G104 – Week 4 Discussion Questions

Group 1 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. Identify at least two key concepts (or main ideas) Laura Alexandra Harris writes
about in “Queer Black Feminism.” What do you think is the most important idea
in the article(s)? Why?

2. What constitutes evidence in this article? In other words, how does Harris
“prove” her argument? What is the most interesting piece of concrete evidence
you found and did you read it the same way the author(s) do(es)? Do you find
her argument convincing? Why or why not?

3. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.

Group 2 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. How does this article differ from Patricia Hill Collins’ and Cornel West’s
discussions of Black sexual politics? It is not good enough to just say, well
Harris’s article is about queerness, because it is about much more that that. I am
asking you to hash out what she adds to the conversation about sexuality. This
means you will have to identify what they said about sexuality.

2. What is the main argument and how does the author support it?

3. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.
Group 3 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. What is feminism according to Laura Alexandra Harris and how has it changed
(or not) over the years? Be sure to relate this to black women, like Harris does.

2. How does Harris understand popular culture in relation to feminism?

3. What are the two areas that feminism has difficulty dealing with and why? How
does queerness relate to this? In other words, how does she intervene on these
old feminist ideals to push us beyond the problems toward solutions?

(if you have time do the following questions)

4. What is the main argument and how does the author support it?

5. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.

Group 4 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. Identify at least two key concepts (or main ideas) Laura Alexandra Harris writes
about in “Queer Black Feminism.” What do you think is the most important idea
in the article(s)? Why?

2. What constitutes evidence in this article? In other words, how does Harris
“prove” her argument? What is the most interesting piece of concrete evidence
you found and did you read it the same way the author(s) do(es)? Do you find
her argument convincing? Why or why not?

3. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.
Group 5 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. How does this article differ from Patricia Hill Collins’ and Cornel West’s
discussions of Black sexual politics? It is not good enough to just say, well
Harris’s article is about queerness, because it is about much more that that. I am
asking you to hash out what she adds to the conversation about sexuality. This
means you will have to identify what Collins and West said about sexuality,
before you can figure out what Harris adds.

2. What is the main argument and how does the author support it?

3. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.

Group 6 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

4. What is feminism according to Laura Alexandra Harris and how has it changed
(or not) over the years? Be sure to relate this to black women, like Harris does.

5. How does Harris understand popular culture in relation to feminism?

6. What are the two areas that feminism has difficulty dealing with and why? How
does queerness relate to this? In other words, how does she intervene on these
old feminist ideals to push us beyond the problems toward solutions?

(if you have time do the following questions)

6. What is the main argument and how does the author support it?

7. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?
Group 7 Questions for “Queer Black Feminism: The Pleasure Principle”

1. How does this article differ from Patricia Hill Collins’ and Cornel West’s
discussions of Black sexual politics? It is not good enough to just say, well
Harris’s article is about queerness, because it is about much more that that. I am
asking you to hash out what she adds to the conversation about sexuality. This
means you will have to identify what Collins and West said about sexuality,
before you can figure out what Harris adds.

2. What is the main argument and how does the author support it?

3. What did you learn from the reading and how it/they is/are significant (or not) to
your own life?

Please use your own words when discussing this in the larger group. It is fine to
draw on what Harris says (and you should), but you need to be able to tell us
what she means.