Kara's Gender Hat
Kara - rainbow crown
(Cuban American; sophomore, Anthropology major; age 20)
1. Her sexuality consists of all the different desires she has and views she has of her body and herself. “It’s more than just two, or more (laughs) people hooking up - your sexuality can be expressed in any and all forms and forums.”
2. She has had trouble with this lately, but she thinks that she feels most comfortable labeling herself queer. “At first I felt that a label might simply put me into another pre-determined, static gender category, but I find the term queer oddly satisfying.”
3. Dyke/Homo/Queer - “Obviously I like to say things that people do not expect. If I can make them uncomfortable, them all the better.” She wanted to incorporate some common derogatory slang for non-heterosexuals. “I think that by re-envisioning and using these terms in a good light, we can erode some of the hurtfulness of them.”
Bio-illogical - Because she feels that traditional heterosexist conceptions of sexuality used biological and reproductive justifications for limiting discussions of sexuality, she enjoys the fact that she can actively resist the notion that sex is a purely biological, reproductive function. “It is more than that.”
Breast/Ass/Cooter - “All parts that I like.” She thinks cooter is a “funny word.”
Devil/Rowdy/Fantasy/Threesomes/Are You Experienced? - She explains that she is fairly shameless and is not afraid to talk about her love of sex and sexuality. “I think that by discussing it more we can break down the fear surrounding all kinds of sexualities.”
My Impressions
Kara is proactive in trying to change stereotypes about people who do not fit into traditional heterosexual identity. She feels that by describing and carrying herself in a more liberating manner, and she will then be able to physically embody resistance to stereotyping and heterosexism. Kara also seems to support forcing people to confront their own ideas of sexuality and gender identity. By using terms and images that might be disturbing to the typical heterosexist American, Kara might be able to lessen the taboo surrounding sex and sexuality, and hopefully, eventually opening up discussions of different expressions of sexuality.
In trying to determine any themes among the gender hats, I felt myself hesitant to draw any formal conclusions because they almost demand that I essentialize the four very different experiences that I have observed. Overall, there seems to be a fairly high awareness of the complexity of trying to ascribe certain labels and stereotypes to certain types of sexual expression. Heterosexist dichotomies of sex/gender, biology/culture, and gay/straight are obviously very prevalent, even among people who demonstrate an understanding of the exclusionary practices of labeling and categorizing sexualities. This highlights the difficulty in trying to break out of a dominant social philosophy like heterosexism. Is it impossible to ever truly reformulate your vocabulary and the way you interact in the world in a non-heterosexist manner? The final goal is so completely beyond the imagination of society that it seems impossible to cross that gap. Of course a transformation would be gradual, but in modern society, where many are aware of the problem of sex/gender dualism, what is that necessary next step after consciousness of the problem? How can I move beyond simply being aware of the downfalls of trying to categorize different sexualities and put it into practice? Completely modifying your vocabulary seems very unpractical for communication in such a fast-paced society. If I change too radically, I run the risk of shoving myself into the margins even more, now with absolutely no one to listen to me. To affect any change, it appears necessary to forfeit some ground, if not only for the purpose of maintaining effective communication. I started this project with the problem of trying to navigate the dating scene without sex/gender labels, but truly this problem extends into all of society in trying to affect change in society while still remaining loyal to the rejection of categorization and dualistic gender identities.