[lbo-talk] Incommensurability, phooey (Was Re: Michelangelo , . . . .)

[bitch at pulpculture.org]

hee. that i felt the need to say "I'm bisexual.. but..." is an excellent 
example of what Miles means. I wrote Miles offlist to say that I was busy, 
but I agreed with him, so sorry i couldn't jump in. but, my point here is 
that i felt the need to ID myself as a member of a social category -- 
gay/queer/whatEV. but i said that in order ot indicate that i don't agree 
with others of my social category -- gay/queers/whatEV. this is because of 
what Miles is talking about. gayness/queerness has not only to do with 
behavior, but with a social category that, as Carrol notes, is an identity, 
not just having to do with behavior, but with ideas. In this case, I say 
"I'm bi... but". This implies that we belong to a social category and that 
we have some unified mind or, more likely, that there is some notion that 
we do and therefore, if you disagree with the prevailing sentiment (what 
it's perceived to be) then you have to say, "i'm bisexual... but..."

my various posts on the topic always get back to hegel's master/slave 
dialectic and the dominant epistemological paradigms that have shaped 
modern political thought and social movements. IOW, identity politics.

alas, an answer to anyone, as well as an answer to brian's great reply to 
me will have to wait til after labor day. or maybe i'll have time after we 
move. who knows?!
k

offlist, to miles, I wrote, in part:

"i'm bi, and it's hard enough dealing with gay and straights who don't get 
that, but...."

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

Bitch | Lab
http://blog.pulpculture.org (NSFW)