{"id":2426,"date":"2023-10-12T20:05:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T00:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=2426"},"modified":"2023-10-12T20:05:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T00:05:46","slug":"if-you-cant-fix-it-youve-gotta-stand-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2023\/10\/12\/if-you-cant-fix-it-youve-gotta-stand-it\/","title":{"rendered":"if you can\u2019t fix it you\u2019ve gotta stand it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eli Clare\u2019s dilemma of queer identity existing in rural spaces is a topic that Annie Proulx\u2019s <\/span>Brokeback Mountain<\/span><\/i> addresses. Although Jack and Ennis both deny the label of \u201cqueer\u201d as well as any other word that encompasses an identity other than heterosexual, they both undoubtedly are – queer, that is. Their rejection of the word comes from their fear of naming what\u2019s between them. As Jack says, \u201cNobody\u2019s business but ours\u201d (Proulx 15). Clare\u2019s statement that he couldn\u2019t \u201clive easily and happily that isolated from queer community\u201d (Clare 34) doesn\u2019t apply to Jack and Ennis because they aren\u2019t aware that such a community exists. They never mention outright what they talk about when they talk about it (which is not often), but they do eventually acknowledge that there is something between them: \u201c\u2018Shit. I been lookin at people on the street. This happen a other people? What the hell do they do?\u2019 \u2018It don\u2019t happen in Wyomin and if it does I don\u2019t know what they do, maybe go to Denver,\u2019 said Jack\u2026This ain\u2019t no little thing that\u2019s happenin here\u2019\u201d (Proulx 30). Even if they have an inkling that things might be easier somewhere else, they both won\u2019t consider the thought of moving together. At least Ennis doesn\u2019t, because even as he is admitting his attachment to Jack in the only way he can, he accepts it as a fact of rural life: \u201cI goddamn hate it that you\u2019re goin a drive away in the mornin and I\u2019m going back to work. But if you can\u2019t fix it you got a stand it\u201d (Proulx 30). This sentiment is echoed at the end of the story when Ennis is reflecting on their relationship after dreaming about Jack. He says there\u2019s \u201copen space between what he knew and what he tried to believe\u201d (Proulx 55). I think Ennis\u2019s use of the term \u201copen space\u201d refers to both his internal understanding of what they had and also to the open space of Brokeback mountain. They never go back to the mountain, and part of their belief is that they can only exist together in peace on that mountain. Jack wants to build a life with Ennis even if he doesn\u2019t understand how it could work, while Ennis doesn\u2019t see how they can \u201cfix\u201d what\u2019s between them or how other people may react to it, so he just \u201cstands\u201d it. So instead of the rural and the metropolitan identities of queer people mixing, it\u2019s the rurality of Jack and Ennis\u2019s relationship that allows them the freedom to be together but also is made dangerous by other people.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eli Clare\u2019s dilemma of queer identity existing in rural spaces is a topic that Annie Proulx\u2019s Brokeback Mountain addresses. Although Jack and Ennis both deny the label of \u201cqueer\u201d as well as any other word that encompasses an identity other than heterosexual, they both undoubtedly are – queer, that is. Their rejection of the word … Continue reading if you can\u2019t fix it you\u2019ve gotta stand it<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[346798],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}