes have anal sex and is into S&M would be seen as “not normal.” Gender and sexual orientation are social constructs. Identification, practice and fantasy are all personal choice.
Individuals can self-identify, but no matter what society, will have constructs to keep what is believed to be “normal” in the spotlight.
Judith Butler is commonly referred to as the “father of Queer Theory” and is a scholar of gender and sexuality studies, feminist theory, political philosophy, critical theory and cultural criticism. Because of her work it is possible to obtain a degree in Queer Studies. Her main idea is that she refuses to accept labels all together. Derrida’s deconstruction is simply not enough and society needs to talk about the “upstream” issues. You cannot simply deconstruct the language in society; you have to ask who benefits from it. You can’t purify the polluted water at the bottom of the stream, to have to go to the source at the top to fix it. We have to ask who benefits from this
binary judgment and which privileges are preserved.
Butler’s theory connected the theories of Derrida, Foucault and Kinsey. First, heterosexuality had to be created so that homosexuality could exist outside of Derrida’s “circle.” Derrida is right in the sense that language is binary and judgmental, but Butler added that it is also very dangerous. Language makes everything black and white with absolutely no room from variation and allows us to create labels. “Chair” and “not chair” are not only societal constructs, but they are now also labels society gives to individuals. She used Kinsey’s scale as an example to show how this has evolved. Kinsey’s scaled evolved from a single-dimensional grid to a multi-dimensional grid in which people have hundreds of categories in which they can identify themselves in. Along with being binary, judgmental and dangerous, language, Butler goes on to say, is also performative. It turns words into actions without an actual action being taken; for example a bishop saying “I now pronounce you man and wife.” She also says that our gender is performative; it is an act that we all put on for each other so that we may fit within a societal construct.
Butler then twisted Foucault’s theory that there is no self to know. She goes even further to say that if there is no self to know, then there is nothing or no one to be labeled. She herself identifies as a human only, although society sees her as a white, lesbian female. Society should do away with all types of labels because none of them mean
anything in the first place. Modern society has learned to self police itself, and in turn gender is something that we have all created and self police for ourselves. Her main focus relies on this point alone. If society self polices
gender, then it’s all just a performance for those who are watching us; as fellow prisoners would in the Panopticon.
It is important to ignore the societal constructs around us; don’t play, act or give yourself a label. Butler says to just be. This is important to Queer Theory because if we choose to ignore the constructs of society, and challenge the “upstream”issues, then we can all just be.
Derrida, Foucault, Kinsey and Butler all contributed to the study and theory of Queer Theory in so many important ways. Each of their theories come together to create one single study of our societal construct as we know it today. It is important to study and understand their works because it helps give a greater meaning and understanding to how society has developed and how we look at and construct the world around us. This also helps us challenge the construct around us; deconstruct our language, ask why heterosexuals benefit more than homosexuals and identify ourselves as who we want to be identified by. If we could tear down the barriers in
our language and break away from labels, society may be a more perfect place in which one can identify within and feel ok to be themselves.
four that this essay focuses on are Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Alfred Kinsey and Judith Butler. Derrida,
Foucault and Kinsey all contributed separate theories, and Butler brought them together to give us one of the most basic understandings we have of Queer Theory today.
First, Jacques Derrida came up with a theory known as post-modernism. He said that language is inherently exclusive and judgmental, and that it turns everything we say into a binary choice; it is completely automatic and we don’t have any choice. Derrida’s theory of language basically states that you cannot have ‘A’ without ‘B.’ The
way society judges is through a process called discourse. Discourse is the conversation that society has with itself that defines where the line is. Derrida referred to discourse, or the line, as a circle with the word ‘chair’ inside of
it. Anything outside of the circle would be defined as ‘not chair.’ Another great example is the word ‘man’ inside of the circle and ‘not man' on the outside. We cannot define ‘chair’ or‘man’ without first defining what is
‘not char’ and ‘not man.’ Discourse is judgmental because being defined as the ‘not’ sounds much worse; short man, scrawny man, gay man, bisexual man. Derrida believed the solution to the discourse was deconstruction. He said that we need to deconstruct our language; or in other words, pull the meanings of our words apart and ask why. Why do slut and stud mean the exact same thing, but are portrayed as two different things in reality? A woman can have sex with 20 partners and immediately be referred to as a slut. A man can have sex with 20 partners and immediately he is seen as a stud. Society needs to break down these barriers, pull apart the meanings of our language, and start asking why. Post modernism exists because of this discourse and deconstruction is the solution to modernism.
Discourse can also be positive. Derrida explains how the term ‘queer’ used to be the most offensive adjective anyone could ever use for a gay human being. Through the process of positive discourse, gays have taken back the term and acknowledge its identification in a positive way. Post-modernism is important to Queer Theory because it challenges us to deconstruct the language which surrounds us and if we deconstruct our language than we can
challenge its judgment and forceful binary choice.
Around the same time of Derrida’s work, Michel Foucault was studying to the gender aspect of Queer Theory.
Although they never met, their individual works were later tied together. Michel Foucault was a French philosopher who published a series of books about the History of Sexuality. Foucault’s publishing about the History of Sexuality dates back to the Roman Empire in 421 CE all the way to the Victorian era in the 1800s. Sex undergoes a major change through history. It begins as a bodily function with the ancient Greeks and Romans and ends, at least in Foucault’s publishing, in hegemony where love, sex, marriage and sin are all linked into one thought.
Throughout this history, heterosexuality was defined.
Foucault took Jeremy Bentham’s idea of the Panopticon and turned it into his own allegory to explain how human beings self police themselves. In the 1700s, Bentham came up with the idea of a perfect prison because
he believed that prisons could reform people rather than thrown them in a dungeon to rot. The Panopticon was
a facility in which the cells would be placed in a cylindrical shape with a watch tower in the middle. Each
cell would have a glass door in which the prisoner couldn’t see out, but outsiders could see in. Because of
the way the Panopticon was set up, the prisoners would be watching each other 24/7, and in turn self policing themselves and creating docile citizenry. Foucault believed that society self polices itself so that it can create a normal and keep it as common as possible. If everyone is constantly being watched, society creates docile citizenry in which everyone is on their best behavior and conforms to the normal.
Foucault’s most interesting theory is one that states it is impossible to know thyself. He went completely
against Plato’s pillar of Western civilization which stated “know thyself.” He uses examples of Plato’s work to
help us understand that such a thing may even be possible. Foucault claims that we cannot step out of ourselves because there is no self to know, everyone can “just be.” This is important to Queer theory because it simply makes homosexuality another dimension or realm within sexuality. You can’t know if you’re not gay or not straight, because there is no self to know in the first place. There is no definition to make of who you are. We are all capable of things we don’t believe we could possibly do.
Alfred Kinsey was a biologist turned sexologist, whom in 1948 published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and in 1953 published Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Like Foucault, he contributed his study of gender to Queer Theory. Kinsey’s research began in 1933 and it is likely that his study of gall wasps and their evolution led to his research on sexuality. His greatest breakthrough was when he finally began to ask people what they actually do. His research proved that people do more and do it more often than anyone ever imagined, and that women and men are fairly similar when it comes to sex. Kinsey’s publishing’s were highly radical because he dared to state that
homosexuality is normal and that women are like men in that they enjoy having sex, are concupiscent and masturbate.
Kinsey developed the “Kinsey Scale,”which consisted of a plot ranging from 0 to 6; 0 being exclusively heterosexual and 6 being exclusively homosexual. Kinsey stated that 0 and 6 are purely theoretical and he concluded that all human beings are bisexual. Most of his conclusions came from taking billions of sexual histories from humans across the nation. Kinsey’s findings are important to Queer Theory because they opened the door to ways that human beings can self identify themselves. Sex, gender, sexual orientation, identification, practice, attraction and aversion, urges and even further down the line, philias, are all categories in which human beings can identify within. With these categories Kinsey’s scale can now be turned from a single-axis plot to a dual-axis plot, with people all over the chart. This is important because it defines what is natural and what is normal. Something that is natural has a cause that can’t be figured out and more often than not has nothing to do with sex. Something that is considered normal is a social construct and is only normal up to what society views or believes to be “normal.” A heterosexual male who only has vaginal and oral sex would be seen as“normal’ within the social construct. But an openly homosexual male who likes have anal sex and is into S&M would be seen as “not normal.” Gender and sexual orientation are social constructs. Identification, practice and fantasy are all personal choice.
Individuals can self-identify, but no matter what society, will have constructs to keep what is believed to be “normal” in the spotlight.
Judith Butler is commonly referred to as the “father of Queer Theory” and is a scholar of gender and sexuality studies, feminist theory, political philosophy, critical theory and cultural criticism. Because of her work it is possible to obtain a degree in Queer Studies. Her main idea is that she refuses to accept labels all together. Derrida’s deconstruction is simply not enough and society needs to talk about the “upstream” issues. You cannot simply deconstruct the language in society; you have to ask who benefits from it. You can’t purify the polluted water at the bottom of the stream, to have to go to the source at the top to fix it. We have to ask who benefits from this
binary judgment and which privileges are preserved.
Butler’s theory connected the theories of Derrida, Foucault and Kinsey. First, heterosexuality had to be created so that homosexuality could exist outside of Derrida’s “circle.” Derrida is right in the sense that language is binary and judgmental, but Butler added that it is also very dangerous. Language makes everything black and white with absolutely no room from variation and allows us to create labels. “Chair” and “not chair” are not only societal constructs, but they are now also labels society gives to individuals. She used Kinsey’s scale as an example to show how this has evolved. Kinsey’s scaled evolved from a single-dimensional grid to a multi-dimensional grid in which people have hundreds of categories in which they can identify themselves in. Along with being binary, judgmental and dangerous, language, Butler goes on to say, is also performative. It turns words into actions without an actual action being taken; for example a bishop saying “I now pronounce you man and wife.” She also says that our gender is performative; it is an act that we all put on for each other so that we may fit within a societal construct.
Butler then twisted Foucault’s theory that there is no self to know. She goes even further to say that if there is no self to know, then there is nothing or no one to be labeled. She herself identifies as a human only, although society sees her as a white, lesbian female. Society should do away with all types of labels because none of them mean
anything in the first place. Modern society has learned to self police itself, and in turn gender is something that we have all created and self police for ourselves. Her main focus relies on this point alone. If society self polices
gender, then it’s all just a performance for those who are watching us; as fellow prisoners would in the Panopticon.
It is important to ignore the societal constructs around us; don’t play, act or give yourself a label. Butler says to just be. This is important to Queer Theory because if we choose to ignore the constructs of society, and challenge the “upstream”issues, then we can all just be.
Derrida, Foucault, Kinsey and Butler all contributed to the study and theory of Queer Theory in so many important ways. Each of their theories come together to create one single study of our societal construct as we know it today. It is important to study and understand their works because it helps give a greater meaning and understanding to how society has developed and how we look at and construct the world around us. This also helps us challenge the construct around us; deconstruct our language, ask why heterosexuals benefit more than homosexuals and identify ourselves as who we want to be identified by. If we could tear down the barriers in
our language and break away from labels, society may be a more perfect place in which one can identify within and feel ok to be themselves.