Queer Theory

Allison Reed’s comments about the fetishization of blackness deal with an overarching issue of white queer politics to appropriate or present blackness in a way that furthers white political injury. From my understanding of the reading, when Reed says “embodiment in post-racial terms” she means the way in which blackness is represented in so called ‘colorblind’ politics.  These colorblind politics often depict race in a manner that downplays its importance in our culture, both presently and historically. It glosses over all of the challenges faced by people of color both in the past and currently in favor of focusing on another issue, in this case LGBTQ+ politics. It exploits the visibility of blackness to promote the narrative of injury put forth by white queers. In doing so, whiteness is ignored as black people and other people of color are used to further a goal that affects people of all races, while ignoring and smoothing over many of the issues faced specifically by people of color. This dynamic promotes the idea of white supremacy, as in this dynamic white queers politics are taking advantage of queer people of color in order to help their own cause, while not giving anything in return to those they take advantage of; it still promotes the idea of white dominance. The ‘hypervisibility’ of black bodies for a ‘white queer politics of injury’ can be understood as utilizing the struggles and stigmatization faced by black queers to further the image of white queers being victims as well by appropriating their struggles as their own. By co-opting the idea of colorblindness, the struggles they face become one under the umbrella of ‘queer’, ignoring the fact that race is a very real factor in oppression. It erases all of the suffering caused to black bodies via systems upheld and promoted by white bodies and claims those hardships for white bodies themselves under the banner of queerness, despite the fact that those people would never and have never faced those issues because of their whiteness.

Alison Reed in her piece, “The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead,” exposes the ways in which queer studies deploys racialized bodies as “spectacular markers of queerness” (Reed 49).  Reed goes on to write that this “… fetishization of blackness produces its own logics of disavowal, reinforcing hegemonic understandings of race by articulating embodiment in post-racial terms” (Reed 57).  In “articulating embodiment in post-racial terms,” Reed is suggesting that we are reproducing colorblind logics. Therefore, “embodiment in post-racial terms” is the embodiment of race and racialized individuals in a society that chooses to believe that race is no longer an issue.  In separating race and racism, race is thus, in Reed’s opinion, mobilized in colorblind ways to divorce discussions of structural racism from racialized embodiment” (Reed 52).   With this separation, queer theory scholars tend to preserve white supremacy.

Reed continues her argument by stating that, “Whiteness, then, goes unacknowledged and unexamined, while uncritically reproducing multiculturalist logics that mainstream visibility can smooth over ongoing injustices, precisely by exploiting the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (Reed 57).   From my understanding, Reed is drawing on how the white queer political movement has connected itself to the struggles and oppressions of all queer people, including racial minorities as well. By doing this, it fails to both incorporate and differentiate between the experiences of white queer people and black queer people for example. Whiteness is seen as the normative default in society and acts largely as an invisible category. I don’t think that the injustices white queer people face can be attributed to their race, however, I do think a black queer person faces injustice on the premise of both their sexual identity and their race. Black bodies have historically been hypervisible and hypersexualized as they stood in opposition to their white counterparts and identity politics comes into play as one cannot separate their sexuality from their whiteness as this fosters and reinforces what Reed refers to as white queer politics of injury.

Citation:

Alison Reed, “The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead. Spectacular Absence and Post-Racialized Blackness in (White) Queer Theory.”

In Alison Reed’s essay, “The Whiter the Bread,” Reed says, “…fetishization of blackness produces its own logics of disavowal, reinforcing hegemonic understandings of race by articulating embodiment in post-racial terms. Whiteness, then, goes unacknowledged and unexamined, while uncritically reproducing multiculturalist logics that mainstream visibility can smooth over ongoing injustices, precisely by exploiting the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (57).​ When Reed discusses the “embodiment in post-racial terms,” (57) Reed highlights the point that many think that racism and the race problem have been over since the civil rights movement. Reed discusses colorblind politics and how treating everyone the same, as in we all have the same experiences regardless of race, is a disadvantage. Systematic racism must be taken into account to have an inclusive and intersectional view of queer theory rather than just the white queer theory that has become so popular.

Reed also discusses “the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (57). Reed is referring to the tokenization of black individuals in the queer movement. This tokenization leads to many thinking that the queer movement is inclusive of these individuals when in fact their concerns are often not addressed within queer politics. Further, the inclusion of black bodies adds in the illusion of white queer people not having racial privilege because they are in an injured state or have a sense of otherness. We can clearly see in countless examples how black bodies are tokenized. Black individuals, although seemingly present in the queer movement, are often not given a chance to voice their concerns and the injustices they may face. Rather than being colorblind to these injustices, it would add the queer movement to become more inclusive and unpack the layers of privilege that may be present.

 

Alison Reed “The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead. Spectacular Absence and Post-Racialized Blackness in (White) Queer Theory, in No Tea, No Shade. New Writings in Black Queer Studies , ed. E. Patrick Johnson (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2016), 287-301.

In the essay “The Whiter the Bread…” Alison Reed argues that post-racial refers to a society that attempts to argue that it “sees past race” due to supposed social progress that has occurred. This notion fails to address the nuance with race relations in American society, implying that because there are so many ways in which bodies are discriminated against culturally and under the law due to race, it is impossible to pretend that everything has progressed to a point where race is irrelevant (the “colorblindness” that Reed mentions). The idea that everybody is viewed as equal requires a strong re-working of the system that facilitated (and still facilitates) racial violence and cannot come from a moral shift. This moral shift also skirts discussions of accountability in American society, making people think that “racism was so long ago” despite it still being prevalent in the US.

Regarding “the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (Reed 57), I understand that as meaning the fetishization and intentional centering of black bodies in white queer rhetoric in order to distance oneself from whiteness. This can come off as self-serving because the ways in which people of color are provided opportunities and visibility in certain realms can come off as more of the white author distancing themselves from their white identity, or acting as if the connection to people of color “queers” their identity in any way.

This can also be present in the way in which queer theory is presented, where there are racialized politics regarding the way in which queer theory relates to society. Reed mentions this by saying that “queer theory at the same time spectacularly represents racialized embodiment as a way into its stylized origin narrative of trauma” (Reed 57). Because the way in which people experience trauma is intersectional, this notion also appears in the preexisting writings regarding queer theory.

SOURCE:

Johnson, E. Patrick, and Alison Reed. No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies. Duke University Press, 2016.

The “embodiment in post-racial terms” refers to white people claiming a “counterwhiteness” that seeks to disalign itself from white supremacy and label itself as progressive, which may include practices such as having conversations about race without discussing racism (Reed, 57) . As white queers disavow the privilege they have due to their race, they create a parallel between themselves and a “racialized otherness” that they perceive queer people of color to display, which white queers then fetishize (57).

To me, it seems like “the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” is most discernible in Green’s example of the 2003 Gay Shame Conference,  at which only one queer conference speaker of color was present (57). While race was absorbed into the conference’s understanding of what is shameful about being gay or lesbian, little to no conversation on race occurred. Because the white queer politics of injury have located identity in the universal nonwhiteness of queerness, those who identify as people of color, especially those who have black and brown bodies, may exist in spaces such as the Gay Shame Conference, but their role is reduced to simply being a visible sign of a questionable diversity, rather than being actively welcomed to speak about their experiences.

 

Alison Reed “The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead. Spectacular Absence and Post-Racialized Blackness in (White) Queer Theory.”

Queer rights movements have made a lot of progress in society and politics to create equal rights; however, racial issues have been ignored. In her essay “The Whiter the Bread,” Alison Reed writes, “…fetishization of blackness produces its own logics of disavowal, reinforcing hegemonic understandings of race by articulating embodiment in post-racial terms. Whiteness, then, goes unacknowledged and unexamined, while uncritically reproducing multiculturalist logics that mainstream visibility can smooth over ongoing injustices, precisely by exploiting the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (Reed, 57).​ Breaking down this quote, one can surmise that Reed claims that by using colorblind politics, we have ignored that white supremacy exists apart from white queer theory. The “embodiment in post-racial terms” is how race is embodied in a society that considers its “race problem” over.  She asserts that, “according to colorblind liberals, the ‘race problem’ was put to rest after civil rights legislation” in the 1960s (Reed, 51). This theoretical idea that the United States is rid of racial discrimination and prejudice is false, yet satisfies many citizens and ends opportunities for justice by negating the presence of white supremacy or racism. In reality, white people portray themselves as the “heroes of civil rights” and continue to create the growing problem of systemic racism (Reed, 51). Furthermore, Reed states that often in queer theory scholarly works, there is a trend to leave out racism in conversations about race, which perpetuates colorblindness and white supremacy (Reed, 56).

The second section of the quote: “the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” means that black bodies in queer movements are used to create the illusion of a cohesive queer movement. In this way, white queer people will not be seen as having a privilege because of their race and their status as an injured person will not be negated. White queers then “align themselves with a racialized ‘otherness’” (Reed, 50). Their successes draw on being victimized or in an “injured state” and the movement continues to be stronger because of the supposed alliance with people of color and queer people.

-CB

Reference: Alison Reed “”The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead. Spectacular Absence and Post-Racialized Blackness in (White) Queer Theory.”

In her essay “The Whiter the Bread,” Alison Reed asserts that the “…fetishization of blackness produces its own logics of disavowal, reinforcing hegemonic understandings of race by articulating embodiment in post-racial terms. Whiteness, then, goes unacknowledged and unexamined, while uncritically reproducing multiculturalist logics that mainstream visibility can smooth over ongoing injustices, precisely by exploiting the hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” (Reed, 57).​ “Embodiment in post-racial terms” is the embodiment of racialized people in a society that considers itself beyond viewing race as more than a construct.  Post-identity politics is the idea that all identities are constructed (Reed, 51).  The idea of a post-racial society comes from the misguided idea that racism in the United States ended with the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. The “hypervisibility of black bodies for a white queer politics of injury” is the result of queer political movements’ attempts to draw parallels between the struggles against oppression on the basis of race and of sexual orientation. White queers disavow their privilege in order to maintain a stance of injury, meant in either physical or emotional terms. This leads to white queers identifying with an othered group, and denying any privilege in order to avoid dealing collectively with privilege inherent in whiteness (Reed, 50). This use of single-issue identity politics is harmful, and the fetishization of racialized black bodies is thereby necessary to perpetuate an idealized cohesive queer community (Reed, 50).

 

Reference

Alison Reed “”The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead. Spectacular Absence and Post-Racialized Blackness in (White) Queer Theory.”

Allison Reed’s essay “The Whiter the Bread” is an impressively effective piece of writing in which the author substantiates her claims not only with examples from pop culture and everyday lived experiences but also with poignant critiques of other queer theorists who fail to connect race and racism or simply fail to acknowledge race at all.  Reed argues that “fetishization of blackness” is used for an extreme generalization of trauma, claimed by all queer people “articulating embodiment in post-racial terms” (57).  By ignoring the distinct identities of non-white queer people and gathering all trauma under a single “queer” umbrella, the particular issues of race racism become hidden and are left critically unacknowledged.  In this way, the trauma is dealt with in a way that acts as if race no longer exists, as if this is an actual reality of any country.  This “post-racial” mode of thought erases not only the history which underlies the current political climate but also the non-white voices to whom the trauma truly belongs.

Reed also argues that queer white people have a tendency to separate themselves from whiteness by identifying as queer – “other” and therefore claim the trauma of all queer people as their own.  While this sharing of trauma and collective thought is not problematic in itself, it is important that white queers do not whitewash this trauma and fail to recognize how for example the trauma a Latinx queer experiences after the Pulse Nightclub Massacre is different than the trauma a white queer experiences.  Reed argues that black bodies are often portrayed in a spectacular manner for the benefit of white queer politics citing “Orange is the New Black” as one example of how Hollywood displays black trauma and vulnerability as in the past and not ongoing (51).  This hypervisibility of black bodies serves to benefit what Reed describes as “a white queer politics of injury” (57).  In this schema, white queer politics gains traction through highlighting the trauma of black queers without addressing racism at all or recognizing the distinct experience of black queers as something other than simply an object upon which trauma falls.  Reed’s following statement succinctly and effectively describes the issue: “When queer theory sterilizes sites of injury by displacing material realities of trauma from their representation, lived experiences morph into post-racialize metaphors that preempt possibilities for justice” (59).

Citation:  Reed, Allison. “The Whiter the Bread, the Quicker You’re Dead”.   No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies. Patrick Johnson. 49-64. Print.

 

 

In class, I defined Queer Theory as the study of identities and orientations that fall outside of classically accepted heteronormative ideas and how they interact with and shape our culture, society, and the individuals who compose society.

In Computer Science, perspectives from Queer Theory have very limited applications. Human identity and orientation has no impact whatsoever on computational problems, nor any practical application of computing technology or algorithmic problem solving. It is interesting to consider these perspectives in regards to sentient Artificial Intelligence, but that would fall more into the realm of philosophical thinking rather than the actual science that is the basis of intelligent systems. The only facet of this field that any perspective from Queer Theory would have an effect on would be software development, but even then it would depend on what kind of program is being developed and for what reason. However, once again those kinds of perspectives would fall more under the realm of marketing or design, rather than the actual coding or development.

In Cohen’s writing, she lists the banning of interracial marriages as one of the ways that marriage promotes white supremacy. She argues that the goal behind restricting interracial marriage was to preserve racial ‘purity’. Considering that much of the underlying motivation for segregation could be construed as something similar, its a reasonable assumption to make that marriage would be no different. By both keeping mixed couples from the social benefits of marriage, as well as, at the same time, restricting non-white couples from those benefits, the institution of marriage would help in promoting white supremacy.

This segregation of people among intersecting groups, this case being heterosexuals, causes rifts in those groups that would otherwise be united. In a way, it relates to her statements about coalition politics. Because people can have many different identities and belong to several different marginalized groups, it can cause separation between those groups. These coalitions rely on solidarity and mutual support to unite people, and when that unity is threatened it can greatly damage those groups. For example, within the LGBTQ community, I have seen some people pushing to drop the T. Regardless of the reasoning, the desire to distance and separate from each other shows a lack of unity and support as well possibly damaging future support within the group. It makes the entire group weaker when not everyone can trust each other for support, and dividing the group entirely would make both parts not nearly as strong as the whole.

Queer theory is a field of academic inquiry that examines both the structuring of society into “normal” and “queer” categories and also the impact of these structures and their relationship to power differentials. As an undergraduate, I majored in neuroscience. Perspectives from queer theory would be useful to neuroscientists because neuroscience is moving towards finding the biochemical explanations for human experiences, and queer theory could be a valuable lens through which to view some of those experiences. More specifically, neuroscience has not identified the structures that give rise to gender expression and queer theory would be valuable to anyone interested in identifying those. As a genderfluid person with a neuroscience background, I’ve often wondered about what is going on in my brain on a neuroendocrine level that is influencing my gender. There are also sex and gender biases in research, which is what many neuroscience students do with their degrees, so queer theory would be useful to them in fighting that.

Cathy Cohen wrote that the institution of marriage helped to exploit black bodies and justify white supremacy (Cohen, 454). She gives the example that marriage, historically, has been applied to civilized people who could regulate their sexual desires, but it was legally excluded from slaves. In that way, marriage reinforced white supremacy because black people who were involved in the injustice of slavery were unable to participate in legal marriage, which was a sign of civility. This is relevant to Cohen’s discussion of coalition politics because it underscores the importance of intersectionality of identities. Marginalized groups coming together for coalition politics experience a shared loss of power but their potential is diminished when the members of the coalition ignore the inherent intersectionality of sexual orientation, class, gender, race, and other factors which can put them on the side of their group’s oppressors on some issues (Cohen, 482). Coalition politics is hard because the groups in the coalition need to support one another and acknowledge aspects of privilege that they experience.

References

Cathy Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?”