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Did my presentation on tropes & stereotypes in LGBTQ+ representation for library workers in a professional development class today. Someone shared an opinion piece they read the gist of which was frustration queer narratives so often focus on sexual/romantic relationships. 1/
Reading the piece after my presentation brought up so many complicated feelings and tangled thoughts for me.
On the one hand, as I responded to the student, it is absolutely true that one way queer people have been stereotyped is by being ONLY sexualized. 2/
On the one hand, as I responded to the student, it is absolutely true that one way queer people have been stereotyped is by being ONLY sexualized. 2/
And it& #39;s important to ensure queer people don& #39;t only get to be included when sex and gender are the salient topic.
Also, we are aware that not every queer person WANTS sex or a sexual/romantic relationship. And that doesn& #39;t make them less queer. 3/
Also, we are aware that not every queer person WANTS sex or a sexual/romantic relationship. And that doesn& #39;t make them less queer. 3/
The struggle I personally, and as a scholar-advocate, have with the "stop making queerness about sex and relationships!" argument though is that a huge part of what folks object to re: queer people is how we do sex and relationships. 4/
We& #39;re still fighting the bury your gays/dead lesbian syndrome tropes in media that mean queer characters who have the audacity to find sexual intimacy and love that works for them DIE for their sins. 5/
We still live in a culture where people think bisexuals are "unstable" and trans women don& #39;t deserve safe and committed romantic relationships. Where Obergefell is under threat and poly families are still beyond the pale of legal marriage. 6/
I don& #39;t know what to do with that tension of important truths: Yes, queer people aren& #39;t only sexual and sexual-relational beings ... yet *also* for many (most? a plurality?) of us that is a key part of ourselves that is under unique threat because we are queer. 7/
So I& #39;m not sure how comfortable I am with complaints that queer sexuality and/or queer romance are somehow over-emphasised in literature. It feels really close to the policing of our bodies in public: Just don& #39;t hold hands. Just don& #39;t kiss. Just don& #39;t *flaunt* it. 8/
At the same time, of course, the author of the column was absolutely right that it doesn& #39;t take sexual activity or relationships to make us queer. We are that all on our own. So I guess we hold these things in hopefully fertile tension. 9/9
