"To answer the question of why we do queer theory, I will start by saying that some of us cannot do otherwise. Some of us - born "of color" in a world in which white is the privileged pigmentation, female in a male dominated society, gay in a mostly heterosexual world, lower class in a world ruled by the rich, even some born with every privilege - find that the official narratives do not explain our experience and most certainly do not justify (our) subordination, enslavement, persecution, or (our) privilege."

In this essay, Frederick L. Green introduces the reader to Queer Theory, its history and its proponents (+ key readings). The author reminds us that as in the gay and lesbian liberation/civil rights struggle, queer theory goes beyond the sphere of sexuality. As such, QT makes us rethink the ways we participate, see and understand the world within & around us. It does so by investigating the epistemology/ies and ontology/ies that give place to our current social organization, categories and hierarchies. Examples of this being, democracy, capitalism, heterosexuality, family and the race system. This way, this theory forces us to pose questions on what is being assumed, naturalized, normalized, or invisible offering us nuanced and plural answers and leaving behind the simplicity of binarisms which "impoverish our capacity to understand the world". Lastly, one of the main takeaway (in my opinion, often forgotten) is that QT does not argue for those at the bottom to be put on top; instead, it refuses oppositional stances and limitations and insists on other possibilities.

Favourite quote:

"Our identity, how we recognize ourselves and are recognized by others, is a complex construction, an articulation of historical demands on an already discursively mapped body. The most deeply experienced and personal sense of individuality and interiority is always already social"