[lbo-talk] Shuttle. Click

[Rotating Bitch]

At 01:48 PM 11/18/2005, Doug Henwood wrote:
>Rotating Bitch wrote:
>
>>Feedback -- real feedback -- might mean reading the whole thing yanno?
>>
>>http://blog.pulpculture.org/2005/11/18/shuttle-click/
>
>Hey, I like that.
>
>You say:
>
>>Well, when you find a quote by someone who advocates the practice, then 
>>maybe we can talk about it some more. I suspect you're misreading them 
>>and pulling what they say out of a larger context. As far as I know, no 
>>one has said that by taking back the word Queer, heterosexism will stop. 
>>What they are usually advocating is what I'd call is a form of play. I'd 
>>say it hails from a long tradition of mocking the oppressors.
>
>I suspect some our more serious types would have a problem with the word 
>"play," like the old Leninist who criticized my post-Seattle enthusiasm 
>because what I was celebrating was "carnival, not politics." Play sounds 
>childish, simple, and pleasurable. Not at all the business of grim 
>professional revolutionaries. But the play you're talking about creates 
>solidarity and changes self-images. By reclaiming the insult, you're 
>turning introjected hatred into a defiant pride. And "bitch" is a great 
>word to do that with.
>
>Doug

Thanks. You know what I was thinking as I was writing that? It would be an 
interesting thing to explore via Foucauldian theory. (I think, the F'ers 
can correct me or enlighten me.)

1. Foucault talks about repressive power.
2. Resistance often took the form of imitating people in power.
3. Foucault talks about how, when there was a King, you knew who was in 
power. It might ahbve been a really cruel, repressive power -- guts and 
gore for the punishment.
4. Then Foucault says that we got rid of the King and replaced it with a 
normative power.

5. Not surprising, our resistance doesn't take the form of mocking people 
in power as much as it once did. It doesn't take the form of donning the 
costume and postures of those in power. Rather, it takes the form of 
examining how those norms are created, etc. etc.

That's a bit too superficial, but I hope I've gotten across the basic gist.

Has anyone ever looked at social movements to ask how predominant forms of 
resistance expemplify F's claims? And, of course, maybe they don't. There 
is some forms of taking on the costume of the other and mocking it, 
"Billionaires for Bush". But what else?

W're here, we're queer, get used to it.  That's taking the deviant, Queer, 
and wearing it. Taking back the power of that word when it's hurled. 
Because that's where power predominantly is for us these days, no?

sorry for overpost. just curious.

Now, bitch has to get to work! I'm hoping Doyle will shell out a grant for 
$20k a year so I can study refuge.

http://blog.pulpculture.org/2005/11/18/shuttle-click/

"You know how it is -- come for the animal porn,
stay for the cultural analysis."

Bitch | Lab
http://blog.pulpculture.org