{"id":281357,"date":"2018-10-10T11:33:46","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T11:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2018\/10\/10\/naamahdarling-yall-frickin-inconsiderate\/"},"modified":"2018-10-10T11:33:46","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T11:33:46","slug":"naamahdarling-yall-frickin-inconsiderate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2018\/10\/10\/naamahdarling-yall-frickin-inconsiderate\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

naamahdarling<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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yall-frickin-inconsiderate<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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postcardsfromspace<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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vaspider<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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skeletrender<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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glumshoe<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The other thing about the word \u201cqueer\u201d is that almost everyone I\u2019ve seen opposed to it have been cis, binary gays and lesbians. Not wanting it applied to yourself is fine, but I think people underestimate the appeal of vague, inclusive terminology when they already have language to easily and non-invasively describe themselves. <\/p>\n

Saying \u201cI\u2019m gay\/lesbian\/bi\u201d is pretty simple. Just about everyone knows what you mean, and you quickly establish yourself as a member of a community. Saying \u201cI\u2019m a trans nonbinary bi woman who\u2019s celibate due to dysphoria and possibly on the ace spectrum\u201d\u2026 not so much. You\u2019re lucky to find anyone who understands even half of that, and explaining it requires revealing a ton of personal information. The appeal of \u201cqueer\u201d is being able to identify yourself without profiling yourself. It\u2019s welcoming and functional terminology to those who do not have the luxury of simplified language and occupy complicated identities. *That\u2019s* why people use it – there are currently not alternatives to express the same sentiment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not people \u201coppressing themselves\u201d or naively and irresponsibly using a word with loaded history. It\u2019s easy to dismiss it as bad or unnecessary if you already have the luxury of language to comfortably describe yourself. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s another dimension that always, always <\/i>gets overlooked in contemporary discussions about the word \u201cqueer:\u201d class. The last paragraph here reminds me of a old quote:\u00a0\u201crich lesbians are\u00a0\u2018sapphic,\u2019 poor lesbians are\u00a0\u2018dykes\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reclaiming of the slur\u00a0\u201cqueer\u201d was an intensely political process, and people who came up during the 90s, or who came up mostly around people who did so, were divided on class and political lines on questions of assimilation into straight capitalist society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bourgeois gays and lesbians already had \u201cthe luxury of language\u201d to describe themselves – normalized through struggle, thanks to groups like the Gay Liberation Front.<\/p>\n

Everyone else, from poor gays and lesbians to bi and trans people and so on, had no such language. These people were the ones for whom social\/economic assimilation was not an option.<\/p>\n

The only language left, the only word which united this particular underclass, was\u00a0\u201cqueer.\u201d\u00a0\u201cQueer\u201d came to mean an opposition to assimilation – to straight culture, capitalism, patriarchy, and to upper class gays and lesbians who wanted to throw the rest of us under the bus for a seat at that table – and a solidarity among those marginalized for their sexuality\/gender id\/presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Groups which reclaimed \u201cqueer,\u201d like Queer Patrol (armed against homophobic violence), (Queers) Bash Back! (action and theory against fascism, homophobia, and transphobia), and Queerbomb (in response to corporate\/state co-optation of mainstream Gay Pride), were \u201cultraleft,\u201d working-class, anti-capitalist, and functioned around solidarity and direct action.)<\/p>\n

The contemporary discourse around\u00a0\u201cqueer\u201d as a reclaimed-or-not slur both ignores and reproduces <\/i>this history. The most marginalized among us, as OP notes, need this language. The ones who have problems with it are, generally<\/i>, among those who have language – or \u201ccommunity,\u201d or social\/economic\/political support – of their own.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Oh hey look it\u2019s the story of my growing up. <\/p>\n

All of this is true.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

also,\u00a0\u201cqpoc\u201d is a thing, like how about we not take away a term that a lot of people of color id with? thanks :))))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s the only word I have for what I am, that encompasses both identity and sexuality. It\u2019s literally the only word.\u00a0 I\u2019m not calling myself a\u00a0\u201cslur\u201d, I\u2019m using literally the only term that works to define me<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not LGBTQ+. I\u2019m not a catchall.\u00a0 I am a very specific thing<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I know there are people who don\u2019t want it applied to them<\/i> and I try to be considerate of that because I\u2019m not a total asshole, but we CANNOT throw the term away.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

naamahdarling: yall-frickin-inconsiderate: postcardsfromspace: vaspider: skeletrender: glumshoe: The other thing about the word \u201cqueer\u201d is that almost everyone I\u2019ve seen opposed to it have been cis, binary gays and lesbians. Not wanting it applied to yourself is fine, but I think people underestimate the appeal of vague, inclusive terminology when they already have language to easily … <\/p>\n

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