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1: Thirty Years of Queer Theory

  • Page ID
    255374
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    Learning Objectives

    Upon completion of this chapter, students will be able to do the following:

    • Identify key approaches and debates within the field of queer theory.
    • Explain the social construction of sex, gender, and sexuality.
    • Describe the relationship among LGBTQ+ history, political activism, and LGBTQ+ studies.
    • Summarize the personal, theoretical, and political differences of the homophile, gay liberation, radical feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and queer movements.

    • 1.1: Thirty Years of Queer Theory - An Overview
      This section introduces students to the emergence of queer theory as both an academic field and a form of activism, tracing its roots from the 1970s and 1980s lesbian and gay liberation movements through the coining of “queer theory” by Teresa de Lauretis in 1990. Students will explore how queer theory challenges traditional norms about sexuality and gender, emphasizes intersectionality, and critiques the limitations of earlier gay and lesbian studies.
    • 1.2: The Constructionist Turn in Sexuality and Gender Studies
      This section explores how lesbian and gay studies, influenced by theorists like Michel Foucault, Eve Sedgwick, Gayle Rubin, and Anne Fausto-Sterling, view identities as products of sociocultural forces rather than fixed or natural categories. Students will examine how power, history, and social institutions shape sexual and gender identities, and how concepts like the sex-gender system and the continuum model challenge traditional binaries.
    • 1.3: Gender Performativity
      In this section, students will learn how gender is understood as performative and socially constructed, not biologically determined. This section introduces students to foundational ideas in queer theory about gender, focusing on the work of Esther Newton, Judith Butler, and Jack Halberstam. Students will explore how drag culture and the concept of performativity reveal that gender is not a fixed, but rather something enacted and reinforced through repeated behaviors and social expectations.
    • 1.4: Transgender Studies
      This section introduces students to transgender studies as an interdisciplinary field that challenges traditional links between bodies, gender, and social roles, distinguishing itself from both queer theory and mainstream LGBTQ+ activism. Students will explore the evolution of the term “transgender,” the activism and scholarship of figures like Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein, and the field’s emphasis on diverse gender experiences.
    • 1.5: Online Resources, Books, and Articles
    • 1.6: Glossary, People, and Footnotes


    This page titled 1: Thirty Years of Queer Theory is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Has Arakelyan.