I have long been alarmed by the queer movement's hegemonic tendencies. In a number of spheres, including elite mainstream media, "queer" is rapidly displacing "lesbian," "gay" and "bisexual." In so doing, queer has, to use a sinister term with its roots in the Argentine dictatorship of the 80s, disappeared lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
Much of the time the people who use "queer" as a synonym for "gay" or "LGB" in publications such as The New York Times are doing so merely to signal that they are with it. They remember a similar linguistic evolution, the one that went from "Negro" to "BIPOC" with "African American" and "Black" along the way.
Every now and again, though, the context in which the writer uses the term "queer" reveals that he is a true believer and not a tourist.
For several years I have been saying that "queer" is neither a sexual orientation nor a gender identity but a scene. Queer is a set of learned leftist attitudes, beliefs and postures embraced by educated leftist urban youth who are terminally cool. I see three types of queer culture.
1. At its Judith-Butler worst, Queer "Theory" aims to topple all societal norms governing sex and sex roles (I refuse to say "gender"). This manifests itself, for example, in the indoctrination of K-12 students into gender-identity ideology in many American schools.
2. I hold a particular animus against the woke variety of queer that prevails at my university's version of what might be known on other campuses as the LGBTQ center. (I am a gay senior citizen taking break from a post-bac degree program in Spanish at Portland State University "PSU".)
You see, Portland State University's Queer Resource Center (QRC) recognizes only two types of stakeholders: Queer and Trans. The words "gay" and "lesbian" do not appear in the Queer Resource Center's mission statement. In fact, unless my repeated searches missed it, "gay" appears on the QRC's site only when citing unaffiliated outside organizations' use of the word.
As if that weren't bad enough, the Queer Resource Center's politics are stridently woke. It is expected that a good Portland State University queer will model the values of diversity, inclusion, equity and anti-racism. Its activities calendar is a festival of intersectional racial, ethnic and gender identity group culture. If you're BIPOC and trans, well, the Queer Resource Center is your home away from home. You’ll look in vain for a gay men’s board game night.
When I complained to the Queer Resource Center about its erasure of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, the reply as good as admitted that the queer hegemony was intentional. In any case, they added, everyone there was fine with it. If I didn't like it, why, I could click a helpful link to the complaint form.
It is deplorable that PSU’s only official organization for what used to be known as sexual minorities does not recognize or accommodate the university's mainstream gay, lesbian and bisexual students. That the QRC has so thoroughly embraced the leftist ideology of wokeness is unconscionable. It's as if PSU's French club expected students to support the ideology of Marine Le Pen and organized its programming around it.
Still, what else can one expect at a university whose president has declared that his "highest priority is sustaining and amplifying [the school's] commitment to racial justice"? That's what PSU's president Steven Percy, a generic-looking middle-aged white guy, announced some two and one-half years ago. Today, the first item on the list of strategic priorities of the Office of President is "Acting on Equity and Racial Justice." This means:
"We are fighting racism and advancing social justice across our campus by applying an antiracist lens to everything we do, measuring our progress and holding each other to account. We are taking steps to ensure success for all students, more equitable working conditions and an environment where people feel safe, belong, and prosper." https://www.pdx.edu/president
The situation at the Queer Resource Center seems to validate the virus model of the spread of woke ideology within organizations. When president Percy sneezes, the administrators all come down with a contagious case of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Anyone wishing to learn more about Portland State University's Queer Resource Center can visit its site by clicking on this link: https://www.pdx.edu/queer-resource-center/
3. As for lay queers, well they're just the latest iteration of insufferable disaffected, leftist urban youth, only with pink crew cuts.
Hi, Dr. B. I was trying to keep this question simple, but I've failed. But I tried! It's actually several related questions.
How do you view the distinctions that many Marxists make between their Marxism and the woke variety? That is, those who might describe themselves as unwoke or anti-woke.
Do you see a sharp distinction between the work & unwoke/anti-woke Marxists? Or do you think the similarities are greater than the differences?
Is the important distinction (if there is one, in your opinion) between authoritarian Marxism & anti-authoritarian Marxism, or would you say that Marxism tends toward authoritarianism, despite those who call themselves libertarian socialism? Do you think there can even be such a thing as "libertarian socialist" or are these incompatible?)
As I'm sure you know, some of the most vehement opponents of wokeness are on the left. A case in point (anarchists):
Any thoughts on the 1st article, destroying "the compulsory school system"? (something I'm pretty sure Michael Malice
The 2nd one is about Ted K & makes similar points as you addressed at (much greater) length recently.
But (and this is an example of how messy this gets), you have Communists who attack wokeness yet are authoritarian--like Caleb Maupin, who openly extols the virtues of Stalin. (If the choice were between ATS's anarchism, which seeks to bring right & left anti-imperialism together, or Maupin's Stalinism, the choice is very easy. Neither is woke, but clearly the latter's vision--though utopian--would be hellish if realized.)
Finally, not sure if you're familiar with Stan Goff. He is truly one of a kind--in the best possible way, in my opinion.
This piece is a must-read, though very long (92 minute read! )
To save (a lot of) time, I'd recommend doing a Control-F and entering
"mealtimes?"
That will take you to a now-infamous Kiera Butler (Mother Jones) article from 2015 that seems to have not gotten much attention until Feb 2023. (James Lindsey linked to it on Twitter.)
I'm thinking it may be something you came across in your research, as it's straight out of your Introduction to your book, about how everything now is racist (including dogs and TIME!!!!)
So, that was my "question." I apologize; brevity is not my strong suit.
I have long been alarmed by the queer movement's hegemonic tendencies. In a number of spheres, including elite mainstream media, "queer" is rapidly displacing "lesbian," "gay" and "bisexual." In so doing, queer has, to use a sinister term with its roots in the Argentine dictatorship of the 80s, disappeared lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
Much of the time the people who use "queer" as a synonym for "gay" or "LGB" in publications such as The New York Times are doing so merely to signal that they are with it. They remember a similar linguistic evolution, the one that went from "Negro" to "BIPOC" with "African American" and "Black" along the way.
Every now and again, though, the context in which the writer uses the term "queer" reveals that he is a true believer and not a tourist.
For several years I have been saying that "queer" is neither a sexual orientation nor a gender identity but a scene. Queer is a set of learned leftist attitudes, beliefs and postures embraced by educated leftist urban youth who are terminally cool. I see three types of queer culture.
1. At its Judith-Butler worst, Queer "Theory" aims to topple all societal norms governing sex and sex roles (I refuse to say "gender"). This manifests itself, for example, in the indoctrination of K-12 students into gender-identity ideology in many American schools.
2. I hold a particular animus against the woke variety of queer that prevails at my university's version of what might be known on other campuses as the LGBTQ center. (I am a gay senior citizen taking break from a post-bac degree program in Spanish at Portland State University "PSU".)
You see, Portland State University's Queer Resource Center (QRC) recognizes only two types of stakeholders: Queer and Trans. The words "gay" and "lesbian" do not appear in the Queer Resource Center's mission statement. In fact, unless my repeated searches missed it, "gay" appears on the QRC's site only when citing unaffiliated outside organizations' use of the word.
As if that weren't bad enough, the Queer Resource Center's politics are stridently woke. It is expected that a good Portland State University queer will model the values of diversity, inclusion, equity and anti-racism. Its activities calendar is a festival of intersectional racial, ethnic and gender identity group culture. If you're BIPOC and trans, well, the Queer Resource Center is your home away from home. You’ll look in vain for a gay men’s board game night.
When I complained to the Queer Resource Center about its erasure of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, the reply as good as admitted that the queer hegemony was intentional. In any case, they added, everyone there was fine with it. If I didn't like it, why, I could click a helpful link to the complaint form.
It is deplorable that PSU’s only official organization for what used to be known as sexual minorities does not recognize or accommodate the university's mainstream gay, lesbian and bisexual students. That the QRC has so thoroughly embraced the leftist ideology of wokeness is unconscionable. It's as if PSU's French club expected students to support the ideology of Marine Le Pen and organized its programming around it.
Still, what else can one expect at a university whose president has declared that his "highest priority is sustaining and amplifying [the school's] commitment to racial justice"? That's what PSU's president Steven Percy, a generic-looking middle-aged white guy, announced some two and one-half years ago. Today, the first item on the list of strategic priorities of the Office of President is "Acting on Equity and Racial Justice." This means:
"We are fighting racism and advancing social justice across our campus by applying an antiracist lens to everything we do, measuring our progress and holding each other to account. We are taking steps to ensure success for all students, more equitable working conditions and an environment where people feel safe, belong, and prosper." https://www.pdx.edu/president
The situation at the Queer Resource Center seems to validate the virus model of the spread of woke ideology within organizations. When president Percy sneezes, the administrators all come down with a contagious case of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Anyone wishing to learn more about Portland State University's Queer Resource Center can visit its site by clicking on this link: https://www.pdx.edu/queer-resource-center/
3. As for lay queers, well they're just the latest iteration of insufferable disaffected, leftist urban youth, only with pink crew cuts.
You. We're fucked.
Great summary Karlyn. Thank you!
Hi, Dr. B. I was trying to keep this question simple, but I've failed. But I tried! It's actually several related questions.
How do you view the distinctions that many Marxists make between their Marxism and the woke variety? That is, those who might describe themselves as unwoke or anti-woke.
Do you see a sharp distinction between the work & unwoke/anti-woke Marxists? Or do you think the similarities are greater than the differences?
Is the important distinction (if there is one, in your opinion) between authoritarian Marxism & anti-authoritarian Marxism, or would you say that Marxism tends toward authoritarianism, despite those who call themselves libertarian socialism? Do you think there can even be such a thing as "libertarian socialist" or are these incompatible?)
As I'm sure you know, some of the most vehement opponents of wokeness are on the left. A case in point (anarchists):
https://attackthesystem.com/tag/nicky-reid-aka-comrade-hermit/
[The 1st two articles are definitely on-topic.]
Any thoughts on the 1st article, destroying "the compulsory school system"? (something I'm pretty sure Michael Malice
The 2nd one is about Ted K & makes similar points as you addressed at (much greater) length recently.
But (and this is an example of how messy this gets), you have Communists who attack wokeness yet are authoritarian--like Caleb Maupin, who openly extols the virtues of Stalin. (If the choice were between ATS's anarchism, which seeks to bring right & left anti-imperialism together, or Maupin's Stalinism, the choice is very easy. Neither is woke, but clearly the latter's vision--though utopian--would be hellish if realized.)
Finally, not sure if you're familiar with Stan Goff. He is truly one of a kind--in the best possible way, in my opinion.
This piece is a must-read, though very long (92 minute read! )
https://stanleyabner1951gmailcom.substack.com/p/the-battle-of-woke-hill
To save (a lot of) time, I'd recommend doing a Control-F and entering
"mealtimes?"
That will take you to a now-infamous Kiera Butler (Mother Jones) article from 2015 that seems to have not gotten much attention until Feb 2023. (James Lindsey linked to it on Twitter.)
I'm thinking it may be something you came across in your research, as it's straight out of your Introduction to your book, about how everything now is racist (including dogs and TIME!!!!)
So, that was my "question." I apologize; brevity is not my strong suit.
I want to study more on this also.
So, I can make better memes. :)