Queerness – Experience – Politics

CSI-0174

Professor: Verónica Zebadúa Yáñez

Email: vzebadua@hampshire.edu
Office hours: By appointment. Please email me.
Meeting times: M/W 9:00am -10:20am at Franklin Patterson Hall 102

Course Description:

In this course, we will interrogate the intersections between queer theory and politics employing
the interpretive lens of experience. Some of the questions that will guide us are: what is queer
theory, and how does it intersect with politics? Is there something such as queer experience, and
how is it expressed politically? Is ‘the queer’ always already political and, if so, is queerness
always a radical and subversive standpoint? Has queerness become a normalized identity? And,
is identity necessary, if strategically, to legitimate a radical politics of experience?

We will focus on texts that are phenomenologically rooted in experience—the experience of

politics, of the body, of desire, of identity, of the past and the future, of queerness and the queer.
Our starting point—to which we shall continuously return to, problematize, and contest—will be
the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir and the political theory of the Marquis de Sade. These
two thinkers—which we will read as queer in their own distinctive ways—refused to substantiate
identity, embodiment, sexuality, desire, and sexual difference and, most importantly, effectively
destabilized the usual connotations of the political itself.

After a brief introduction to the central tenets of queer theory, we will turn to Beauvoir and Sade,
and will proceed to explore some critiques and vindications of the concept of experience by Joan
Scott and Johanna Oksala. These readings will be followed by a discussion of the political
experience of the body. For this section, we will read Judith Butler, Sara Ahmed, Nikki Sullivan,
and Elisabeth Grosz, among others. We will ask, can we freely experience life through a body
that is always already sexed/gendered, or is all sexed/gendered experience compulsory and thus
unfree? Finally, we will continue this discussion of freedom by reading Shannon Winnubst, José
Esteban Muñoz, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Lee Edelman and address the institutionalization
of queer politics. Should we affirm queerness as a political position, or is queer affirmation yet
another version of normalization? Should the queer remain in the margin, or should it long for
the center?

Distribution:

This course satisfies distribution.

1
Couse objectives:

1. Understand and be able to discuss the origin and current state of queer and feminist
political theories, particularly as they relate to experience, embodiment, and politics.
2. Critically engage and interpret literature on queer theory and feminist theory,
including presenting your ideas and scholarly interests orally and in writing.
3. Interrogate critically ‘how queer is queer theory?’ – are there unspoken assumptions?
How does racial, gendered, social, economic, and political privilege affect queer
theories and movements?
4. Think critically about the intersection of race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and
(dis)ableness.

Expectations for work completion:

Students are expected to spend at least six hours a week of preparation outside of class time. This
time includes reading, writing, research, and other activities, as requested. The reading load will
average 20 to 50 pages per session (there will be less reading load towards the end of the
semester to allow you to work in your final project).

Assignments:

You are required to turn in your assignments on time. In case of an emergency, we can negotiate
an extension. All assignments must be submitted and you must participate in class to receive
an evaluation.

• To ease into discussion and set up class themes and questions, we might start the class
with five minutes of silent writing or read and react exercises. Writing down our
ideas will give us confidence to participate later on. You can write a comment, a critique
or counterargument, or set up questions for discussion.

• I will assign a discussion leader for each class. The leader will introduce the main
points of the readings, present questions, and facilitate the discussion for the first 10 to
15 minutes.

• Two end-of-section essays: A four-page paper should include a comparative,

contrasting, critical reflection on at least four of the texts assigned in the sections,
focusing on one or two key points or arguments. You may relate the readings to an issue,
an experience, a historical event, or to film, art, or literature. Make sure they relate and
feed into your final project. Due dates are specified in the course schedule section.
Choose two of the three specified due dates.

• Final project. You may choose one of the following options:

o OPTION 1 – Advocacy campaign (two-person team): A 12 to 15-page

advocacy planning document (excluding bibliography) plus a 15-minute
presentation. Choose an issue related to the class topic and plan a campaign that

2
 could be implemented at the Five College area. Share with me a short ‘roadmap’
of the document by October 17 (email). After this, we’ll schedule a meeting to
discuss it.

Advocacy campaigns involve understanding and analyzing the issue as it stands

today, and why the situations needs to change; building an argument for what you
aim to change, e.g., a policy? law? behaviors? beliefs? (Arguments should be
backed up by texts from at least three of the four course sections as well as by
independent research); identifying allies, opponents, and resistance; and
developing a plan.
If you choose this option, you must consult the following:

• Sections 1 to 7 of the Community Tool Box advocacy model,

• UNICEF’s Advocacy Toolkit, and
• AWID’s guide for feminist advocacy.

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/advocacy-
principles/overview/main

http://www.unicef.org/evaluation/files/Advocacy_Toolkit.pdf

http://iknowpolitics.org/sites/default/files/feminist_advocacy_guide_awid_2.pdf

o OPTION 2 – Individual research project proposal: Choose this if you are

interested in doing further research on queer theory for your final portfolio. Share
with me a short ‘roadmap’ of the research proposal by October 17 (email).
After this, we’ll schedule a meeting to discuss it.

A research proposal (10-12 pages) includes:

1. Introduction
2. Objective, relevance, and research questions. Why is your
proposed research important?
3. Background and literature review (derived from at least
three of the four course sections, as well as your own
research).
4. Theoretical framework and methodology
5. Overview of project content, sections, and argument
6. Bibliography

o OPTION 3 - Conference poster and 15-minute in-class poster presentation

(two-person team): Posters and poster presentations are popular in academic
conferences and I would encourage you to present your poster in one.

A NYU librarian writes, “Research posters summarize information [and] research

concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. The poster

3
 is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other
presentation formats [e.g., video]. At a conference, the researcher/s stands by the
poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and
interact with the author.” Share with me a short ‘roadmap’ of the poster theme
by October 17 (email). After this, we’ll schedule a meeting to discuss it.

Guides to elaborate posters:

http://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276826&p=1846154
http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design
http://ugs.utexas.edu/our/poster/samples?q=our/poster/samples

Papers and class documents: 12 font and double-spaced. Times New Roman, Calibri,
or Cambria. We will be using the Chicago Manual of Style for citations, references,
and bibliography. Quick guide here:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

Course format:

This course is a seminar. We will spend most of our time engaged in scholarly conversation. The
format of the class will include, at different moments, silent writing/quick write, group and
paired-up discussion, student-led discussions and presentations, and short lectures.

In order to substantively participate, you must do all the assigned reading in advance. Some ideas
to keep in mind while doing the reading are: What are the assumptions of the author and
her/his/their main arguments? What are the main point(s) and key terms introduced by the text?
Do you agree or disagree? How does the text relate (add to, critique, support) previous readings?
Most importantly, what is your interpretation and how do you relate, or not, to the text?

It is important to mention that an attentive reading is not necessarily confrontational, e.g., finding
faults to the text from the get-go, but reflective –every author has something valuable to say and
struggled to write it.

**If you believe that a reading might be triggering, please contact me as soon as possible via
email and we will discuss your options. Intellectual discomfort, however, is part of the process of
learning and understanding, and we should all get used to it**

During class discussion, expect disagreement and dissent. These are central to advance our
knowledge, substantiate our points of views and political positions, question our assumptions,
and acknowledge our privilege. Take our sessions as a safe and democratic space to share your
preoccupations and ideas, as addressed –or not– in the class material. Remember: every voice
and opinion matters; listen and be respectful and open to the others’ ideas, interpretations, and
experiences; check and monitor your ‘airtime’; engage and critique ideas, not people, and never
accuse; add to the others’ ideas and use the course readings to support your point of view. Above
all, never feel you do not have something valuable to add!

4
General Policies:

Attendance: I expect you to attend all class meetings. More than two absences will be noted in
your evaluation, and if you are absent for a total of four sessions, you will not receive a course
evaluation. Save your absences for illness, religious observance, or family emergencies, and do
not forget to let me know beforehand, if possible. Please do not be late.

Gender-inclusive and non-sexist language: Share your preferred pronoun and name. These
should be respected and honored by all.

Email: Email goes to your Hampshire account; make sure to check it.

Electronic devices: Turn off your phone. If I see you checking it or texting, I will ask you to
leave the room and this will affect your evaluation. I prefer no laptops in class; if you prefer to
take notes in one, turn off the Wi-Fi.

Academic honesty: Plagiarism is the representation of someone else’s work as one’s own. Both
deliberate and inadvertent misrepresentations of another’s work as your own are considered
plagiarism and are serious breaches of academic honesty and integrity. All Hampshire College
students and faculty, whether at Hampshire or at other institutions, are bound by the ethics of
academic integrity. The entire description and college policy can be found in Non Satis Non
Scire https://handbook.hampshire.edu/node/87.

All sources used or consulted in the process of writing papers, examinations, preparing oral
presentations, course assignments, artistic productions, and so on, must be cited. Sources include
material from books, journals or any other printed source, the work of other students, faculty, or
staff, information from the Internet, software programs and other electronic material, designs and
ideas. All cases of suspected plagiarism or academic dishonesty will be referred to the Dean of
Advising who will review documentation and meet with student and faculty member. Individual
faculty, in consultation with the Dean of Advising, will decide the most appropriate consequence
in the context of the class. This can range from revising and resubmitting an assignment to
failing the course. Beyond the consequence in the course, CASA considers first offenses as
opportunities for education and official warning. Multiple or egregious offenses will have more
serious consequences. Suspected instances of other breaches of the ethics of academic integrity,
such as the falsification of data, will be treated with the same seriousness as plagiarism and will
follow the same process.

Accommodating Learning Differences: If you need course adaptations or accommodations

because of a disability, or if you have disability-related information to share with me that may
impact your performance or participation in this course, please make an appointment with me as
soon as possible. If you already have approved accommodations, please go to The Office of
Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) in CASA/Lemelson Building to pick up Letters of
Accommodation to facilitate a proactive discussion about how your accommodations will best
apply to this course. If you have not already done so, students with documented disabilities who
need to utilize accommodations are encouraged to contact OARS to formally request
accommodations as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a

5
timely fashion. OARS can be found online at OARS.hampshire.edu or via
email: Accessibility@hampshire.edu, phone: (413) 559-5498, or in person at the Lemelson
Building. OARS holds weekly drop-in hours for quick consult and questions which can be found
on their website or by calling the office.

Course schedule:

**Please note that the schedule may (slightly) change**

September 7

• Introductions, syllabus overview.

I. Introduction to Queer Theory

September 12

• Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, “Introduction: Axiomatic,” in Epistemology of the Closet.

(1990)
• Annamarie Jagose, “Introduction,” in Introduction to Queer Theory. (1996)
• Optional quick read:
http://www.critical-theory.com/what-the-fuck-is-queer-theory/

Optional:
• C. Heiken Schotten, “Queer Theory,” in Encyclopedia of Political Thought. (2014)

September 14

• Annamarie Jagose, Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 of Introduction to Queer Theory. (1996)

• Quick read and react (write down and bring some thoughts to class):
http://www.vice.com/read/can-straight-people-be-queer-435

Optional:
• Gayle Rubin, “Thinking Sex,” in The Gay and Lesbian Studies Reader.
• Sharon Marcus, “Queer Theory for Everyone: A Review Essay,” in Signs, 31, 1, 2005.

II. Situating Queer Experience

September 19

• Simone de Beauvoir, “Introduction,” The Second Sex. (Volume 1, 1949, 2011 edition)
• Quick read:
http://flavorwire.com/565141/the-story-behind-simone-de-beauvoirs-the-second-sex-the-
most-influential-work-of-existentialism
• Comic: http://existentialcomics.com/comic/139

6
September 21

• Simone de Beauvoir, “Introduction,” (to Volume 2) and “Conclusion,” The Second Sex.
(1949, 2011 edition)
• Lori Watson, “The Woman Question,” TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, 3, 1-2.
(2016)
• Comic: http://existentialcomics.com/comic/63

September 26

• Marquis de Sade, “Frenchmen, some more effort if you wish to become Republicans,” in
Philosophy in the Boudoir, Or, The Immoral Mentors. (1795) Optional but highly
recommended: read the whole book. *Note: depictions of violent sex, rape, incest,
torture, pedophilia, murder*

September 28

• Marquis de Sade, continued…

Optional:
• Dalia Judowitz, “Sex, or the Misfortunes of Literature,” in Sade and the Narratives of
Transgression (David B. Allison, Mark S. Roberts, Allen S. Weiss, eds.). (1995)

October 3

• Joan W. Scott, “Experience,” in Feminist Theorize the Political (Scott and Judith Butler,
eds.). (1992)
• Johanna Oksala, “In Defense of Experience,” in Hypatia, journal of feminist philosophy.
(2014)

October 5

• Scott and Oksala continued…

• Quick read and react (bring and write down some thoughts to class):
http://www.bustle.com/articles/150016-5-ways-my-experience-as-a-queer-woman-of-
color-differs-from-that-of-a-white

***END-OF-SECTION PAPER DUE OCTOBER 5 (BY EMAIL)***

AND
****MID-SEMESTER SELF-EVALUATION DUE****

October 10 and October 12 – no class (October Break and Yom Kippur)

7
 III. Embodiment and Political Experience

October 17

• Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality,” in Blood, Bread and Poetry.

• Judith Butler, Preface and Chapter 1, in Bodies that Matter. On the Discursive Limits of
‘Sex’. (1993)

Optional:
• Documentary: Paris is Burning (Director Jenni Livingston, 1991).
• Judith Butler, Ibid., Chapter 8 (“Critically Queer”).

***DEADLINE: SEND BY EMAIL A ROADMAP OF YOUR ADVOCACY PLAN

(OPTION#1) / RESEARCH PROPOSAL TOPIC (OPTION#2) / OR POSTER
(OPTION#3) ***

October 19

• Sara Ahmed, “Queer Feeling,” in The Cultural Politics of Emotion. (2004)

• Sara Ahmed, “”Introduction,” in Queer Phenomenologies. (2006)
Ahmed’s blog, if curious, https://feministkilljoys.com/

October 24

• Nikki Sullivan, “Queer: A Question of Being or a Question of Doing?” and “Queer

Race,” in A Critical Introduction of Queer Theory. (2003)

October 26

• Elisabeth Grosz, Chapter 11, in Time Travels: Feminism, Nature, Power. (2005)
• Monique Wittig, “One is Not Born a Woman.”

October 31

• Anne Fausto Sterling, “The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not Enough,” (1993)
and “The Five Sexes, Revisited” (2013), both in The Sciences.
• IAIN Morlan, “Intersex,” in TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. (pp. 111-115, 2014)
• Cheryl Chase, “Hermaphrodites with Attitude,” in The Transgender Studies Reader,
Susan Striker and Steven Whittle (eds.). (2006)
• Quick read and react (bring and write down some thoughts to class):
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jun/12/caster-semenya-athletics and
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/29/the-return-of-caster-semenya-olympic-
favourite-and-ticking-timebomb

8
November 2

• Susan Striker “(De)subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies,” in

The Transgender Studies Reader. (2006)
• Sheila Jeffreys, “Introduction,” (until p. 10) and “Conclusion,” in Gender Hurts: A
Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism. (2014)

Optional
• Interview with Judith Butler, http://theterfs.com/2014/05/01/judith-butler-addresses-terfs-
and-the-work-of-sheila-jeffreys-and-janice-raymond/

November 7

• Riki Lane, “Trans as Bodily Becoming: Rethinking the Biological as Diversity, not
Biology,” in Hypatia, a journal of feminist philosophy. (2009)
• Quick read and react (bring and write down some thoughts to class):
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/07/19/there_s_no_such_thing_as_a_male_bod
y.html

Optional:
• Tim R. Johnston, “Beyond ‘Born this Way’, philoSOPHIA 5, 1, 2015.
• Gayle Salamon, Chapter 4 in Assuming a Body.

November 9

• Katrina Roen, “Transgender Theory and Embodiment: The Risk of Racial

Marginalization,” in The Transgender Studies Reader. (2006)
• Emi Koyama, “Whose Feminism is it Anyway? The Unspoken Racism of the Trans
Inclusion Debate,” in The Transgender Studies Reader. (2006)
• Quick read and react (bring and write down some thoughts to class):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/12/comparison-transgender-
people-rachel-dolezal

Optional:
• Cressida J. Heyes, “Feminist Solidarity after Queer Theory: The Case of Transgender,” in
Signs 28, 4, 2003.

November 14

• Robert McRuer, “Introduction,” in Crip Theory. Cultural Signs of Queerness and

Disability. (2006)
• Akemi Nishida, “Understanding political development through an intersectionality
framework: Life stories of disability activists,” in Disability Studies Quarterly. (2016).
Available at http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/4449/4302

***END-OF-SECTION PAPER DUE NOVEMBER 14***

9
 IV. Freedom and the Experiences of Marginality

November 16

• bell hooks, “Choosing the Margin as a Space of Radical Openness.” (1989)

• Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” in Sister
Outsider. Essays and Speeches. (1984)

Optional (recommended):
• Listen, Audre Lorde reads “The Erotic Uses of Power,” https://youtu.be/xFHwg6aNKy0

November 21

• Shannon Winuubst, “Introduction,” and “Liberalism’s Neutral Individual,” in Queering

Freedom. (2006)

Optional:
• Shannon Winuubst, “Epilogue. A Political Note Against Same-Sex Marriage,” in
Queering Freedom. (2006)

November 23 – no class – Thanksgiving

November 28

• Shannon Winuubst, “The Freedom of Sovereignty,” in Queering Freedom. (2006)

November 30

• José Esteban Muñoz, “Performing Disidentity: Disidentification as a Practice of

Freedom” in Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics.
• ILGA map of world LGB laws (2015),
http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_WorldMap_2015_ENG.pdf
• United Nations Resolutions on sexual orientation and gender identity,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Discrimination/Pages/LGBTUNResolutions.aspx

December 5

• Tom Boellstorff, Mauro Cabral, Micha Cárdenas, Trystan Cotten, Eric A. Stanley,
Kalaniopua Young, and Aren Z. Aizura, “Decolonizing Transgender: A Roundtable
Discussion,” in TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. (2014)
• http://www.global-briefing.org/2012/10/the-global-struggle-for-queer-freedom/
• ILGA map of world sexual orientation laws (2016)
http://ilga.org/downloads/03_ILGA_WorldMap_ENGLISH_Overview_May2016.pdf

Optional:

10
 • Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan, “Global Identities: Theorizing Transnational Studies
of Sexuality,” in GLQ. (2001)
• C. Heike Schotten, “Homonationalist Futurism: ‘Terrorism’ and Other Queer Resistance
to the Empire,” in New Political Science. (2015)

December 7

• Lee Edelman, “The Future is Kid Stuff,” in Narrative. (1998)

• Watch, interview with Lee Edelman (7 min.): https://youtu.be/NjTDLyKP2p0

Optional:
• Lee Edelman and Lauren Berlant, Sex, Or the Unbearable.

***END-OF-SECTION PAPER DUE DECEMBER 7***

December 12

Poster and advocacy presentations (TBC)

December 14

Poster and advocacy presentations (TBC)

December 16
ALL FINAL PROJECT DOCUMENTS (ADVOCACY PLAN, RESEARCH PROPOSAL,
POSTER) DUE DECEMBER 16.

***

Recommended additional material.

I encourage you to propose something too!

Essays/Books/Other (Moodle):

• Natalie Lovell, “Theorizing LGBT Rights as Human Rights,” http://www.e-

ir.info/2015/12/30/theorising-lgbt-rights-as-human-rights-a-queeritical-analysis/
• Judith Halberstan, The Queer Art of Failure.
• Cindy Patton and Benigno Sánchez (eds.), Queer Diasporas.
• Wendy Brown, “Feminism Unbound: Revolution, Mourning, Politics,” in Edgework:
Critical Essays on Knowledge and Politics.
• Stefanie K. Dunning, Queer in Black and White.
• Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex,” in
Critical Race Feminism: A Reader.
• Michael Warner (ed.), Fear of a Queer Planet.

11
 • Monique Witting, “The Straight Mind.”
• Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction, trans. Robert
Huxley (New York: Vintage Books, 1978)

Fiction:

• Les Guérillères by Monique Wittig (1969).

• Thérèse and Isabelle by Violette Leduc (1968).
• La bâtarde by Violette Leduc (1964).
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928). There is a movie adaptation.
• A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964). There is a movie adaptation.
• Pig Tales, a novel of love and transformation by Marie Darrieussecq (1996).
• Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (1993).
• Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (2006, graphic novel).
• Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (1912). There is a great movie adaptation.
• Our Dead Behind Us by Audrey Lorde (poems, 1994).

Websites on queer art, film, etc.:

• http://www.assignedmale.com/ (Comic)
• http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/queer-art-1960s-to-the-present/ (Self-
guided course on queer contemporary art).
• https://frieze.com/article/queer-time-and-place (Interviews with queer artists and writers).
• https://perspective.revues.org/6033 (Sex and the art history academy).
• http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/30-best-lgbt-films-all-time (List of
LGBTQ movies)
• http://www.autostraddle.com/100-best-lesbian-queer-bisexual-movies-285412/ (List of
LBQ movies)

12