Literatura Contemporánea Inglesa II

Trabajo Práctico Nº 9: Queer and Gender Theory

Nombre: María Retrivi

DNI: 36906388

Fecha: 06/12/2020

Calificación:

Consignas:
After going through all the theoretical material on Queer and Gender
Theories, define the following key concepts. Please make sure you define the
terms using your own words. After that, you may resort to using quotes from the
material to justify your answers.

1. Queer Theory. (2,5 points)

Queer theory is a set of ideas about gender and human sexuality which
claims that genders, sexual identities, and sexual orientations are the
result of a social construction which varies in each society and that they
are not determined by human biological nature. The central idea of this
movement is to disrupt with the binary construction of human identities
and the heteronormativity.
The theorists of this movement argue that “there is no set normal, only
changing norms that people may or may not fit into”.

2. Heteronormativity. (2,5 points

Heteronormativity defines an imposed regime on society which promotes
heterosexual relationships as the only valid model of sexual orientation
through various political and economic mechanisms (medical,
educational, legal, etc.) and through various institutions that present
heterosexuality as necessary for the functioning of society. This regime
is fed back by social mechanisms such as marginalization, invisibility or
persecution.
 Berlant defines heteronormativity as “the institutions, structures of
understanding, and practical orientations that make heterosexuality
seem not only coherent—that is, organized as a sexuality—but also
privileged”

3. Gender. (2,5 points)

Gender is the set of ideas, beliefs and social attributes, which are built in
each culture and historical moment based on sexual difference. Sex and
gender are different concepts: while sex is related to biology (hormones,
genes, nervous system, morphology), gender is related to culture
(psychology, sociology). Hence, gender is socially constructed and sex is
biologically determined.

4. Gender Performativity (Judith Butler). (2,5 points)

According to Butler, gender is not an unquestionable and internal truth,
but a phenomenon that is constantly produced and reproduced. Thus,
gender performativity implies that no one has a given gender from the
beginning, but that it is produced during its continuous setting in motion
(that is, in the daily repetition of the gender norms that tell how to be or
not to be men or women).