In other words: queer voices/dissident subjectivities impelling social change

Abstract

This essay emerged from the authors’ presentation at an invited session of the 15th Annual Conference on Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies (QUIG) at the University of Georgia, Athens, 3–5 January 2002. They presented on the conference theme, ‘Vision, Voice & Virtuality: (Re)Conceptualizing Qualitative Representation.’ Their work here encompasses their response to the conference organizers’ invitation to grapple with (re)conceptualizing qualitative representation. Their goal is to explore the (re)presentation of voices and subjectivities that are engaged in Queer processes for social change. First they question whether Queer can be adequately articulated. They then posit that emerging Queer theory and the actions it invigorates are significant, galvanizing contemporary intellectual and political forces that power social change. Blurring the lines of bounded, intact, stable and essential identity categories—such as straight, lesbian, and gay—they give examples from their qualitative research, including autoethnographic accounts that indicate that the Queer movement has shifting, multiple and overlapping sites of education and resistance. These sites textualize everyday life; contest hetero‐hegemony; resist readings that exclude or defame Queers and non‐normative identities; allow the development of oppositional practices; and make commitment to social change in an environment of hope and possibility. Finally, they explore some characteristics of Queer qualitative research, and suggest future directions for infusing theory with ‘justice to come.’

Notes

† The authors are listed in alphabetical order. While each is an equal co‐producer of this essay, first names and pronouns are used within the text to situate an author in relation to his/her particular research project.

* Corresponding author: Department of Educational Policy Studies, 7‐104 Education North, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2G5. Email: [email protected]

* Corresponding author: Department of Educational Policy Studies, 7‐104 Education North, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2G5. Email: [email protected]

Sexual orientation is defined here as sexual preference for affectional or erotic partners of the same, opposite or either sex. Therefore, both heterosexuals and homosexuals have a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity, e.g. a person born a biological male but whose gender identity is that of a female can be oriented to either a male or a female person as the object of his/her desire. It is essential to note that ‘definitions of sexual orientation may vary, in part, due to the fact that many cultures have a wide range of perceptions and attitudes about sexual behavior depending on factors such as gender, religion and social status’ (Ferguson & Howard‐Hamilton, 2000, p. 28; see also Espin, 1984; Smith, 1997). It must be kept in mind that not every society has created sociological categories or defined people according to their sexual behavior or preferences. In other words, ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ are not universal designations with similar meanings everywhere (Cintrón, 2000, p. 307). Gender identity is defined here as the gender (a psychological and/or socially constructed state that is distinct from biological sex, i.e. female or male) with which an individual identifies; a sense of being a woman or a man; gender identity has a personal sense to it.

Heteronormativity is defined here as referring to the discursive and social practices that legitimize heterosexuality as the norm and make homosexuality and queerness invisible. ‘Compulsory heterosexuality sets itself up as the original, the true, the authentic; the norm that determines the real’ (Butler, 1993, p. 1).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P. Grace André *

† The authors are listed in alphabetical order. While each is an equal co‐producer of this essay, first names and pronouns are used within the text to situate an author in relation to his/her particular research project. * Corresponding author: Department of Educational Policy Studies, 7‐104 Education North, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2G5. Email: [email protected]