SOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Jackson Katz, Queer Theory, Gay Bar
18 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Pop Culture, Hollywood, Queer Theory and Representation
Intro to Sexuality
Two positions regarding how sexuality is assigned, realized or developed
1. As a product of society – sexuality is produced or taught: the so-called “gay conspiracy
in sex education” for ex
2. As a product of biology – sexuality is biological, like race
Jackson Katz:
- As “social categories of engagement heterosexuality and homosexuality are not
objective but rather subjective fields indicating inclusion or exclusion w/in defined social
spaces”
- Ex. A gay bar or a “there were no gay students at my high school”
- An identity “based on the object of ones desire, as classified by gender in contemporary
understanding, knowledge and expectation”
- That is “gender corresponds to the object of affection in opposition to that gender” ie.
Boy meets girl or jack and jill
- Heterosexuality is understood as the norm against which homosexuality Is defined as
deviant
Considering Differences: Part Two
Representing Difference
- By defining itself in opposition to homosexuality, heterosexuality actually calls
homosexuality into being
- By acting outside of gender norms, individuals can call into question the “naturalness”
of gender
- PC industries find themselves at the centre of “the new culture was” acting as arenas in
which morals and ethics are fought over including
oMarriage rights and reproductive rights
oSexual freedom and autonomy
oThe “meaning of marriage” and the collapse of the public and private
oRepresenting non-heteronormative persons
oThe normal and the deviant
The Normal and the Deviant
- Representations offer positions for us, through which we recognize images as similar or
different from, ourselves
- We define ourselves in changing relation to – comparison to – those meanings
- Images change over time and the meanings which we are legitimated by the social or
cultural context change as well
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
As social categories of engagement heterosexuality and homosexuality are not objective but rather subjective fields indicating inclusion or exclusion w/in defined social spaces . A gay bar or a there were no gay students at my high school . An identity based on the object of ones desire, as classified by gender in contemporary understanding, knowledge and expectation . That is gender corresponds to the object of affection in opposition to that gender ie. boy meets girl or jack and jill. Heterosexuality is understood as the norm against which homosexuality is defined as deviant. By defining itself in opposition to homosexuality, heterosexuality actually calls homosexuality into being. By acting outside of gender norms, individuals can call into question the naturalness of gender. Representations offer positions for us, through which we recognize images as similar or different from, ourselves. We define ourselves in changing relation to comparison to those meanings.
