4.4: Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives

Second and Third-wave feminists were also influenced by French theorists. In 1949, the French existential philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir (she/her) famously argued in The Second Sex that, “one is not born a woman, but becomes a woman.” In other words, our gender identity is not something we are born with, but it is something socially constructed and must be learned in a social context (Chapter Two).

Have you ever heard someone say that someone makes them feel like an object? In language, the subject is the one who does a thing, who has power and agency. The object is the person or thing that something is done to. For example, if a child is petting a cat, the child is the subject who has power, and the cat is the object at the mercy of the child (Figure 4.14). De Beauvoir argued that women have been socially constructed as objectified others in contrast with men, who are “default subjects.” This idea of constructed subjects and objects is another way of understanding power.

Figure 4.14. Subject and Object. In this picture, the child who is petting the cat is the active one. The cat who is being petted is passive. Simone de Beauvoir claimed that gender is constructed so that women are always the passive object of men. Can you think of another example of a subject acting and an object being acted upon?

Another way of thinking about “othering” is to think about how we respond when our understanding of self is challenged. Have you ever been so horrified by something, maybe a smell or sight associated with death or dismemberment, that you vomited? That feeling is called abjection. The French psychoanalyst Julie Kristeva (she/her) defined abjection as “Our reaction (horror, vomit) to a threatened breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object or between self and other” (Kristiva & Roudiez 2010). For example, when an empowered subject encounters the othered object, which they have classified as “not me,” feelings of horror or abjection can come up.

To understand how this applies to othering, think about hate crimes. Can you see how the abjection response can account for the fact that trans people are four times more likely to be the victims of violent crime (thisisloyal.com, L., 2021)? Even though the impulse behind abjection is natural, in the sense that confronting death can cause a violent physical reaction, an abject response to socially constructed differences is something we learn through socialization. The good news is that it can be unlearned when we learn to see ourselves in others.

These ideas are examples of the philosophical basis for contemporary theories of gender and sexuality that construct each person, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, as the subject of their own experience, theorizing belonging as an antidote to othering. As you read, think about what it means to feel like you belong in social settings.

Learn More: Othering and Belonging

To learn more about othering and belonging, watch john powell’s keynote: The Mechanisms of Othering [Streaming Video].

Post Structuralism, Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment

Classic sociological theories, like conflict theory and structural functionalism, pay a lot of attention to the impacts of social constructs on individuals. A common critique of structuralism is its de-emphasis on individual power, or agency, to act within social structure. While there can be no doubt that constructs can place limits on individual agency, people continue to make choices and exercise personal power in response to those constructs. In other words, social structures influence, but do not fully determine, individual agency. Structuralism today is understood by many sociologists as a colonialist mindset that deemphasizes interpretive standpoints of PGM, as well as women, trans, non-binary, and queer people.

Post-structuralism is an intellectual movement that emerged in philosophy and the humanities in the 1960s and 1970s. Post-structuralism de-centers dominant perspectives to decolonize ideas of culture and societal structures. Poststructuralism doesn’t necessarily refute the importance of social structures; rather, it calls for a more expansive understanding of how social structures work beyond dominant heteropatriarchal-white supremacist, settler-colonialist power. Instead, post-structuralism pays attention to Indigenous knowledge and the knowledge of marginalized groups like people with disabilities, people who are LGBTQIA+ people, and PGM.

In terms of gender, post-structuralism focuses on how gender is constructed, reproduced, enforced, challenged, and transformed in gendered language and gendered ideas of work, as well as how gender is constructed by individual behavior or performance (Tannen 1994, 2017; Butler 1988). More broadly, poststructuralism deconstructs the binary categories of gender (Figure 4.15). You practiced deconstructing these categories in Chapter Two.

The idea of an expansive nonbinary spectrum of gender, and a similar spectrum of sexuality comes from a poststructural perspective. These expansive frameworks are also informed by and responsive to transgender and non-binary understandings of gender and sexuality, as they have existed throughout history, and as they continue to exist in societies around the world, as you learned in Chapter One.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7o2LYATDc

Figure 4.15. Judith Butler. For an example of poststructural gender theory, watch Judith Butler: Your Behavior Creates Your Gender [Streaming Video]. Transcript.

Queer Theory

Emerging from third-wave feminism, queer theory has been defined as a framework for understanding gender and sexual practices outside of heterosexuality. It challenges the mainstream idea that heterosexual desire is normal for everyone. The theory emphasizes that sexual orientation and gender identity are socially constructed and should be reexamined regularly.

Queer theory does not construct or defend any particular identity, but rather works to actively critique heteronormativity, exposing and breaking down traditional assumptions that sexual and gender identities are presumed to be heterosexual or cisgender (Illinois University Library 2013).

Figure 4.16. Teresa de Lauretis. de Lauretis argued for reclaiming the term queer, which has commonly been considered a pejorative term. How comfortable are you with the term?

Informal use of the term queer theory began with Gloria Anzaldúa and other scholars in the 1990s. The term “queer theory” was first used in publication by Teresa de Lauretis (figure 4.16) (she/her) in her 1991 paper “Queer Theory: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities.” Early queer theorists include Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (she/her), Lauren Berlant (they/them), Judith Butler (they/them), Adrienne Rich, and David Halperin (he/him) (Library, Literatures and Languages n.d.).

Queer theory considers both micro and macro levels. On the macro level, queer theory explores the broader interaction of society, culture, politics, policies, and law as it impacts the queer community. On the micro level, queer theory explores how LGBTQIA+ identities are formed through interactions with intimate groups such as family, friends, and coworkers (Few-Demo et al. 2016).

Queer theory can examine the communities surrounding queer people and the communities they might form specifically because of the oppression they face from society, such as the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, established by queer folks catering to queer folks, and PFLAG (originally an acronym for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), the United States’ first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Looking through The Lens: Queer Theory, at the end of this chapter, will give you a chance to think more about queerness.

LEARN MORE: PFLAG

You have the option to learn more about PFLAG’s work [Website] to create “a caring, just, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them.”

Crip Theory and Disability Justice

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnUOBYSD1mg

Figure 4.17. Crip Queer Pride with Daisy Wisler. Watch Crip Queer Pride with Daisy Wislar [Streaming Video] to learn more about Daisy’s Queer Crip Embodiment. Can you identify poststructural ideas about identity in Daisy’s story? Transcript.

An important element of poststructural theories of gender, and specifically of queer theory, is the assertion that there is no wrong way to embody gender. Embodiment refers to the shape of a person’s body, how a person feels about their body, and what a person’s body can do. A person who presents as femme is as authentic in her gender as a person who presents as masculine or non-binary. A trans person who has invested time and money to make their body match their true gender, a transitioning person who is on the way toward an embodiment that feels authentic, and a disabled trans person who consciously subverts expected gender norms are all equally entitled to affirmation and inclusion.

In the spirit of queer pride, disabled people also reclaimed and repurposed a formerly pejorative term, crip, to indicate strength, individuality, and interdependence. Crip Theory, like other other poststructural theories, demands that society accommodates and affirms the full spectrum of human embodiment. Crip theory is a subfield of sociology that reveals and interrupts the harmful social pressures and social norms of ableism and heteronormativity. Crip theory affirms the many individual lived, embodied experiences of disability. In other words, Crip theory claims that there is no wrong way to show up as a human. It also asserts that the normalization of able-bodiedness needs to be dismantled: disabled individuals should not have to carry the majority of the burden of fitting in to simply access basic services or to enjoy aspects of society taken for granted by able-bodied individuals (figure 4.17).

A “critically queer” position refuses to conceal or gloss over the reality of one’s health, ability, or experience for the sake of social norms that don’t benefit the person. Thus, Crip theory is much like queer theory, working to resist normalized oppression and enact progressive change. It is not enough to simply study these phenomena—crip theory resists social norms that privilege able-bodiedness as a prerequisite for full participation in public life (Hitt 2021).

The disability justice movement, which is credited with the demand, “Nothing about us without us,” also takes a critical approach to understanding how power is socially constructed in relationship to embodiment. More than 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. lives with a physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental, and mental health disability, or a chronic illness (Pressley & Cokley 2022). The 1990 Americans With Disability Act (ADA) prohibited discrimination based on disability and required employers, governments, and entities providing public goods and services to make reasonable accommodations for disabled people. The ADA was an important step towards accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, but legislation alone can not repair the harm done by a society that privileges able-bodied people.

When a society values independence above all, the existence of people who must rely on the help of another person in order to eat, bathe, dress, relieve themselves, or move through the world, or who rely on technology to communicate, can seem to be intolerable reminders of how fragile our illusion of independence is. Because of this, people whose bodies require interdependence have been shamed and shunned by mainstream society.

In addition to the psychological harms of being excluded from full participation in society, there are serious material harms. Forty-eight percent of all incarcerated women have a disability. People with disabilities earn 74 cents for every dollar that able-bodied people earn, are three times more likely to experience food insecurity, and nearly twice as likely to face housing insecurity. These numbers rise significantly for people who are Latinx or Black and disabled. The disability justice movement is organized around repairing and reducing these harms by “moving beyond the socialization of ableism” with tenderness, care, and a bold celebration of living interdependently (Sins Invalid n.d.).

Sociological theories, like post-structuralism, help to explain complex human behaviors, social phenomena, and social structures. In the next section, let’s consider how the theoretical perspectives you’ve been learning about might explain the persistent gender wage gap in the U.S.

LEARN MORE: Disability Justice

To learn more about the alignment between disability justice, crip theory, and third-wave feminism, you can check out 10 Principles of Disability Justice [Website].

Let’s Review

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Licenses and Attributions for Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives

Open Content, Original

“Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives” by Nora Karena and Dana L. Pertermann is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

“Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives Question Set” was created by ChatGPT and is not subject to copyright. Edits for relevance, alignment, and meaningful answer feedback by Colleen Sanders are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Open Content, Shared Previously

“Queer Theory” is adapted from “Queer Theory” in Wikipedia, which is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modifications by Nora Karena include revisions and remixing for context, inclusive language, and style.

Figure 4.14. “Subject and Object” by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA is licensed under the Pexels License.

Figure 4.15. “Judith Butler: Your Behavior Creates Your Gender” by Big Think is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.

Figure 4.16. “Teresa de Lauretis” by Claudia Peppel is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Figure 4.17. “Crip Queer Pride with Daisy Wislar” by Rooted in Rights is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.

All Rights Reserved Content

“Abjection” definition by Kristeva & Roudiez (2010) is included under fair use.

“Embodiment” definition by Herbert & Pollatos (2024) is included under fair use.