Queer Cultures, Questionnaire Example

Homonationalism is closely related to homonormativity and addresses how homosexuals attempt to acquire a position within the nation by essentially playing by the same rules as heterosexuals. This includes accepting many norms such as capitalism and consumerism, and not challenging the system as a whole. Hence, in the source in question homonationalism conceives gay rights as an extension of Western discourses about individual rights. As Natalie Kouri-Towe suggests, homonationalism thus consists of three basic functions: firstly, it argues for inclusion within the already existing system; secondly, this inclusion creates a situation of so-called “good queers vs. bad queers”, insofar as those homosexuals who wish to integrate into society are viewed from a positive light, whereas those who do not are viewed in a negative light; thirdly, such a process justifies the existing “social order”, as the emphasis on inclusion into the society is based on the presupposition that the society is on a fundamental level ethically justified, as homosexuals desire to be a part of it.

Epistemology of the closet is a form of knowledge that is structured by a culture that excludes homosexuals. Accordingly, homosexuals view the world from this position of exclusion, or “closet.” For Sedgwick, the epistemology of the closet allows for a movement away from traditional heterosexual-homosexual binary oppositions in favor of the direct view from the closet, which is the subversive viewpoint within a culture.

Sadomasochism is, from the Freudian perspective, the expression of the connection between violence and sexuality in the male. It is furthermore a combination of sadism as the violence against the Other and masochism as the violence against the self. Accordingly, for Freud, sadomasochism can be traced to the psychosexual development of the human being.

Critically queer is a Butlerian concept that entails that minority sexualities must not merely accept the queer label given by the norms of society. Rather, one must think how the queer label is constantly produced by society and thus remain critical of the society that produces it. Butler, therefore, notes that merely taking a negative term from society, such as queer, and then using it in a positive and affirmative sense is not sufficient, because we are still using terms that have been forced upon us by the dominant discourse.

Shame expresses the relationship between the subject and the world. This can be wholly negative, i.e., shame means that one is different than the dominant group, or positive, one transforms this negativity into an expression of one’s subjectivity as defined by difference. For Sedgwick, the phrase “shame on you” is especially important because it lacks a verb: it is applied to an outsider and simultaneously refuses them an action. This is something like a ground zero for queer identity, the notion of being “effaced”, and thus may also serve as a foundation for a new articulation of identity.