Feminism is Queer

The Intimate Connection between Queer and Feminist Theory

Mimi Marinucci

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781783606788
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

In Feminism is Queer, Mimi Marinucci provides a valuable introduction to the intimately related disciplines of gender and queer theory, and develops the innovative concept of queer feminism, which treats queer theory as being continuous with feminist theory. While there were significant conceptual tensions between second-wave feminism and traditional lesbian and gay studies, queer feminism offers a paradigm for understanding gender, sex and sexuality that overcomes this conflict in order to foster solidarity between those campaigning for women's rights and those for LGBTQ rights. This updated and expanded edition engages with the latest developments in feminism and queer theory, including the new forms of both feminism and 'antifeminism' which have developed within online communities, the growing prominence of trans experiences in popular media, and the relevancy of queer feminism to a new generation of feminist activists. Feminism is Queer remains the indispensable guide for anyone with an interest in gender, sexuality, and the connections between feminism and queer issues.

CHAPTER 1

The social construction of sexuality

“You’re likely to see many queer things in the Land of Oz, sir,” said the Wizard. “But a fairy country is extremely interesting when you get used to being surprised.”

L. Frank Baum, The Emerald City of Oz, p. 219

The Kinsey Report

Many people who support the interests of lesbian women and gay men maintain that homosexuality is a universal phenomenon. Drawing on research conducted by Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Institute, homosexuality is often estimated to occur in roughly 10 percent of the population. Based on thousands of detailed interviews, Kinsey’s findings were published in two volumes: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin, 1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin and Gebhard, 1953). These are often referred to informally as the “Kinsey Reports.” The Kinsey Reports challenged conservative beliefs about sexuality by suggesting that taboo practices, such as masturbation, promiscuity, and homosexuality, were much more prevalent than previously acknowledged.

For better or worse, the oft-quoted statistic that homosexuality occurs at a steady rate of 10 percent is not a straightforward conclusion of the Kinsey Reports. Kinsey actually reported that “37% of males and 13% of females had at least some overt homosexual experience to orgasm” and that “10% of males were more or less exclusively homosexual and 8% of males were exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55.” Kinsey also reported “a range of 2–6% for more or less exclusively homosexual experience/response” among women. Finally, it was reported that “4% of males and 1–3% of females had been exclusively homosexual after the onset of adolescence up to the time of the interview” (as cited by The Kinsey Institute, n.d.). If these figures reveal anything about the rate of homosexuality, it would seem to be that it is largely dependent on the method of accounting. Furthermore, while Kinsey’s subject pool was quite large, it was comprised primarily of white college students in the Midwestern USA. The rate of homosexuality within that demographic during the first half of the twentieth century does not necessarily generalize to other populations. A likely explanation for the widespread commitment to the 10 percent statistic is that it implies that, when it occurs, homosexuality is inevitable, and not a chosen behavior or learned response that can be unchosen or unlearned.

Kinsey’s “Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale,” referred to informally as the “Kinsey Scale,” is often upheld as evidence that both bisexuality and homosexuality are natural alternatives to heterosexuality.1 The Kinsey Scale classifies sexual orientation along seven categories numbered 0 through 6, with 0 representing those whose experiences and interests are “exclusively heterosexual” and 6 representing those whose experiences and interests are “exclusively homosexual” (Kinsey et al., 1948, p. 638). According to the Kinsey Scale, everyone else has at least some tendency toward both homosexual and heterosexual expression (refer to Figure 1.1). Rejecting “the assumption that homosexuality and heterosexuality are two mutually exclusive phenomena” (Kinsey, 1941, p. 425), Kinsey avoided using “homosexual” as a noun and instead referred adjectivally to homosexual behaviors and attractions.

Figure 1.1 Kinsey’s hetero-homosexual rating scale

0	Exclusively heterosexual with no homosexual
1	Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2	Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3	Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4	Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5	Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6	Exclusively homosexual

Source: Kinsey et al., 1948, p. 638 (as published online by the Kinsey Institute, 1999)

Kinsey encouraged social awareness and acceptance of sexual diversity, but not by attempting to establish the universal existence of a discretely homosexual population distinct from the larger heterosexual population. Rather, by characterizing sexual orientation as a continuum, Kinsey challenged the widespread belief that, for most people, sexual desire is directed exclusively toward members of just one sex category. Moreover, by concentrating on homosexual behavior instead of homosexual identity, Kinsey implicitly challenged wh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the author
• Title page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Book epigraph
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface to the First Edition
• Section I. Sexuality
• Chapter 1. The social construction of sexuality
• Chapter 2. The social history of lesbian and gay identity
• Chapter 3. Queer alternatives
• Section II. Sex
• Chapter 4. Unwelcome interventions
• Chapter 5. Welcome transitions
• Section III. Gender
• Chapter 6. Gender refined and redefined
• Chapter 7. Feminism re-examined and reconsidered
• Section IV. Queer Feminism
• Chapter 8. Notes toward a queer feminism
• Chapter 9. Questionably queer?
• Appendix
• Index