We have a lot of business to attend to during our next class period (finalizing the topic for next year's class and planning out what to do with our budget), but we also have 7 readings to discuss. To make this all a bit more feasible, let's only do the readings in Asian American Sexualities and the Sharmeen Islam reading on Sakai. This means we will not be doing the Ordona or Aguilar-San Juan readings, or the Ratti reading connected to the Islam pdf, so the total number of readings for this week is 5.
Please respond to 2 of the following quotes:
1) "To our closeted Asian American lesbians and gay men, I would like you to consider how we become accomplices to our own sexual and racial oppression when we fail to claim our true identities" (Cornell 84).
2) "Is [coming out] a Western concept? Do you really have to come out? Is it something that is understood by your family without having to say, 'Mom, I'm a dyke?' " (Chung, Kim, Nguyen, Ordona, and Stein 95).
3) "[The fact that I avoided contact with Filipino gay and lesbian activists] was particularly true during the days of the Kalayaan when the identifiable gay activist men from the Philippines... exhibited mannerisms that were effeminate. Perhaps this was due to the fact that in the Philippines their families were part of the elite upper-class strata, which enabled them to live any lifestyle they chose" (Mangaoang 107).
4) "The gay culture in the West marginalizes our experience and lumps all nonwhite women under the umbrella term "lesbians of color," thus denying our diversity" (Islam 42).
1) Drawing upon the idea of a "politics of location," Cornell's message may be best suited for the context in which she uses it--as an organizing tool at a public address in 1979--rather than as a general rule for queer individuals. Intuitively, I understand why Cornell would make such a statement in regards to queer API visibility at that time; yet within my current spatial and temporal location, I am also troubled by the connection between complicity, failure, and the closet that Cornell articulates. She seems to suggest that queer individuals somehow exist more successfully and authentically by coming out, which is a simplistic, dehumanizing, and disenabling reading of that process. A public declamation should not be the standard by which one's "true identity" is validated, nor should strategic silence be dismissed as a powerful political tool. Ultimately, her statement illuminates the complex relationship between context and agenda, and it reifies the importance of situating politics within a location.
ReplyDelete4) While I understand that umbrella terms such as "lesbians of color" may suggest essentialized identities, recognizing these terms as malleable and inclusive--rather than fixed and exclusive--imbues them with radical potential. Essentialism drives relations of dominance; power is precariously inscribed within fixed identities, and loading certain identity categories with inherent value fosters oppression. By understanding umbrella terms as capacious and fluid, we can avoid the threats of essentialism often interwoven in identity politics. Thinking about umbrella terms in such a way reframes social and political alignment as, in fact, constantly moving; with that perspective in mind, we are thus offered the possibility of working outside of ideological systems that fundamentally seek to divide and entrench us.
Note: This is a combined response to quotes 2 and 3.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of constructions in the gay community. This much should, of course, go without saying, as the very idea of a "gay community" is in itself a construction, a category built around tenets that supposedly unite us all as baseline components of a gay identity. However, there are as many ways to be gay as there are to be human. In the West (especially in the United States) the ideas of pride and proclamation (coming out) seem to sit at the heart of the gay experience, necessary as political actions which draw back in those people who have been erased by a heteronormative culture. I agree with the speaker at the roundtable discussion who challenged the importance of formally "coming out." Even within the West, there are countless examples of people whose gay identity is understood without ever needing formal, verbal articulation. In fact, I think that this is where the culture is headed; instead of saying "I'm gay," you simply drop in references to your wife/husband/partner or introduce them as such. One of the readings mentioned that seeing a relationship in action is much more relatable for non-queer people, and I agree. You would think that family values conservatives would be all over gay marriage, because it upholds the idea of the monogamous family unit with children. (Oh, if only this were so...) Just as there are many ways to "come out," there are many ways to have a "gay identity," and the supposed bonding tenets sometimes divide us, as Mangaoang experienced. If a person does not identify with an image or feel the need to engage in certain practices, there should not be pressure to do so. In the end, the important thing is finding spaces in which you (and those around you) are most comfortable, however you want to articulate it.
1)I really like this quote. I don't know how much I actually have to say in response though. I think it's true that when you don't try to fight your oppressor you are letting him crush you. I imagine arm wrestling: two forces clashing. When one person stops trying, the other person doesn't, and all of a sudden, person number one is down.
ReplyDelete2) I'd like to respond to the idea of coming out being a Western concept. Following what Zoon says, Christy speaks of the difference between coming out to her white (lesbian) mom and her asian dad (to whom she never formally does come out to). The problem I have with this quote and anecdote is that it portrays the Western coming out as an event and the Asian coming out as something more subtle. I don't think that Western society glorifies the coming out of an individual- rarely have I been in the situation where someone feels the need to tell me their sexual orientation. Usually subtle hints are used. As for coming out in Asian culture, I think Christy's story tries to promote this idea of respecting her family by never formally coming out, but to me it sounds like her father just doesn't accept who she is and she let's him ignore it. I believe there is a distinction between coming out in Western culture and Asian culture, but I'm not sure that these women did an apt job of describing what it is.
2) What I find interesting about the idea of the coming out narrative is that it does force a certain historicization of queerness; a recognition of how queer expression changes within particular contexts and times. I think to say that the coming out narrative is western, as opposed to some kind of "eastern" subtlety, is too much of a binaric opposition, and also appears to reinscribe a form of orientalism that gives westerners the more active role. The coming out process exists as a complex emotional, social, and political narrative, but is still rooted in society, and should not serve as a template for forms of queer self-identification.
ReplyDelete3)I find it interesting how effemininity is connected to an upper class existence. I'm again intrigued by the implications of class and material consumption in the formation of a queer identity, in this case of a gay male fillipino identity. I wonder in what ways that identity is different from the stereotype of the white, male American upper class individual. Both identities are connected to a concept of femininity, but it would be interesting to look at the differences between the two and what kinds of consumption marks each. Sadly the article doesn't go into much detail on that front, and I'm left wondering what exactly a gay male fillipino identity looks like and why the author chose to go a different route.
1. As Candace points out, the geographical, historical, and ideological context in which Cornell delivered her speech demands that we consider this quotation with some discretion. A nascent Asian American LGBTQ movement of the 70s probably required a visibility undiluted by other personal politics in order to have maximum impact; I venture to say that this blunt approach provided us with the linguistic and ideological infrastructure to have these conversations, though one could argue that this could have been accomplished in subtler ways. I initially discounted Cornell's call for Asian American queers to out themselves as outdated, but my ability to comment on its current relevance is a direct outcome of its success.
ReplyDelete2. The perceived glorification of the coming out process in Western society is almost entirely defined by the dominant culture of white heteronormativity. It assumes privileges that certain Asian cultures do not have. For instance, coming out in many Asian families isn't isolated to a nuclear family; one has to address extended families and family friends, especially in immigrant communities that tend to be insular. However--and I feel that I must speak in terms of personal experience here--queerness as merely "something that is understood" is oppressive to me. There is no agency in the placement of that identity. That kind of "understanding" is described by its opposition to implied heterosexuality rather than as an independent and thus equally valid identity.
2. Although Western culture sensationalizes coming out to one’s family and friends as liberating and denouncing the hetero-normative, the concept of coming out is nonetheless relevant in (South-)East Asian cultures. Stigma attached with being queer and coming out are inherently intertwined; why come out if there is no reason to initially be the closet? Insofar as queer individuals feel coerced to stay in the closet, which is patently true in Western and Eastern societies, coming out assumes a significant role. However, I contend that the particular significance of coming out varies. While coming out in the United States represents pride and liberation, coming out in, say, the Philippines represents something wholly different. Even in one culture, coming out indeed represents something uniquely different for each individual. Thus, while coming out can be Western, that does not imply that coming out is a Western concept.
ReplyDeleteI found Brendan’s analysis particularly though-provoking, namely “instead of saying ‘I'm gay,’ you simply drop in references to your wife/husband/partner or introduce them as such.” I agree that American culture is headed this direction, and I am interesting in seeing how that would alter the dynamic of coming out.
4. That the West categorizes nonwhite women as “lesbians of color” trivializes the unique experiences of queer individuals. Is the experience of a black lesbian the same as the experience of an Asian-American lesbian? Even if so, why do they differentiate from the experience of a white lesbian? Indeed, this binary system of classifying individuals as “white” or “nonwhite,” fosters “us vs. them” animosity. It is antithetical to community organizing and hinders any significant progress for the LGBT community. And I maintain that this animosity is a more substantial impact of lumping nonwhite women than a denial of “diversity.” Contrary to the statement, I personally find no value in diversity. Rather, I find value in its implications, which I thought was poorly conveyed in the reading.
1. I really feel like oppression is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. While I do see why she feels like not coming out or owing up to our own sexual identities further oppresses us, I feel like it differs for everyone. For some people, I think simply finding a lover frees them from their oppression, whereas others require more and are more active, and that is fine. However, I do not like how she is calling out those who do not owe up to it. If one does not owe up to their sexual identity, they should not be told they are only further oppressing themselves. Let people deal with their sexuality on their own.
ReplyDelete4. I actually do agree with this statement. Within the gay community, there are so many different ethnicities, and even more sub-cultures. Gay America in itself is almost a completely different country, and to use an umbrella term for lesbians or gays very much eclipses the rich diversity of cultures in the community. It is this diversity that I feel unites us, however. We all come from different cultures, have different attitudes, and different lifestyles, but we are all united in the fact we have some attraction to the same sex. This is why it upsets me when a movie or song is targeted "to the gays" or "to the lesbians." I firmly believe that there is no solid view or opinion that the gay community holds, just like how there is no solid view or opinion that America (the country) holds.
Also, as a heads up to everyone, I unfortunately will not be able to join the class for the first hour or so. I have been invited to a dinner with a guest speaker that the Japanese department at Pomona College is having over tonight (Stan Sakai, a famous comic book creator), and since it is a really good opportunity for me to meet him and talk about his work, I have accepted. I will be there around 8 or so though....(but I am always there in spirit, hugging and each and every one of you)