The antisocial thesis in queer theory is the idea that being queer and queer people themselves are fundamentally incompatible with the social order currently in place, the most apparent example of this being gay sex which unlike heterosexual sex doesn’t serve a reproductive purpose and thereby subverts the social notion of family. This antisocial thesis is often thought about in conjunction with negativity and follows up on Bersani’s definition of sex as “anticommunitarian, self-shattering, and anti-identitarian” (PLMA 823). One particularly interesting aspect of the antisocial thesis in queer theory is Bersani’s discussion of the media and “its capacity to manufacture subjectivity itself” (203). Effectively emphasizing the social separation of gay people from the “general public” Bersani notes “the family identity produced on American television is much more likely to include your dog than your homosexual brother or sister” (203). Another premise which stands out is the connection between queer people and antisocial politics such as anarchy and its parallel in punk music – begging the question: do all queers share the same or at the very least, similar negative and antisocial politics?
Rodríguez’s discussion of “politically incorrect erotic desires” (342) adds some fresh perspective to the antisocial thesis. These desires are related to the antisocial perhaps in their subversion of power or gender structures also in their multiplicity and limitless possibility. Rodríguez discusses fantasies to include those not included in Bersani and Edelman’s writings, almost everyone besides gay white men. Whereas Bersani and Edelman both focus on sexual acts, specifically anal sex between gay men which Edelman links with the death drive, Rodríguez discusses fantasies on a spectrum which brings race, gender, and power into the sphere of erotic desires.
Citations:
Leo Bersani, Is the Rectum a Grave?
PMLA, The Antisocial Thesis in Queer Theory
Juana María Rodríguez, Queer Sociality and Other Sexual Fantasies