http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8034-1363
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ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the intersection of power, ritual, and the sacred through the lens of performing drag as a tool to subvert dominant notions of theological discourse. Grounded in Cheng’s assertion that queer theology is transgressive (Radical Love) and Althaus-Reid’s Indecent Theology, the foundational text which introduces the concept of theology as destabilizing and grounded in subversion, particularly in the realm of sexuality, we critique the forces of power operating within Catholicism. We ask: Whose bodies are allowed to play a powerful role in Catholicism? How has ritual performance perpetuated the colonization of the mind/spirit and how can it be used to undo that same colonization? In discussing a public drag performance using George Michael’s “Father Figure,” we suggest the possibility of liberation that exists in bringing theology into queer spaces, extending theology beyond the realm of religious institutions or the academy.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Allyson S. Dean is a doctoral candidate in the Critical and Socio-cultural Studies in Education program at University of Oregon. Allyson’s scholarly interests involve masculinity studies, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the use of drag as a pedagogical practice.
Whitney J. Archer, holds an Ed.M in College Student Services Administration and an M.A. in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. As an Associate Director of Diversity & Cultural Engagement and Director of the Women’s Center at Oregon State University, Whitney provides leadership for the Women’s Center and support for all seven of Cultural Resource Centers. Whitney’s research interests include gender identity and expression, feminist leadership, feminist pedagogy and student activism.
ORCID
Allyson S. Dean http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8034-1363
Notes
1 Isherwood, Liberating Christ, 89.
2 Boff and Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology, 2.
3 Kanpol, “Critical Pedagogy and Liberation Theology,” 106.
4 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
5 Ibid., 72.
6 Nolte, “Pope Francis Proclaims Junípero Serra Will Become Saint.”
7 Ibid.
8 Hackel, Junipero Serra.
9 Nolte, “Pope Francis Proclaims Junípero Serra Will Become Saint.”
10 Hackel, Junipero Serra, xiii.
11 Pogash, “To Some California Founder of Church Missions Is Far From Saint.”
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Hackel, Junipero Serra.
15 McElwee, “Francis Warns Against ‘Ideological Colonization’ of Family, Reaffirms Contraception Ban.”
16 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 79.
17 Althaus-Reid and Isherwood, “Thinking Theology and Queer Theory,” 304.
18 Ibid., 303.
19 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 160.
20 Althaus-Reid and Isherwood, “Thinking Theology and Queer Theory,” 308.
21 Dube, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” 347.
22 Tolbert, “When Resistance Becomes Repression.”
23 Ibid., 333.
24 Ibid.
25 Dube “Who Do You Say That I Am?” 347.
26 Pui-lan, Postcolonial Imagination & Feminist Theology, 127.
27 Isherwood, Liberating Christ, 91.
28 Taylor, “Redeeming Christ: Imitation or (Re)citation?,” 139.
29 Isherwood, Liberating Christ, 109.
30 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 160.
31 Lifeway, “True Love Waits.”
32 Isherwood, The Power of Erotic Celibacy, 75.
33 Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, ARCIC I Final Report, http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/105260/final_report_arcic_1.pdf.
34 Althaus-Reid and Isherwood, “Thinking Theology and Queer Theory,” 307.
35 Ibid., 305.
36 Ibid., 308.
37 Butler, Undoing Gender, 2.
38 Ibid., 218.
39 Ibid.
40 Althaus-Reid, Indecent Theology.
41 Hurdle, “Philadelphia Priests Accused.”
42 Donohue, “Homosexuality and Sexual Abuse.”
43 Althaus-Reid and Isherwood, “Thinking Theology and Queer Theory,” 308.
44 Ibid., 15.
45 Ibid., 11.
46 Donohue, “Catholic Church’s Issue is Homosexuality, not Pedophilia.”
47 San Martin, “Pope Calls Sexual Abuse Scandals a Grave Problem.”
48 West and Zimmerman, “Doing Gender,” 126.
49 Deleuze, “Rhizome Versus Trees,” 31.
50 Alliaume, “Disturbingly Catholic,” 98.
51 Althaus-Reid, Indecent Theology, 9.
52 Deleuze, “Rhizome Versus Trees,” 31.
53 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 74.
54 Butler, Undoing Gender, 30.
55 Bruni, “Catholicism Undervalues Women.”
56 Ibid.
57 Hagerty, “Nun Excommunicated for Allowing Abortion.”
58 Elliott, “Excommunicated Nun to Celebrate First Public Liturgy as a Woman Priest.”
59 Williamson, “Misogyny and Homophobia.”
60 Butler, Undoing Gender, 48.
61 Butler, Gender Trouble, xv.
62 Ibid.
63 Mazzei and Jackson, Thinking in Qualitative Research, 8.
64 Code of Canon Law, cic. 916.
65 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357–9, accessed March 3, 2017, http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html.
66 Stuart, “The Priest at the Altar,” 129.
67 Ibid.
68 Luke 29:19, New American Standard Bible.
69 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1.
70 Ibid., 62.
71 Goss, Queering Christ, 4.
72 Ibid., 4–5.
73 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1., 61.
74 Foucault, Discipline and Punish.
75 Goss, Queering Christ, 5.
76 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1.
77 Foucault, “What is Called ‘Punishing’?,” 391.
78 Goss, Queering Christ, 4.
79 Ahmed, Willful Subjects, 80.
80 Goss, Queering Christ, 13.
81 Isherwood, The Power of Erotic Celibacy.
82 Mazzei, “Desiring Silence.”
83 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, 58.
84 Goldstein, “Sex Abuse and the Catholic Church.”
85 Elliott, “Excommunicated Nun to Celebrate First Public Liturgy as a Woman Priest.”
86 Roewe, “Australian Priest, Advocate for Women’s Ordination Excommunicated.”
87 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357, accessed June 20, 2016, http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html#584/z.
88 Ahmed, Queer Phenomenology, 91.
89 Barbaro, “It’s Sacred.”
90 Samson, The Last Lesbian Bars.
91 Perry, “Queer Spaces Are Sacred Spaces.”
92 Ibid.
93 Krattz. Twitter Post. June 12, 2016, 8:51am https://twitter.com/jerameykraatz/status/742021630105264128.
94 hooks, Feminism is for Everybody, 5.
95 Cheng, “Reclaiming Our Traditions, Rituals, and Spaces,” 237.
96 Ibid., 238.
97 Althaus-Reid, Indecent Theology, 64.
98 Althaus-Reid and Isherwood, “Thinking Theology and Queer Theory,” 307.
99 Jackson and Mazzei, “Thinking Through Theory,” 8.
100 Cheng, Radical Love, 6.
101 Ibid., 52.