Disidentification
QUEER THEORY
I. INTRODUCTION
Discrimination against homosexuals does exist in our society. In a daily living, there is always a homosexual that can be found or exist in schools, workplaces, and elsewhere. It’s not uncommon for homosexuals to be mocked for their own sexuality, despite the fact that homosexuality is not at all a threat, nor problem at all. According to Pickett and Brent (2015) the term homosexuality was originated in the nineteenth century by a German psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert. Homosexuality is somewhat shows an affection of an individual towards the gender as he/she is. The discrimination for the homosexuals gave an impression to their personal career or jobs. They have been given lower salaries in some jobs than those of their heterosexual counterparts. Regarding to this matter, there is what we called sexism. Based on Tekanji (2007), sexism is defined as the discrimination of both female and mostly male based on their sex and gender, attitudes, and stereotyping. By this, people who are heterosexuals tend to unheeded the existence of those who has confuse gender role or belongs to the community of LGBT. Their gender affects their job or in any matter of their lives. One of the most usual that people might not notice is that men can only work to a particular job hiring positions because they think men can do all things that women cannot, and vice versa. Many but not all are subject to a daily harassment, especially in areas where homosexuality is not tolerated, and gay rights are not recognized. Hence, whilst homosexuality is certainly much more tolerated in the present than it was in the past, there is still a long way to go until homosexuals will really have the thing that we are longing for the equal rights. Homosexuality is somehow comes along with the Queer theory.
According to Harris (2015) the Queer theory is a brand-new branch of study or theoretical speculation that was only been named in 1991. Studies about gay and lesbians grew out of the studies in the feministic theory. The Queer theory arise the attention of the studies of gays and lesbians to the social construction of categories of normative and deviant sexual behaviour. It focused in a political critique of anything that falls into normative and deviant categories, particularly sexual activities and identities.
As Annamarie Jagose (1996) stated that Queer is used to be a slang word for homosexuals and was used for homophobic abuse. The term queer has been used as an umbrella term for a coalition of sexual identities that are culturally marginalized, and to create discourse surrounding the budding theoretical model that primarily arose through more traditional gay and lesbian studies. It is also focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire. For most, queer has been remarkable with those who identify as a gay and lesbian. Unknown to many, queer in association with more than just gay and lesbian, but also cross-dressing, hermaphroditism, gender ambiguity and gender-corrective surgery. To LGBT labels “Queer” is often cover term for the people who identified as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex. The term is somehow derogatory depending upon their race, class, personal experiences, and also to their generations. Heterosexuals whose gender or sexuality does not conform to popular expectations have used the term queer to define themselves. It suggests that queer theory is a framework of ideas that the identities are not stable or deterministic, particularly in regards to an individual’s gender, sex, or sexuality. It is committed to critiquing and problematizing previous ways of theorizing identity. While hetero normativity assumes that heterosexuality and the relations of the binary masculine and feminine genders expected within it are secure and constant. Queer theory is a discourse model that destabilizes the assumptions and privileges of secure hetero normative models of study and everyday life and politicizes and acknowledges the fluidity and instability of identities. In Queer theory, Jagose (1996) provides a clear and concise explanation of queer theory, tracing it as a part of an intriguing history of the same sex affection over the last century. She argues that the queer theory’s challenge is to create new ways of thinking, not only about fixed sexual identities such as heterosexual and homosexual. But also about others, supposedly it has essential notions that are considered such as sexuality and gender and even man and woman.
In feminist theory, queer theory is a part of the field of queer studies whose roots can be found in women’s studies as well as the studies for gay and lesbians, post-modern and poststructuralist theories. In the year 1991, the word queer theory as defined by Teresa de Lauretis is to describe a way of thinking that did not use heterosexuality or binary gender constructs as its starting point, but instead argued for a more fluid concept of identity. The works of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler are often considered the founding texts of queer theory. Lauren Berlant, Michael Warner, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick are also major early writers in defining queer theory. The proponents of queer theory argue that it prompts the acceptance and understanding of a more complex reality in which we live. Queer theory provides scholars, activists, and others ways of thinking and talking about identity beyond simple binaries especially in fighting homophobia and Trans phobia, which are unreasoned fear and hatred towards homosexuals and homosexuality, and transsexuals, Tran sexuality, and transgender people, respectively. For example, when doctors perform surgery on intersex infants to select their gender, and GLBTIQ people are the targets of violence. Queer theory has often been used to study transvestitism, drag performance, the disparity between desire and gender, hermaphroditism, and gender identity disorder and gender corrective surgery. However, queer theory can be also be used beyond the realm of gender of sexuality; in particular when studying the politics of racial, ethnic, or class identities, scholars may wish to “queer the subject” by writing about these identities as fluid rather than as rigid or binary subjects.
The Queer theory is just a reaction to a school of 1970’s feministic theory that is believed that each sex comes with its own essential characteristics. The misbeliefs on both men and women. Women are known to be calm and thoughtful, whilst men are spontaneous and passionate. But in the perspectives of feminists, their very focus is that women think men are superior, whereas, women think too much of what men can do or capable about in this world. Women forgot to think of their characteristics and had been focused on and all about men. Feminists want to all women to known, not just in the category of a male and female differences. They think of what can a woman capable to do and what could be their essentials. In this queer theory, the focus will be on the three different storyline of a Filipino movie about gay and lesbians. How their lives turned that way and how did it begin.
II. DISCUSSION
The Die Beautiful is a comedy-drama that explores the journey of a transgender who competes in beauty pageant, Die Beautiful explores the life and death of a transgender Filipino woman. It might not start subtly, opening with home video-like footage of a child playing a beauty queen, then cutting to a dead body being made up to look like Angelina Jolie, however such blatancy doesn’t prevail throughout the film details shows the trouble and achievements of Trisha’s life in flashbacks, while also intertwining the aftermath of her collapse after winning the country’s major gay beauty queen gong, including her post-mortem makeovers. Styled as Lady Gaga as per her last wish, the pageant dreams she spent her life pursuing are given a week-long final hurrah. On her way, Trisha navigates prejudice at home and on the street; bears the brunt of verbal, physical and sexual brutality; struggles with matters of the heart several times over amid a parade of deftly staged pageant sequences that counteract the movie’s more serious, but always earnest, developments. Die Beautiful proves an intimate work, examining Trisha’s many changing roles as well as both the hurt and hope inherent in the wider world in which she strives to find her place.
Most of the story is an amalgamation of the various tropes on the subject of gender and identity that have already been discussed by the film’s past: on empowerment, self- acceptance, and self-love. Yet die beautiful walks bravely on the context of a patriarchal society whose laughter marks pitying tolerance, and whose disgusted eyes are still clouded with prejudice.
Choice is a strong theme on Trisha’s story, who fought her way to be able to make one. She was once emotionally tortured by her close-minded and violent father. Her non-confrontational sister becomes a representation of everything that renders this society frustratingly stagnant from progressing, as she lets terrible things happen as they are. Then we see Trisha’s friends, especially Bables’ affecting portrayal as Trisha’s best friend who makes her realize that family is equally recognized by choice.
There is an important scene right at the middle that turns everything around for this dark comedy. Lana features a powerful exchange between Trisha and Barbs. Trisha wondered that she was not forced to do things, nor was she prevented from walking away. She knew she had a choice; but she wonders why she felt powerless.
Empowerment precedes choice, as further discussion proves in its tackling of both gender and body politics. Trisha acknowledges that her body is her own, and playfully tells that she could improve what was given to her. And as time will tell, her body, which she adorned with all the fascinating clothes and make-up, represents her own eventual empowerment. Her body is an expression of her power to choose, of her liberation from the norms that bound and tortured her. It is the only thing she can call truly her own, despite everything.
The “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa”, a film by Alvin Yapan, embraces art, poetry and dance and focuses on the feminist agenda. It tests the viewers to fully understand the context of different poems from Merlinda Bobis, Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, Joi Barros, Rebecca Anonuevo, Ophelia Dimalanta and Benilda Santos which all centre on feminism. The movie takes a different form as it was used by Yapan to extend his academic instruction using film, the scope of which is literature, music and dance. The way how the film delivers its message works, despite the use of peculiar mediums such as poetry. The first few minutes has good dialogues, verses, music and dance that strengthens the film. It was edited according to the narration of the film’s protagonist.
The use of feminist poetry by Alvin Yapan was revolutionary since the focus of Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Paa is of feminism. While the film hints homosexual longing, it also envisions romance as absolved from different views of gender and sexual preference. Love was treated to be free and free of labels. Marlon longs for Karen, notwithstanding the difference in age and position. Dennis longs for Marlon, notwithstanding the difference in sexual preference. Even if the poems used were of feminism, they were expanded and were not taken literally. The poems encompasses the emotions of two male characters. The final image of Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, despite its mastered choreography of dance and use of feminist poetry, will doubtlessly result in complaints. Somehow, it was expected to be like other gay-themed or homosexual films whose screenplay is more obvious unlike the hidden story in this film. The final scene in the film should be upgraded since it might be taken too literal and so not to waste the use of literature to enrich the story between the three leads. A tear is not just an object of sadness or despair, love or admiration. It is also an object that neutralizes all labels present in our society and communicates the freedom of expression and one’s capacity to express without hindrance.
According to Nuechterlein (2002) based on Literary critic René Girard argues that desire for a certain object is always provoked by the desire of another person for this same object. In the film, the object is Karen. Although Dennis does not romantically desire Karen, Marlon desires Dennis’ closeness to her, so he uses him as a mediator so that he, too, will be as close to Karen. Through the object, one is drawn to the mediator. In fact, it is the mediator who is sought all along. It is only in the final performance of the play, as Humadapnon and Sunmasakay are locked in a final embrace, where Marlon would acknowledge his true feelings for Dennis, signified by that enigmatic teardrop that only Dennis can see. And that teardrop indeed is a waterfall. It would convey a message better than any word could.
It is not at all surprising that feminist writing is closely tied with queer discourses since they share the same goal: to challenge the traditional patriarchal social system that dominates the world. In fact, feminist research is the wellspring of all gender studies today, including queer and masculinity studies. That is the reason why the gender concept has been traditionally linked to women’s issues, and why it is not a stretch to come up with a queer reading of most works of feminist writers.
The film is not without its flaws. There are some scenes that feel a tad false, such as Karen’s dressing down of Marlon in front of everyone. It would be more realistic if she talked to him in private: Marlon would still feel betrayed, the cotillion argument between Marlon and Dennis, the poetry reading in the car, and the gossiping students under the tree. But these are mere quibbles if set against the film’s many virtues: its unique story, a sensitive direction and excellent technical support particularly its music, photography, and editing, and the commendable performances of the three main actors.
Lastly, applying Queer theory to Markova or also known as the Comfort Gay, it shows how one individual is in his normalness in the society, in such a way that the expectations of the people on how its gender role acts upon the society. The normalness in which he/she has to act according to his/her masculinity and femininity. Throughout the movie, it represents the misidentification of a gender and how he lived as a gay. In his family, only his brother did not want him to act as what he wants, but the rest of his family members allowed him. That the reason why he continues to be a gay. There is also stereotyping happened in the movie in which the television host believes that Walterina is a woman and not a man. There’s a feminine side in a male’s perspective or life, that’s why Walter chooses to dress, make up, and act like a woman because he thinks that’s the way his body should be. The way he was treated by his gender choice, was not exactly he wanted. He had been treated and felt the pain, from his elder brother and the Japanese soldiers thought they were women through words that cannot forget and how it was painful that his ego had been stepped out, the physical pain he felt in their hands while doing what he wanted. The queerness in the movie shows how the society is being shaped up because of stereotyping and being unknown to the society. Just like the Markova, it shows in the story the political views on how they appeared during the World War II. How the world is messed up and maybe the reason the word queer appears. That the meaning of queer in the Queer theory is the word confuse or mess. It seems it was the fall of everything in that time, from the war happened up to the views of the individual. The strong belief of the society that third sex is quite unacceptable is because of the feminists who examined that all lesbians and gays were just created because of how one act by his view on his life, while the one who examines is a female who does not know how lesbians and gays were felt. That is why you can only understand the relationship between the people of the gender if you understand the difference relation of women and men. The movies definitely illustrates the problems with sexual identity and sexuality. It mostly tells about how homosexuals interact with each other in term of sexual intercourse which is most probably the main reason why the norms in the society are against the act of homosexuals.
III. CONCLUSION
The Queer theory explores not only the sexuality of a person but also the power and marginalized populations in the culture and even in literature. It studies the cultural definitions of sexuality and how it applies onto different cultures. In other way, it simply shows the reality that observed how male or female treated in the society. It also seeks about the breaking down the norms and question status quo. The culture navigates that through Queer theory it changes the form, structure, and performances to the one’s performance. The Queer theory shows what is real and that the world is not perfect may it seems. It has to be something different should be existing in the world and that shows Queer theory as a different view for the feminists. It did expound the feministic theory by refusing that sexuality and gender identity is believed to be in essentialist category determined in by biology that can be judged by fixed standards of morality and the truth. Up until now, queerness can be confusing just like the word itself but it does identify the problem of a third sex or is now called LBGT how it will affect the norms of the society and the act of one individuals that will shape the culture of their own.
Therefore, it is important to understand that Queer theory is not predominantly about analysing the binary of the homosexual and heterosexual. There is an abundance of identities in which Queer theory not only recognizes but also breaks down in relation to other contributing factors like race, class, religion, and other aspects that would affect the belief of a person to their prefer gender.
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