The Specter of Materialism

Conceptual Overview (Portrayals of Sexuality in Pornography)

Sexual Politics, Organizational Practices: Interrogating Queer Theory, Work and Organization

Researchers have become aware of a need to focus on the continued development of gender and sexuality research in mathematics education, as frameworks and conceptual perspectives have been difficult to operationalize, particularly outside of the heteronormative categories of cis-male and cis-female studies. Early pioneers of this work have proposed intersectionality theory (e.g., Leyva, 2017) and queer theories (e.g., Dubbs 2016; Esmonde 2011; Sheldon and Rands 2013) as promising lenses for conceptualizing such research, as they allow for critical postmodern engagement by avoiding many of the structuralist gender commitments that have previously prevented it. In this paper, I build on this work by employing the notion of mathematical identity. I perform a systematic, theoretical review of the literature to articulate a basis for the intersection of mathematical identity and queer identity. I articulate the theoretical basis for this intersection of identities by building a framework that illustrates the intersectional nature of mathematical and queer identities and gives scholars a tool for conceptualizing future work in this area. This paper issues a call to the field to embrace the uncertainty of this new research borderland, because it is only through a radical vision of identity research in mathematics education—such as is offered here—that researchers can begin to situate students’ participation in mathematics within larger social and economic systems that have yet to be analyzed in depth with respect to queer identity.

Across ages and cultures, music has been associated with sexual allure, gender inversion and suspect sexuality. Music has been theorised as both a putative agent of moral corruption and an expressive mechanism of gender and sexual signification, capable of arousing and channelling sexual urges and desires. This research examines musically facilitated expressions of queerness and queer identity, asking how and why music is used by queer musicians and musical performers to express non-normative gender and sexual identities. A queer theoretical approach to gender and sexuality, coupled with interdisciplinary theories concerning music as an identificatory practice, provides the theoretical landscape for this study. An investigation into queer musical episodes such as this necessitates an exploration of the broader cultural milieu in which queer musical work occurs. It also raises questions surrounding the corpus of queer musical practice—that is, do these practices constitute the creation of a new musical genre or a collection of genres that can be understood as queer music? The preceding questions inform an account of the histories, styles, sensibilities, and gender and sexual politics of camp, drag and genderfuck, queer punk and queercore, as well as queer feminist cultures, positioning these within musical praxis. Queer theory, music and identity theories as well as contemporary discussions relating to queer cultural histories are then applied to case studies of queer-identified music performers from Brisbane, Australia. A grounded theoretical analysis of the data gathered in these case studies provides the necessary material to argue that musical performance provides a creative context for the expression of queer identities and the empowerment of queer agency, as well as oppositional responses to and criticism of heterosexual hegemony, and the homogenisation and assimilation of mainstream gay culture. Resulting from this exploration of queer musical cultures, localised data gathering and analysis, this research also supposes a set of ideologies and sensibilities that can be considered indicative and potentially determinant of queer musical practice generally. Recognising that queer theory offers a useful theoretical discourse for understanding the complexities and flexibility of gender and sexual identities—particularly those that resist the binary logics of heteronormativity—this project foregrounds a question that is relatively unanswered in musicological work. It asks: how can musicology make use of queer theory in order to produce queer readings and new, anti-oppressive knowledge regarding musical performance, composition and participation? To answer this, it investigates the history of resistance towards embodied studies of music; the disjuncture between competing discourses of traditional and ‘new’ musicology; and recent developments in the pursuit of queer visibility within music studies. Building upon these recent developments, this work concludes that the integration of queer theoretical perspectives and queer aesthetic sensibilities within musicological discourse allows for a serious reconsideration of musical meaning and signification. In the development of a queer musicology, a committed awareness of queer theory, histories, styles and sensibilities, together with an embodied scholarly approach to music, is paramount. It is through this discursive nexus that musicology will be able to engage more fully with the troubling, performative and contingent qualities of gender, sexuality and desire.

Sexuality, Disability, and Aging: Queer Temporalities of the Phallus

This chapter explores how lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ). The term queer as a broadly inclusive phrase for gender and sexual minorities. Where required, we use specific categories such as LGBT, gay men' or lesbians' as used in the scholarship cited. people's engagement with the internet and new media might be implicated in contemporary transformations in LGBT and queer urban landscapes in the Global North, particularly in ways that rework sexual and gendered sociospatial relations across urban space. Contemporary scholarship portrays gays and lesbians as early adopters of new technologies within somewhat romanticized and utopian notions of cyberspace as facilitating the formation of alternative identities, subjectivities and communities unbounded by the constraints of the physical world. Queer scholarship in the early 1990s positioned queer subjects, queer theory and cyberspace as a natural fit. Preliminary scholarship conceptually separated online and offline life, imagining offline social life as being radically transformed by the unlimited potentialities of virtual communities.

Can queer theory be written by theorists of any sexual identity? Does the act of reading queer theory form queer readers who do not necessarily claim lesbian, gay, or queer identity? In Relating to Queer Theory the author explores the intimate link between sexual identity and theoretical stance in the energizing work of leading contemporary queer theorists. Drawing on a wide range of poststructuralist theory, this study theorizes previously unarticulated ethical relations between queer theory and readers of different sexual identities. Arguing that (queer) reading takes place in a transformative space that is open to readers of any sexual identity, this book interweaves theory and practice of queer reading by staging a series of encounters between queer theory and the different but related field of French feminism. Texts by Irigaray, Kristeva, Wittig, and Cixous are placed alongside those of their queer theoretical commentators in order to re-view current relations between feminism and queer theory. This study reflects critically on intersecting and divergent positions in feminist theory and queer theory, using each theoretical area to reread the other on issues of sexuality, sexual difference, and gender in relation to reading and writing.

We investigated in two surveys if and how a cluster of factors derived from intersectionality, feminist, critical race, postcolonial, queer and class theory would predict woke attitudes in Sweden. In Study 1, index variables corresponding to these factors were entered into a hierarchical regression together with variables measuring ingroup identification and political orientation. All indexes were found to be reliable and correlated with self-assessed wokeness. Indexes related to feminist and queer theory were highly important, while intersectionality, critical race theory, and class theory were less important in predicting self-assessed wokeness. Measures of ingroup identification and political orientation were also found to be important. In Study 2, testing the same factors in a full model largely replicated these findings. A more parsimonious model suggested that feminist and queer theory were the most important predictors of self-assessed wokeness. In addition, while measures of social-domination orientation and right-wing authoritarianism had no unique effects, affective polarization was a strong predictor in predicting self-assessed wokeness in Sweden.

Objectives: The paper investigates the literary progression of ecofeminism to queer ecology, following the evolution of ideas and activism in these fields. This study examines the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, and ecology, which is important in understanding the interaction between nature and queer identities. This study analyses the environmental difficulties encountered by queer communities and how eco-feminism and queer ecology can contribute to environmental justice based on observations of environmental justice. Materials and Methodology: The qualitative research was carried out using text analysis on the subject of transition from ecofeminism to queer ecology. Secondary materials are studied from the standpoint of advancing inclusivity and understanding the diversity seen in nature. The convergence of queer and ecology strives to diversify narratives concerning the natural world, providing a new perspective on the environment. It celebrates the fluidity, complexity, and diversity found in all life expressions and forms. Discussion: The study investigates the dynamic relationship between inclusive ecology and queer theory, through tracing the evolution of ecofeminism to queer ecology. It recounts the intellectual path from the pioneering ideas of ecofeminism to the evolution of queer ecology, illustrating how these subjects collectively challenge established paradigms. The focus of the essay is on how queer theory, ecofeminism, and inclusive ecology interact in the context of ecological discourse. It examines how these related fields question conventional environmental perspectives and push for a more inclusive and varied method of appreciating and protecting nature. This study emphasizes the critical function of ecofeminism in showing the intersections of gender, nature, and queer identities by analyzing significant theoretical frameworks and real-world instances. The transition of the term queer ecology illuminates how the integration of different viewpoints promotes a deeper comprehension of environmental and social justice concerns, arguing in favor of a more inclusive, fair, and sustainable approach for both ecology and human rights. Conclusion: This research aids in bridging the fields of queer ecology and ecofeminism. The inclusion of queerness in ecology fosters the celebration of both the varied range of gender identities and sexual orientations within human society as well as the rich tapestry of biodiversity in the natural world. The intersectional perspective emphasizes how crucial it is to realize how intricately linked ecological and socioeconomic problems are, and how they must be taken into account in any solutions. The viewpoint of queer ecology equips people to advocate for the rights of both marginalized groups and the environment, instilling a sense of obligation to safeguard and preserve the interdependent web of life. Recognizing that marginalized populations are frequently disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, inclusive ecology calls for sustainable practices that not only help the environment but also advance social justice.

Objectives: The paper investigates the literary progression of ecofeminism to queer ecology, following the evolution of ideas and activism in these fields. This study examines the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, and ecology, which is important in understanding the interaction between nature and queer identities. This study analyses the environmental difficulties encountered by queer communities and how eco-feminism and queer ecology can contribute to environmental justice based on observations of environmental justice. Materials and Methodology: The qualitative research was carried out using text analysis on the subject of transition from ecofeminism to queer ecology. Secondary materials are studied from the standpoint of advancing inclusivity and understanding the diversity seen in nature. The convergence of queer and ecology strives to diversify narratives concerning the natural world, providing a new perspective on the environment. It celebrates the fluidity, complexity, and diversity found in all life expressions and forms. Discussion: The study investigates the dynamic relationship between inclusive ecology and queer theory, through tracing the evolution of ecofeminism to queer ecology. It recounts the intellectual path from the pioneering ideas of ecofeminism to the evolution of queer ecology, illustrating how these subjects collectively challenge established paradigms. The focus of the essay is on how queer theory, ecofeminism, and inclusive ecology interact in the context of ecological discourse. It examines how these related fields question conventional environmental perspectives and push for a more inclusive and varied method of appreciating and protecting nature. This study emphasizes the critical function of ecofeminism in showing the intersections of gender, nature, and queer identities by analyzing significant theoretical frameworks and real-world instances. The transition of the term queer ecology illuminates how the integration of different viewpoints promotes a deeper comprehension of environmental and social justice concerns, arguing in favor of a more inclusive, fair, and sustainable approach for both ecology and human rights. Conclusion: This research aids in bridging the fields of queer ecology and ecofeminism. The inclusion of queerness in ecology fosters the celebration of both the varied range of gender identities and sexual orientations within human society as well as the rich tapestry of biodiversity in the natural world. The intersectional perspective emphasizes how crucial it is to realize how intricately linked ecological and socioeconomic problems are, and how they must be taken into account in any solutions. The viewpoint of queer ecology equips people to advocate for the rights of both marginalized groups and the environment, instilling a sense of obligation to safeguard and preserve the interdependent web of life. Recognizing that marginalized populations are frequently disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, inclusive ecology calls for sustainable practices that not only help the environment but also advance social justice.

‘Queer Race’ traces the place of race in Queer Theory, queer activism, and queer identities, both in local arenas and in the context of international power relations. Work done under the auspices of ‘queer’ has tended to deploy mono‐faceted categorizations that erase the localized presence of queers of color, establish an imperialistic teleology for queer politics, and white‐wash Queer Theory. This essay asks how Queer Theory can contribute to anti‐racist work by interrogating the role that queer sexualities play in understandings of race, and vice versa, and exploring the limits of the productive potential of ‘queer’ to signify race as much as it signals sexuality.

Queer pedagogy is an approach to educational praxis and curricula emerging in the late 20th century, drawing from the theoretical traditions of poststructuralism, queer theory, and critical pedagogy. The ideas put forth by key figures in queer theory, including principally Michel Foucault and Judith Butler, were adopted in the early 1990s by to posit an approach to education that seeks to challenge heteronormative structures and assumptions in K–12 and higher education curricula, pedagogy, and policy. Queer pedagogy, much like the queer theory that informs it, draws on the lived experience of the queer, wonky, or non-normative as a lens through which to consider educational phenomena. Queer pedagogy seeks to both uncover and disrupt hidden curricula of heteronormativity as well as to develop classroom landscapes and experiences that create safety for queer participants. In unpacking queer pedagogy, three forms of the word “queer” emerge: queer-as-a-noun, queer-as-an-adjective, and queer-as-a-verb. Queer pedagogy involves exploring the noun form, or “being” queer, and how queer identities intersect and impact educational spaces. The word “queer” can also become an adjective that describes moments when heteronormative perceptions become blurred by the presence of these queer identities. In praxis, queer pedagogy embraces a proactive use of queer as a verb; a teacher might use queer pedagogy to trouble traditional heteronormative notions about curricula and pedagogy. This queer praxis, or queer as a verb, involves three primary foci: safety for queer students and teachers; engagement by queer students; and finally, understanding of queer issues, culture, and history.

Reviewed by: Sexuality and Its Queer Discontents in Middle English Literature Gary Lim Tison Pugh, Sexuality and Its Queer Discontents in Middle English Literature. The New Middle Ages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Pp. xii, 220. ISBN: 1–4039–8487–5. $74.95. In contrast to his focus on the disruptive and radical potential of queer identities in Queering Medieval Genres, Tison Pugh’s new study explores how ‘restrictive ideologies [...] bear obfuscatory powers to wield queerness in furtherance of their own ends’ (13). After a brisk introduction that defends the value of terms such as ‘heteronormative,’ ‘heterosexual,’ and ‘homosexual’ while stating caveats against the dangers of their anachronistic use, Pugh turns his attention to the narrator of Pearl, Harry Bailey, Walter of the ‘Clerk’s Tale,’ and the eponymous protagonists of Amis and Amiloun and Eger and Grime. His argument proceeds by showing how normative masculinities are produced through acts of queering in each of these cases. Pugh’s book is strongest when it takes up well-worn concepts of queer theory, places them in an interesting context, and shows how they can be used to complicate notions of medieval masculinity. The chapter on Pearl, for instance, takes the ubiquitous erotic triangles of queer theory and then asks an inventive question: What happens when one of the homosocial competitors for the loved object’s affection is God himself? In Pugh’s analysis, while the Dreamer ends up abandoning his desires to God and attains normative Christian masculinity, it occurs by ‘experiencing the instructive lessons of compulsory queerness along the Christian path to spiritual normativity and sexual subservience as a Bride of Christ’ (28). His chapters on Pearl and the Chaucerian material also emphasize the way these texts queer the audience through sensitive readings of how the narratives are framed. For example, after observing that the Clerk makes an apostrophic plea to ‘noble wyves’ despite his overwhelmingly male audience, Pugh argues that a hermaphroditic reader is constructed as a result: ‘To whom is this repetitive direct address speaking, then, if not to the male pilgrims of the pilgrimage, now hermaphroditically created in the image of women they seek to control?’ (95). By showing that queer identities operate at the textual and meta-textual levels, Pugh makes a strong case for queer theory complicating our understanding of medieval ideas of reception and interpretation. Of particular interest to readers of Arthuriana would be Pugh’s chapters on the romances Amis and Amiloun and Eger and Grime. However, these chapters could have been developed in a more satisfying manner. The reading of Amis and Amiloun, for instance, rushes the protagonists through a host of queered identities—queered fraternal bonds, hermaphroditism in marriage, and eunuch-like asexuality—without [End Page 87] excavating and developing the significance and differences of each position. Pugh’s tendency to emphasize that narrative structures create queer identities is certainly a strength of his approach, but this occasionally limits the argument. For instance, he rightly observes that the experience of compromised masculinity oscillates between Amis and Amiloun through bodily effects: Amis is victimized by predatory female desire because of his good looks, and Amiloun is mocked by his wife when he is stricken by leprosy. However, the argument does not explore the fact that beauty and abjection queer masculinity in different, and perhaps even incommensurable ways. Still, Pugh’s vision of queerness in the Middle English literature is a much needed one. Not only does he show how queer moments are present in the most normative of religious and social arrangements, he demonstrates that queer identities are often conscripted to the production of normative masculinities. Further, his approach is a productive counterpart to other notable works on the queer Middle Ages. In contrast to the intricately historicized readings found in Karma Locherie’s Heterosyncracies and Glenn Burger’s Chaucer’s Queer Nation, Pugh concentrates on how queer interstices emerge from the narrative structures of the texts under consideration. This makes it a valuable addition to the expanding range of approaches to the queer Middle Ages. [End Page 88] Gary Lim City University of New York Copyright © 2008 Arthuriana

This chapter investigates the pedagogy of The Prancing Elites Project, a reality programme broadcast on Oxygen that follows the Prancing Elites, a team of five African-American dancers who identify as gay, transgender and gender non-conforming. It explores the series’ representation of queerness in relation to the black/African-American identity, showing how the Prancing Elites, like members of ballrooms, use artistic performance to queer gender, sexuality, race and kin relationships. This chapter also shows how the series employs entertainment techniques to educate about queerness, homophobia and transphobia in the black/African-American community. Although it uses the codes and conventions of factual television, the text primarily relies on dramatic music, slow and fast editing, melodrama and happy endings to teach about queerness.

Research on sexuality (and related topics such as gender, reproduction, and kinship relations) has figured prominently in anthropology since the formative years of the discipline. Work carried out in the 1920s and 1930s by anthropologists such as Margaret Mead and Bronislaw Malinowski was pioneering both in developing cross-cultural comparisons of diverse sexual mores and customs and in legitimizing ethnography as a key methodological approach for the study of sexuality. Research on these issues expanded significantly beginning in the 1970s, heavily influenced by changes in social norms and values that had taken place in the 1960s, and was stimulated in important ways by the emerging feminist and lesbian and gay movements, and by scholarly work in women’s studies and gay and lesbian studies. Much of this work focused on what were described as “sexual meanings” and sought to explore the ways in which gender, sexuality, and reproductive relations vary across cultures. Anthropological research has focused on the investigation of sexual cultures and the social and cultural construction of sexual practices, playing an especially important role in documenting sexual diversity and same-sex sexual relations in different societies, including contemporary Western society. As this body of work developed during the 1980s and the 1990s, it also addressed the cultural and social dimensions of a range of important practical issues, such as the HIV epidemic, the changing shape of reproductive health and new reproductive technologies, sex work, tourism, migration, same-sex marriage, and globalization. Since the mid-1990s, growing anthropological attention has also focused on structural factors that shape sexuality in different social settings, and on political struggles that have emerged in relation to sexuality and sexual rights. As the research focus has expanded to these areas of social concern, anthropologists studying sexuality have been increasingly influenced by work in feminist theory, queer theory, history, and other social sciences, and have also emphasized the ways in which sexuality intersects with other axes of power and identities.