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Queer theory, as coming out of the study of sexual practices outside of heterosexuality, questions the norms of heteronormative societies.
It is important to note that all scholars cited are coming from a Global North perspective, meaning that their contributions are shaped by the socio-cultural context of these regions. This might create a focus that overlooks complex and diverse experiences of Queer communities in non-Western and Global South societies whose voices remain underrepresented in mainstream academic discourse. As this toolkit is a work-in-progress, we would like to invite you to contribute with theories that come from a more global and decolonial approach.
Sexuality as a social construct
During the 1970s, in works like "The History of Sexuality" (1976), philosopher and historian Michel Foucault questioned how society treated sexuality as an essential and universal truth rather than a social construction. In his theorizing, Foucault posited that identity is not innate and that politics generally rely on hierarchies of desire as a means of oppression.
Sexual behavior hierarchy
Gayle Rubin’s essay “Thinking Sex” (1984) examined how society places certain sexual behaviors above others. According to Rubin, this normative framework then served as the basis of marginalization and oppression.
The gendering of sexuality
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwicks book “Epistemology of the Closet” (1990) explored how society genders sexuality, for example, by defining your sexual identity primarily by the gender identities of the people who attract you.
The birth of Queer theory
Teresa de Lauretis became the first writer to coin the phrase “queer theory" in 1990. De Lauretis outlined a complete rethinking of sexuality divorced from the binaries and standards defined by heterosexual power structures, structures that Michael Warner would later refer to as heteronormativity. Heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality is the default, and therefore preferred, expression of sexuality.
Sex and gender as performance
Judith Butler published "Gender Trouble" (1990), which suggests sex and gender are performative elements of identity rather than innate characteristics.
Literature
Queer Theory:
Judith Butler: Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990)
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick: Epistemology of the Closet (1990)
Michel Foucault: The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 (1976, English Translation 1978)
Adrienne Rich: Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980)
Audre Lorde: Sister Outsider (1984)
José Esteban Muñoz: Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009)
Jack Halberstam: The Queer Art of Failure (2011)
Sara Ahmed: Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (2006)
Lauren Berlant and Michael Warner: Sex in Public (1998)
Alexander Doty: Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture (1993)
Richard Dyer: The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation (1993)
Anthologies:
David Halperin & Valerie Traub: Gay Shame (2009)
Nikki Sullivan: A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory (2003)
Michael Warner (ed.): Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory (1993)
Annamarie Jagose: Queer Theory: An Introduction (1996)
Queer Theory/Postcolonial Theory:
Roderick Ferguson: Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique (2004)
Gloria Anzaldúa: Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987)
Cathy J. Cohen: Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? (1997)
Queer Theory/Transgender Theory:
Susan Stryker: Transgender History (2008)
Dean Spade: Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law (2011)
Judith Butler: Undoing Gender (2004)
Queer Theory/Disability Studies:
Robert McRuer: Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability (2006)
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