Author: ProfKersh

I’m Not Queer…. Or Am I?

In the short story “Brokeback Mountain,” both Jack and Ennis grapple with their identities. As early on as after the first time they have sex, they are trying to deny that it happened. “…once Ennis said, ‘I’m not no queer!’ and Jack jumped in with, ‘Me neither. A one-shot thing. Nobody’s business but ours.'” To me, it is clear that these men feel guilty about the acts they have just committed, as it is very abnormal and out of the ordinary for where they are and “people like them,” hence all the gay cowboy stereotypes.

This perspective on queerness led me to a book I’ve been reading recently, Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley. This is a young adult novel centered on Sarah, a Black girl grappling with integrating into a new, all-white school in the 1950s, and Linda, a white girl struggling to steer away from the views that have been instilled into her and see Sarah as a human being rather than just another Black person. One of the constant themes of the book is Sarah going to great lengths to hide her sexuality, even, at times, trying to deny it to herself because “it’s not Christian.” She even dates a boy named Ennis for a period of time to try and convince herself she is actually straight. she says at the end of her first date with Ennis, “This should be the easiest, most natural thing in the world. Going on a date with a boy. Maybe if I try hard enough it will be.”

Both of these texts use these characters’ denial as a way to bring awareness to the stigmas around queerness surrounding the different characters and the societies they are living in. While on the surface, a high-school girl grappling with integration has nothing to do with an uneducated cowboy, they share the commonality of what could be if they only admitted it to themselves, but the fear of the future. The fear of being judged. Of not being perceived as good people anymore by those they trust and love. They bring another raw, human aspect to what it means to be queer, and what it means to fit that into the other parts of your identity.

~written by SilverFlute

Eli Clare: Exploring Identity

At the beginning of his essay “Stones in my Pockets, Stones in my Heart,” Eli Clare writes, “Gender reaches into disability; disability wraps around class; class strains against abuse; abuse snarls into sexuality; sexuality folds on top of race… everything finally piling into a single human body.” Here, he sums up all the different facets of himself that not only make up his body but make up his identity, who he is as a person. I feel this passage highlights how aspects of everything Clare has been writing about in his book can extend not only to him, but to people in general, as he refers to “a single human body,” not specifically “my body,” leaving room for commonality. But there is also room to not see aspects of yourself in the minority groups he is referencing, as this phrase also implies that he is simultaneously not referring to everyone. So while we may be able to see parts of ourselves in the groups Clare discusses, we may not see all of them, and that’s okay.

This theme of open possibilities extends to Eve Sedgewick’s Queer and Now, where much of Clare’s sentiments seem to be echoed. She emphasizes that queer people should talk about themselves in the first person, leaving room for individual identities to flourish but also to be able to find commonalities with your fellow human without the pressure of feeling like you must find these commonalities. These two texts highlight how important it is to find your own identity and individuality, welcoming and embracing all the facets of ourselves that make us who we are. They also encourage people to share their lives with others, to tell all the stories of their experiences—the good, the bad, and everything in between. They also encourage, through our stories, for us to find and build communities rather than push people out because we don’t exactly align with them. Most importantly, they emphasize that it is okay to not be like everyone else, and that other people should see your uniqueness as okay and accept it and you for who you are.

~written by SilverFlute

Written on the Body: The Narrator’s Vulnerability

A passage that was of interest to me in Written On The Body is one at the beginning of the novel where the narrator is discussing the phrase “I love you.” The narrator asks about the phrase, “Why is it that the most unoriginal thing we can say to one another is still the thing we long to hear?”

This shows an incredible level of vulnerability from the narrator, who is also unafraid to share their experiences about being the other person in an affair with a level of matter-of-factness that contrasts starkly this phrase. They are blunt about how one of their lovers, Jacqueline, offered them contentment and a place to settle but not much else, while Louise offers excitement, which the narrator expresses as obsession over her.

This sentence discussing the phrase “I love you” could be seen as foreshadowing for what happens much later in the novel, where the narrator falls into a deep depression and desperation upon leaving Louise and peels back their many layers to once again show a deeper level of vulnerability. They describe in detail the many things they do to try to get back Louise, but visiting patients and reading books to understand cancer to fighting Louise’s husband when he will not give them any information as to Louise’s whereabouts.

This layer of vulnerability at the beginning and ending of the novel humanizes the narrator and makes them more than just “the other lover.” The fact that the sentence discussing “I love you” is written as an unanswered question shows a level of openness not often seen throughout, as the narrator is indirectly admitting some weakness. They are not as assured as they may want others to believe, but only with you, the reader, can they take off their mask and show a different side to them than they do with the actual people in their life. It gives the reader the first glimpse of a narrator they can relate to, one that is not as different from them as they may seem. Innately, humans look for love, connection, and people to surround themselves with, and by asking this question the narrator makes it clear that they are no different, despite how unashamed they may be at times when discussing the relationships they have that many people would consider morally questionable.

~written by SilverFlute

Fun Home connections

For this class-substitute exercise, I simply want us to make some connections across texts.  So follow one of these options:

A) If you were not part of the discussion on Monday that talked about Gloria Anzaldúa’s excerpt, leave a short comment here pointing to something that struck you about her essay.  Then, come to class Thursday ready to make a connection to Fun Home. 

B) If you are not going to attend class Thursday to talk about José Muñoz’s excerpt in class, leave a short comment here pointing to something that struck you about his essay.  Then, make a connection to Fun Home.  How do you see his work about futurity at play in our novel?

C) If you participate in both Monday and Thursday’s classes, no need to leave a comment 🙂

How to add pronouns to Zoom

Hi all!

As we are Zooming our way through these first few weeks of class, it might be quite useful for us to all add pronouns to our Zoom names.  To do so, hover over your video image when in a session.  When the blue box with three dots appears, click that and follow to Rename.  Once there, you will want to edit Display Name.  Don’t forget to hit OK!

Or, if you are not in session, open your app and click on the home icon/tab at the top, then click the settings cog image in the right corner.  From there, click Profile, the Edit My Profile, and finally the Edit button near your name.  Then you can change the display name to include pronouns. Don’t forget to Save Changes before you leave!