How Queerious are You?!

        I chose “Writing InQueeries: Bodies, Queer Theory, and an Experimental Writing Class” because the intersections between Rhet/Comp and Queer Studies, although crucial and generative (for ourselves as our students), are often overlooked and considered questionable. DiGrazia and Boucher’s article also serves as a sort of Quick Queer Field Guide for those who do not identify as queer, are not familiar with the terminology, and/or do not have the theoretical framework to inform a queer approach in the Composition classroom. This of course will also help acclimate students to the discourse community, considering, “the privileged site of academia that is their [queer theory and queer pedagogy] birth place” (41). My hope is that we will all (continue to) consider the ways we invite heteronormativity in our classrooms – as both teachers and students, and, in response, the ways we might be able to create queer, safe spaces in and outside of academia.

       The article, and the experimental class DiGrazia and Boucher teach, address the weight of our identities both in and out of the classroom, and they present the tension between community and essentialism well. Through critical self-reflection, exploration, expressivist modes of writing, and performance, students were able to better understand and shift their identity categories, seeing them as more fluid than static. Sure, the outcomes were transformative and liberating, but as Composition, Cultural Studies, and Communication teachers, assessment will always be an issue. I’m interested in your thoughts on this.

      As much as they seek to break through boundaries and uncover the marginalized voices/narratives, courses such as these run the risk of creating a new set of Truths (I’m thinking back to Deborah from Reynolds). DiGrazia and Boucher ask an important question, “If queer is indeed a theory and form of activism which is mean to subvert social norms and to show how authority is produced in our society as a way to underpin social and economic privilege, then what do we do with tissues of authority in a queer classroom setting?” (31). Furthermore, how do we ensure non-queer students have a chance to develop voice and authority?

Questions to Guide the Conversation:

1.     How does this article and the Writing Inqueeries course engage with Elbow’s discussion of voice?

2.     DiGrazia and Boucher’s class truly sounds like a dream, but we don’t have that opportunity; how can we integrate queer writing and queer pedagogies into our classrooms and assignments?

3.     What does the Composition classroom offer Queer Studies, Queer Pedagogies, and Queer writing? And how might other articles we’ve read add to this discussion?

4.     How can Cultural Studies respond to the intersections of race, class, and gender the authors acknowledge were not fully integrated in the course? How might we bridge this gap?

5.     How can Communication enhance the effects of performance and visual representation the authors claim worked so well for the students?

6.     The article covers queer content and style: how are these modes represented in Alexander and Rhodes film Queered?

Get Queer!

1.     Play the “Unpack the ________ privilege knapsack” game with students so they name and acknowledge the different modes of privilege they enjoy. They will then be better able to situate their positionality in relation to the conversation.

2.     Watch a string of commercials and look for instances of heteronormativity and hegemonic identity constructions. Invite critiques and explore the social and political implications using outside texts.

3.     Aim for what I call Queer+ approaches: ground an “inqueerie” in another field or theory. For example, it is easy to make connections between the queer and civil rights movements based on DuBois’ notions of the “double veil/consciousness.” (This also helps to address those complicated axes the authors mention.)

4.     Investigate the tension between the use of “sexual preference” and “sexual orientation.”

5.     Have students rhetorically analyze their own bodies and “remix” themselves.