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The fracturing identities and cultural upheaval of the postmodern age triggered a re-examination of who we are and how we love.
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New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, sparking a riot that led to six days of protests and violence. Considered the catalyst for the gay liberation movement. -
A feminist and lesbian manifesto that marked a turning point in the fight against systemic gender inequality. -
Beginnings of lesbian literary tradition and aesthetic, rediscovery of “assumed” heterosexual writers
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Challenged heterosexuality as natural -
Aimed to define a lesbian literary tradition by analyzing the lives and works of 20th century lesbian writers -
Explored homosexuality of late-19th century -
Argued against the violent misogyny of heterosexuality -
Activists seek to reclaim aspects of gay life, including concepts like effeminacy, drag, camp, homoeroticism, male bonding and the term “queer”. The AIDS crisis leads to reinvention of sexuality and an examination of its intersection with class and economic inequality.
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Examined how female identity has been used to hide power dynamics in non-Western cultures -
Identified a lesbian sensibility -
Examined politics and philosophy of sex including the effect of capitalism on sexuality -
Linked queer theory to feminism and examined link between sex, sexuality, and gender -
Proposed lesbian ‘double vision’, a result of their dual identities as members of both the mainstream and the minority -
Explored expression of homoeroticism in literary works -
Argued queer theory must take into account the AIDS crisis -
Questioned the oversimplifications of binary oppositions that limit sexual freedom and identity -
Queer studies begin to move beyond lesbian and gay identities to include those that disrupt fixed binaries.
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Explored the intersection of power and pleasure -
Argued rejection of hetero/homosexual binary and for the queering of master narratives -
Explored the relationships between nationalism, sexuality, and identity -
Pushed queer theory beyond the limits of gay and lesbian identity to explore all gender and sexual identities -
Argued gay and lesbian criticisms have parallel histories but are not the same -
Reexamined the meaning of “camp,” its place in queer texts, and its appropriation by pop culture -
Studied the connection between the otherness of non-western societies and homosexual identity -
Argued the role of the psyche in the formation of sexual identity under social constraints -
Studied the reclamation of hate speech, pornography, and discrimination for pro-queer purposes -
Selden, Raman, et al. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Routledge, 2017. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=nlebk&AN=1441321&site=ehost-live&scope=site.