Halberstam CR~Sean

Judith “Jack” Halberstam’s text (Halberstam, 2011) creates a certain level of accessibility into understanding queer theory for both academic and non-academic readers alike. The author takes on ideas that have evolved from many decades of theory by people with names like Foucault, Butler, and Sedgwick. In what can be considered “dumbing down” some extremely complicated theory, Halberstam introduces the notion of low theory and relates the material to that of popular media. Remarkably, Halberstam has selected media metaphors that do not rely on the reader having viewed the material.

            Through reading this text, I can now understand what the more challenging readings were truly about. They were all about failure and to be more precise, they were about queer failure. Over the course of the semester we have learned that anything that resists the hegemony of accepted states of being, are essentially queer. The art of failing and being queer can be understood to be synonymous to one another because they each rebel against the heteronormative forces that be. To drive that point across using media aimed at children is in my humble opinion, queer genius.

            The genius of using animated films works naturally within the given contexts because one of the main fears that heteronormative society has is that “the children will be tainted” by knowledge of things that are not “normal”.  The ironic part is that many parents stick their children in front of a DVD on repeat and tune out while their children are being acclimated to a multitude of consciousness that escapes the minds of people who are shut off to queerness.

           

Reference

Halberstam, J. (2011). The Queer Art of Failure. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.