Queer Theory and Identity Deconstruction
Queer theory challenges the notion of fixed gender identities, advocating for a reevaluation of societal norms and the re-founding of sexual and social identities. It questions the essentialism of gender, aiming to subvert existing structures and push for a more inclusive understanding of identity. This theory seeks to create a more diverse and accepting society by deconstructing restrictive categories and promoting individual autonomy within the broader spectrum of sexuality and gender expression.
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According to queer theory gender identity is a scoial construct Gender identity is neither natural nor essential of the person There is a gap between what an individual doesand his ego
GENDER THEORY QUEERTHEORY Sex natural Sex constructed Gender constructed Gender Constructed
tends not only to equality and tolerance but to a general institutional destabilization of identity and to a radical subversion. does not stop the deconstruction of the subject : it affects mainly the deconstruction of the social order . its objectives are socio - political . it comes to sow disorder in the normative tendencies of the sexual order to change culture Wittig speaks of " demolishing conventional rules "
Its a subversive project of sexual and social re-founding. It pushes to rethink the identity beyond social normative frameworks which consider sexualization as constituting a binary division between humans, this being based on the idea of complementarity in the difference and actualized mainly by the heterosexual couple. queer theory affirms dogmatically that identities, not being fixed, do not fit into categories of sexual orientation that would imprison the individual in a single restrictive sexual orientation: queer theorists fight them , deconstruct them .
the expression "identity without essence " well expresses the ideological agenda, not only of queer theory, but of post-modernity. it is irrational : a contradiction in terms because identity may not be deprived of an identifiable content What could an identity without essence be? If queer theory denies the exsixtenceof nature and of a female or male identity, moreover, if queer idenityt is essence-less, what is the concrete proposal of queer theorists ?
on the one hand , the affirmation of identity is strategically necessary to accomplish its revolution: without identity affirmation how can queerdestabilize the heterosexual norm culturally dominant in the world, changing the contents of education, upsetting society?
on the other hand , an individual who declares himself queer chose to wander outside of himself ; wrongly shifting continuously from one gender to another, depending on the circumstances, the randomness of the encounters, sociological developments, on his aspirations. Even if he wanted to define himself, it would be impossible for him: he no longer knows who he is, having left himself and not seeming convinced to come to his senses, at least until he grasps to a phantasmagorical identity.
first of all we can underline its virtual side typical of postmodernity queer identity is not only victim of its potentiality , but also unable to be realized: an identity that has its basis in reality could not in fact ever be realized. It remindsus of Freud sundeterminedEs(Id) Sedgwick (American academic scholar in the fields of gender studies), defines queer identity in this way: queer connotes etymologically a crossing of borders but that does not refer to anything in particular thus leaving the question of its denotation to challenges and revision
The second consideration concerns the asocial character of queer identity : it has this peculiarity it can not be established if not by self-designation. In other words queer is only who can publicly declare to be so, not who is declared such by society. The self-designation process expresses the individual desire of absolute sovereignty on his identity, his existence , and his being , but also on society that he manipulates refusing to identify himself for what he really is.
queer theory exalts the idol of materialism, that is matter (the sexed body) ,fluid, porous , without substance. at the end of the revolution has transformed reality -scientific , material , spiritual-in virtual reality . Accordingtoqueertheoristsbiology is unreliable: forexample chromosomes can create unusual combinations In their opinion intersex cases would prove that classification of individuals in man or woman is not absolute
REJECTION OF THE DEFINITION OF QUEER IDENTITY AFFIRMATIONOFQUEER IDENTITY affirmation: to own one s own choice and destabilize heteronormativity not define : to keep in a state of perpetual choice and remain free from any identity
Is itpossibletobecomewithout being? No One becomesonlyifhe/sheis Beingis the presupposition and the postulate of becoming The gender/queeristhe evanescenceofthe self, which isreducedto an imagined scheme The self isdissolvedin the process ofdo-ing/undoing that is reproducedindefinetelyand never conclusively, always destabilisedand destabilising
The becoming, withoutbeing, ismanifested in a provisional,nomad,fluid,liquidway: a mere confusionand mixing ofpropertiesand acts. But therewould beno propertiesand acts, the process wouldnotbedone, ifa substantialself didnotexist, unifyingthe fragmentedand permaenetmultiplicity, makingitpossible, perceptible,expressable.
The properties/acts presuppose the reference to something or better someone (the doer)that is more than the sum and series of the parts, which unifies them in space and lasts in time. Otherwise I cannot say that the properties are mine , that the acts are the expression of me . This is why becoming presupposes being.
Annull the being Exhaltthe becoming Obsessedby the self The becoming isexpressedin the proliferation of choices: instead ofun-doing identity, it is reborn and isindefinetely reproduced. The fluidity ofpost-gender and queeris in contrastwith the real conditions, the actual sexedincarnate individuals.
Whoever, against the gender and queer theories, accepts the becomingin being ,isa cis-gender Term coined in conext of post-modern theories Descibes whoever accepts and lives the correspondance between female sexed body and their subjectivity of man or woman, their concordance between theirsexandtheirgender. being and the their male or
Cis in Latin meanson the samesidein oppositionto trans whichmeans beyond or on the otherside Iswhoeverisawareofhowhe/sheisborn, acceptseducationbehavingand perceiving themselvesaccordingtosocial expectations and structuredroles: Whoeverexperiencesthe coincidence betweenbirth/education/behaviour/interior feeling is cis
To affirm that sex is the substantial determination of personal identity and to deny the malleability/arbitrareness of gender does notmean togo backtothe staticidea of biological determinism The ontological perspective (the becoming in being or becoming from being) allows avariability. To allow the variabiltiy of gender means that the becoming does not involve predetermined and predeterminable automatisms (otherwise being and becoming would coincide)but id does not even allow approaches of radical arbitrary modification (otherwise becoming would deny being ) It is along this inter-mediate line that a re-semantisation of the gender category is possible, even distancing oneself from the gender andpost-gendertheories.
Nota construction ofsociety/culture/desire and will Cannotimpose itselfarbitrarilyon the nature ofbeing Thisdoesnotquestionthe factthatthe ways ofunderstandingand living femininityand masculinityhavechangedin timeand society, and havedifferentexpressionsin cultutralcontextsand can bemodifiedin the future
This does not mean denying becoming but rather to legitimize becoming in being Becoming not the mere casual movement from one place to another /from one identity to another
Butmustbe understoodasanAristotelian from somethingtowards something As a rational recognitionin nature of: the senseand direction of development The intrinsic potentialitytobe actualised In this senseidentity is recognisedas the search forharmony betweenbirth/interior perception/social role Gender identity isunderstood as provingone s sexualidentity true, likebecoming what one is.
Concernspsychological featuresand social roles(which are accidental), not the subjects sexedbodies (substantial) Physical and sexual identity is and becomes psycho-social gender, in interaction and integration. Man is and becomes man Woman is and becomes woman bymeans of the interactionof intrinsicphysical factorsand externalpsycho-social ones.
WOMEN MEN Psychologicaltraits/social roles orientated to child bearing and childcare Mencharacterized by strength and transformatio Menare more concentrated on carrying out the task More concentrated on talking care CHANGES IN SOCIETY Can lead women to be more agressive without beingmasculine CHANGES IN SOCIETY Can lead men tobe more delicate without being feminine
Masculinity of the woman or effeminacy of man can highlight an interference of traits and roles, which must not be confused with the interchangeability of bodies or confused identities
recognized as a gender identity disorder insofar as it expresses between the exterior dimension of oneself. The causes leading to such a state (whether organic or non-organic) are not yet clear, but- despite scientific considered ethically and juridically important to allow the subject to recover the harmony betweentheexternalandinternaldimension. a disharmony and interior uncertainties- it is
By means of a correct diagnosis it is indispensable for the doctor to ascertain and to exclude the presence of any form of mentaldisorder. The therapeutic surgical-hormonal reassignment strategy forsees a transition period allowing the recovery of a condition of soma-psycheharmony. sex-
As regards specifically, the recognition of the right to sex and gender reassignment, with recognition of legal status (name change and ability to marry the opposite sex) different legislationthroughout Europe. Few Countries have no regulation. As of April 2015, no gender identity recognition bill has beenintroducedinIreland.
In some Countries where same-sex marriage is not allowed, for example, transsexuals are offered recognition as long as they willingly cancel there marriage or the marriage is cancelledinforceof thelaw. In some Countries treatment is sufficient(Germany)in treatmentisrequired. medical necessary other hormonal and surgical
Transexualism has legal relevance in our system. In 1982 Italy became the third nation in the world to recognise the right to change one s legal gender. Before Italy only Sweden (1972) and Germany (1980) recognisedthisright. With Law No. 164/82 on gender reassignment, the Parliament admitted the divergence between one s legal sex and sexual attributes, on the one hand, and the psycho-sexual and gender identity, on the other, which characterizes the transsexual individual, and provided a procedure enabling transexual persons to fully expresstheirpersonality.
The juridical recognition of the modification of the body does not express the individual s autonomy exaltation and the devaluation of the body. On the contrary it introduces an exception to the general principle of the non-disposabilityofthebody. After the entry into force of the Act 164 of 1982 , the Italian Supreme Court invoked the intervention of the Constitutional Court, arguing unconstitutional under the article 5 of the Civil code, forbidding the acts of disposal over own body, with reference to the article 32 of the Italian Constitutional Charter,whichguaranteesthe righttohealth. that the act was
The Constitutional Court, in its decision no. 161 of 1985, not only declared the constitutional legitimacy of the act but recognized the existence of a fundamental right to gender identity. The Court acknowledged the contrast between pyschological and biological sex in transsexual persons, but, above all, it admitted the fact that the law had accepted a new concept of sexual identity based not only on a person s sexual attributes, but also on psychological and social factors.
With such discipline, the legislator has specifically recognized the person affected by a gender identity disorder (GID) the right to bridge the gap between the anagraphic sex and the psychological sex, editing identity records.
According to Law 164/82 a person who is at least eighteen can ask for his/her civil status to be amended when modifications in her/his sexualcharacteristicshaveoccured. The law does not specify whether such modification should be the consequence of sexual reassignment surgery, or of hormonal treatment.
The jurisprudence has clarified that from a legal point of view a person can be recognize in a transsexual a different sex when the psychological attitude is confirmed by the acceptance of surgical treatment in order to modify, as far as possible, external genital organs. So the undergoing reassignment surgery indispensiblecondition. of sexual is considered an
Only in a few isolated cases the change of legal sex and name has been authorised even without the surgical intervention: Rome 1997, Rovereto and Siena in 2013. It must be pointed out that in those cases, actually, the intervention had been previously established by the judge but it could not be carried out due to the health conditions of the person concerned; in other circumstances the change of name was authorised when the name chosen was not unequivocably a male or female name.
With the ruling of november 4th2014, the Court of Messina granted S.D. to change sex and consequently even legal gender without undergoingsex reassignmentsurgery.
1)the judge affirms that "the adjustment of sexual characteristics to be achieved by medical and surgical treatment" is foreseen by the law, only "when necessary". In this way it would connotes the surgical intervention just as a "possibility and not as compulsory For major jurisprudence a person can be recognize in a transsexual a different sex when the psychological attitude is confirmed by the acceptance of surgical treatment in order to modify, as far as possible, external genital organs.
2) the Court rules that the term "adaptation" does not imply a modification of all the sexual characteristics, primary and secondary , being sufficient the change characteristics when the person has already reached a psycho-somatic balance and fulfilled awareness on sexual identity. Interpreting extensively this opinion, risk that Italian law can be transgenderism (that is, sexual identity as a variation of mere hormonal treatment). of the secondary extended even to
According to the judge, forcing someone into sex reassignment surgery prevalence to the community s interest to the correspondence between material corporeality and legal(registry)sex - interest not covered by the italian constitutional charter- at the expense of the same interest to personal identity, which instead is an inviolable right recognized by Article. 2 Const. and international standards. would "grant by European and
The indispensability of surgery practice is considered "cruel ", given that the right to sexual identity could be validly exercised through a formal legal process of name and sex change in civil status registers" allowing it to appear socially inaccordance withthe psychological sex " A large part of the lower courts argues, that the regulations foreseen in Italy on the subject of transsexualism express the protection of the state s interest, oriented to the individual s gender certainty, male or female: an overriding interest that would exclude any form of balancing of interests of the people involved (as acknowledged by the Constitutional Court judgment of 06.11.2014).
The judgment of sex reassignment causes the dissolution of marriage or termination of civil effects resulting from the transcription of a religious marriage. There is no change in the relationship with children. In 2005 an opposite-sex couple got married. Some years later, Alessandro, the man, decided to transition to the female sex. In 2009 Alessandro became Alessandra. Later the couple discovered that their marriage was dissolved because the couple became a same-sex couple, even though they did not ask a Civil Courttodivorce.
The couple asked the Civil Court of Modena to nullify the order of dissolution of their marriage. On October 27, 2010, the court ruled in favour of the couple. The Italian Ministry of Interior appealed the decision and this time the Court ofAppeal of Bologna reversed the trial decision. Later the couple appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. On June 6, 2013, the Supreme Court asked the ConstitutionalCourt whether the Law onTranssexualismis unconstitutional when it orders the dissolution of marriage by applying the Divorce Law (Legge 1 dicembre 1970, n. 898 ) even if the couple did not ask to do so. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled the case in favour of the couple, allowing them to stay married.
Can becollocated on a different level: Transexualism expresses sex/gender and thus body/sex distress within sexual binarism: MtoF or morerarelyFtoM Intersex and transgender persons claim the right to claim a third gender beside the F or M gender: a neutergender status. The intersexual s proposal of legitimizing the registration of a neuter gender is unacceptable since it would harm and hinder the individual s harmonious sexual identification, hindering the child s correctexistentialidentification process.
The claim for the legitimization of the transgender condition is problematic, in consideration of the possibility to be and act in the co-presence of male and female elements transitory or permanent, with or without partial changes or no changeof the body. Claim seems to be guided also by desire of transgression. But transgression implies the same exisitence of a nature to be transgressed. To transgress pass limits no limits limits no transgression The same description of transgender tries to avoid or overcome thus inevitably referring to it, the male/female binary:to be neithermale norfemale/males andfemales
Gender and queer theories empty meaning of traditional family Rainbowfamily is the un-genderedfamily Pluri-chromaticity of the multiplicity of choices against the mono-chromaticity of the traditional family Family life together of individuals who desire and want to live together regardless of their gender identityandsexual orientation. Gender theories welcome ways of understanding the family in abroaderway associo-historicalinnovation Family accidental phenomenon/variable/exaltation ofindividual s desires
Natural/authentic/original importance of traditional family is denied Place where family members pragmatically share interests and solidarity on the basis of a reciprocal affective bond ignoring sexual difference as well as theduration oftherelationship. Rainbow families are not only civil or matrimonial unions between homosexuals which seek equivalence withheterosexualunions/marriages Rainbow families open up a dimension that goes beyondmonosexuality. Theyopenup to bisexuality.
Polymory is exalted against sexual monogamism: presence at the same time of more than one partner atthesame time creating openand multiple relations February 2015 - A trio of gay men from Thailand got married on Valentine s Day in Uthai Thani Province, Thailand, according toCatersNewsAgency.
Queer theory goes beyond the hetero/homo/bisexuality relational dimensions in that they presuppose sexual bipolarity (2 heterosexuals/2 honosexual individuals) or homologous way (relationship between individuals that make-up the couple) confirming(heterosexuals) or denying(homosexuals) sexual difference
