The Sociology Book

331

“Queer” interpretations have now

been given to many films. In Alien

Resurrection, Ellen Ripley—part

human, part alien—has a potentially

erotic liaison with a female android.

Barnard contends that queer
theory has created a whitewashed,
Western version of “queer” that
ignores race. British historian
Jeffrey Weeks has accused it of
ignoring the material constraints,
such as a lack of money, that mean
the decision to be transgressive is
not available to all. It could, then,
be argued that queer theory has
become a white, middle-class, gay
male position.
Queer theory also claimed to be
the first social theory to challenge
the sex/gender distinction. But
as British sociologist Diane
Richardson points out, this claim is
exaggerated: radical feminists such
as Christine Delphy, author of The
Main Enemy (1970), had begun this
task as early as the 1970s.
Despite such criticisms, queer
theory has influenced a range of
academic areas, particularly in
studies of masculinity. For example,
the work of US academic Judith
Halberstam has been lent a “queer”
bent by arguing that if we want
to understand masculinity it is
important to consider marginalized
or subordinate forms such as
female masculinity. Seidman
contends that a queer theory

approach also yields a great

deal when applied to novels and

films. He argues that the goal of

contemporary literary criticism has

been to deconstruct the binaries

present in much literature—and

“queer” makes this possible.

For those whose sexualities are

marginalized and who often find

that their representations are

limited, a “queer” reading that

reinterprets the narrative opens

up possibilities that the author or

creator may not have foreseen—for

example: Conan Doyle’s Sherlock

Holmes novels can suggest a

FAMILIES AND INTIMACIES

romantic friendship between

Holmes and Watson; the cross-

dressing in Shakespeare’s plays

can also be given a “queer”

interpretation; and films in the

Alien series are open to a new twist

on the “predatory female” trope.

“Queer” has also filtered into TV

shows such as the US reality series

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. ■

Female masculinity

Judith (“Jack”) Halberstam argues

that masculinity can exist without

men, and challenges the ways

in which “masculine” females,

such as tomboys, are denigrated.

Femaleness does not necessarily

produce femininity; maleness does

not always lead to masculinity.

This idea poses a fundamental

challenge to the gender/sex

distinction whereby socially

constructed gender (masculinity)

is perceived as the natural

expression of biological sex (man).

Halberstam, whose work is

understood as “queer,” argues

that there has been a tendency

to lump all gender-“queer”

women under the umbrella term

lesbian; but words like “lesbian”

and “gay” are not sufficient

to explain the broad array

of erotic activity that is not

conventionally heterosexual.

Female maleness becomes a

gender rather than an imitation.

“Drag kings” (women who

dress as men) highlight the

ways in which male masculinity

is not based on an authentic

essence but is produced through

repeated everyday actions.

US drag king Murray Hill (shown

here) is described by Halberstam

as “transforming masculinity and

exposing its theatricality.”