Queer

The term queer has traditionally meant “odd” and “not normal.” Not coincidentally, it has more recently been used as a way to think about sexualities that do not fit into society's assumptions of feminine or masculine heterosexuality. More contemporary meanings of queer have been picked up and used by activists and academics to mark movements within sexual identity politics and theoretical frameworks for understanding gender and sexuality. Queer, however, is a contested term. Scholars and activists constantly disagree on what queer means and the way in which it should be used, as described in this entry.

Queer is often used as an umbrella term to denote sexual identity within a particular community. A queer community may be made up of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and so on. Some find queer an easy way to describe such a large community. Labeling people whose sexual identities fall outside of heterosexuality may create solidarity among people based on commonality, which may in turn encourage them to identify with one another and create a community in which they find support and organize to initiate a political movement.

Besides sexuality, queer is also used to describe a particular gendered community. This is a community made up of people who fall outside society's prescribed male/female and masculine/feminine dichotomies. Their gender identities and the way they embody and perform gender do not coincide with either the fixed biological notion of sex or societal notions of gender. Queer communities may have political agendas; they may fight to be accepted by heterosexist mainstream society or resist assimilation into the heteronormative culture. Critics argue that such a usage of queer may indeed bring solidarity to a marginalized group, giving them power in numbers. However, these critics warn against ignoring differences among people and groups. That is, lumping everyone who falls outside of social norms under the category of queer ignores the differences between them and thus may misrepresent them as the same. Labeling a group as queer could also reinforce gendered and sexualized dichotomies by creating queer in relationship to and opposition with all others who represent “normal” heteronormative society.