” ‘There were plenty of screwballs like you in Atlanta, but me, I don’t swing that way – you got it? This might be your ‘thing’ or whatever, but you can definitely count me out.’ He reached for his conch shell and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘I mean, come on now. For God’s sake, kid, pull yourself together'” (17).
In Judith Halberstam’s In a Queer Time and Place, she writes “consider the fact that we have become adept within postmodernism at talking about ‘normativity,’ but far less adept at describing in rich detail the practices and structures that both oppose and sustain conventional forms of association, belonging, and identification” (Halberstam, 4). In this sense, Halberstam is saying that there are cultural assumptions within society that create “normativity” – a standardized way of being. People who identify themselves as queer, therefore are opposing the conventional forms of association, belonging and identification which Halberstam mentions.
In the passage above, Sedaris is recounting his experience with his music teacher, in which he scrutinizes Sedaris for resisting the heteronormative ideals by performing a musical number and being proud of it. Earlier in the chapter, Mister Mancini had questioned David’s sexuality when he chose to name his guitar “Oliver,” after his hamster. Mister Mancini wanted Sedaris to give a feminine name to his guitar, render it a female, and sexualize the guitar so that he could physically dominate the instrument – become powerful and confident in his artistry or lack thereof. Although there are more representations of gays and lesbians in literature, movies, and television than there were fifteen years ago, society rejects the opposition of gays and lesbians to conform within the patriarchal, heteronormative culture in which we live. Instead, associating, belonging, and identifying conventionally within society, considers you to be significant as a person. This is what Sedaris attempts to resist – but in this scene, he succumbs to the influence and pressure of Mister Mancini and hides his lack of interest in women’s breasts and physical stature and drops his dream of becoming a singer.
I really like what the connection you made to Me Talk Pretty One Day and Halberstam’s writing. I agree that in the society we live in we shun other communities out for the majority or the patriarchal and heteronormatve culture. I also like how you unpacked these two pieces of writing and connected them smoothly
You make some interesting points here, but I don’t see how the quote you chose has much to do with those points, as opposed to an earlier quote from, for instance, when they were discussing the guitar. In the p17 quote you chose, what is Mr. Mancini really saying when he discusses “screwballs” with “things”? For that matter, how do Sedaris’s actions and Mancini’s reactions fit within the queer-heteronormative conflict? In what ways in Mr. Mancini queer, and yet how does he bind himself to the normative social structures that are so prevalent?