CROSSING BORDERS II - QUEER(Y)ING ETHNICITY

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CROSSING BORDERS II - QUEER(Y)ING ETHNICITY

Through an examination of identity politics and queer theory an evident contradiction between the notions will be recognized in relation to the concept of identity. The conflict between these concepts will be clearly depicted through an analysis of identity as an essential element in generating political empowerment or consequently as a method of restricting and limiting a subject within the realm of the social. Such tension will clearly emerge through an examination of the film Loaded, where the character of Ari appears to advocate the stance of the queer position in querying the accuracy of ethnicity and sexuality as unitary models of identity. However, through an in-depth analysis of the text, it may be apparent that Ari may simply reconfirm his marginalization as well as reasserting the fundamental and governing authority that identity proclaims within society.  

Identity politics emerged in Western countries in about the 1960’s and reinforces that a subject’s external identity is an expression of a true and authentic nature. Identity politics articulates that identities are what unites a subject to the social and therefore as identity expresses an inner nature it subsequently connects an individual to people who share that identity, which subsequently allows for communities to develop. Identity’s connection with politics becomes visible in that some identities are clearly more advantaged than others and consequently by affirming one’s identity as homosexual for example will evidently bring forth and confirm a subject’s marginalization. Identity can therefore be seen as narrowing and oppressive in that it gives people power over others and restricts the possibilities of other ways of being.

Identity politics activism emerged within a homosexual context in the 1950’s with the homophile movement, the 1970’s with the revolutionary activism of the gay and lesbian liberation movement and eventually to an ethnic model of gay and/or lesbian identity in the 1980’s. Steven Siedman writes that: “The notion of a unitary gay identity has been fundamental to the evolving gay communities of the 1980s” (1993, 121). These gay and lesbian movements of the past can evidently be seen to have emphasized the notion of a unitary identity in order to advocate political empowerment and to build a sense of community. Offord articulates that: “…the action of identification, affirming a position and being situated with others who are also affirming the same position, creates a recognizable political energy” (1991, 209). Emphasized through this idea is the formation of Offord’s paradox where to affirm oneself with an identity, which is seen through identity politic activism is an act of political empowerment but which consequently negates the possibility for difference.

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Offord consequently argues that the logic of identity, confirmed by groups such as the gay and lesbian movements in the past, signals identity as fixed and which “denies or represses difference” (1991, 209). A solution advocated by Offord is to aspire to an unfixed identity which is where queer theory’s premise ultimately lies and a notion that can clearly be seen through the character of Ari in Loaded. However, Offord believes that to do so: “…implies a loss of specificity and therefore the entrenched problem of marginalization will worsen” (1991, 210) which ultimately symbolizes a contestation with queer theory’s ...

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