I'm not sure where this particular idea appears in Sedgwick, but I would
imagine that it is not expressed or intended in as reductive a way as you
note. To me, it resonates with the generally propensity of queer theories
to challenge sexuality as a stable identity and to refuse to reduce
sexuality to the gender of the choice of sexual object. By putting emphasis
back on the actions themselves and cutting across the constructed
identities of straight, gay, bi, etc., we can perhaps better grasp desire's
fluidity and remove it from a heteronormative or reproductive teleology.
Best,
RSP
On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 1:52 PM, Nathaniel Roberts <npr4@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> "...individuals who practice similar sorts of sex acts have more in common
> with one another than those who happen to be of the same gender."
>
> Really? Taken literally this seems to be saying that: 1) straight men who
> perform cunnilingus have more in common with lesbian women who do the same
> than they have with straight and gay men who don't, 2) straight women who
> perform fellatio have more in common with gay men who do so than with
> straight women who don't, 3) straight men who like to fuck their
> girlfriends up the ass have more in common with gay men who fuck other men.
>
> This sounds pretty reductive to me. But surely Sedgwick must have something
> else in mind, no?
>
> Nate
>
> > > From: princeptiffany@xxxxxxxxxx
> > > To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 16:37:19 +0100
> > > Subject: [Foucault-L] Need reference: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi everyone,
> > > In "Revisiting Bodies and Pleasures", Judith Butler claims :
> > > "Queer theorist Eve
> > > Sedgwick suggests that it may be individuals who practice similar sorts
> > of sex
> > > acts have more in common with one another than those who happen to be
> of
> > the
> > > same gender. In this way, sexual alliances that cut across gender
> appear
> > to take the place of
> > > gender-based solidarities, and queer activism, though indebted to
> > feminism,
> > > takes its distances from feminism through this formulation that
> Foucault
> > in
> > > part inspired."(Theory, Culture, Society, avril 1999, 16 (2): 11-20,
> URL
> > <http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/16/2/11>)
> > > I guess Sedgwick's statement is hiding in her Epistemology of the
> > closet, but I'm struggling to find the relevant passage.
> > > Is someone aware of such a passage ?
> > > Thank you in advance,
> > > Tiffany P.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Foucault-L mailing list
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Foucault-L mailing list
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Nathaniel Roberts<
> http://www.mmg.mpg.de/departments/religious-diversity/scientific-staff/dr-nathaniel-roberts/
> >
> Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
> Herman-Föge-Weg 11
> 37073 Göttingen
> Germany
> +49 (0) 551-4956-0
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
imagine that it is not expressed or intended in as reductive a way as you
note. To me, it resonates with the generally propensity of queer theories
to challenge sexuality as a stable identity and to refuse to reduce
sexuality to the gender of the choice of sexual object. By putting emphasis
back on the actions themselves and cutting across the constructed
identities of straight, gay, bi, etc., we can perhaps better grasp desire's
fluidity and remove it from a heteronormative or reproductive teleology.
Best,
RSP
On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 1:52 PM, Nathaniel Roberts <npr4@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> "...individuals who practice similar sorts of sex acts have more in common
> with one another than those who happen to be of the same gender."
>
> Really? Taken literally this seems to be saying that: 1) straight men who
> perform cunnilingus have more in common with lesbian women who do the same
> than they have with straight and gay men who don't, 2) straight women who
> perform fellatio have more in common with gay men who do so than with
> straight women who don't, 3) straight men who like to fuck their
> girlfriends up the ass have more in common with gay men who fuck other men.
>
> This sounds pretty reductive to me. But surely Sedgwick must have something
> else in mind, no?
>
> Nate
>
> > > From: princeptiffany@xxxxxxxxxx
> > > To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 16:37:19 +0100
> > > Subject: [Foucault-L] Need reference: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi everyone,
> > > In "Revisiting Bodies and Pleasures", Judith Butler claims :
> > > "Queer theorist Eve
> > > Sedgwick suggests that it may be individuals who practice similar sorts
> > of sex
> > > acts have more in common with one another than those who happen to be
> of
> > the
> > > same gender. In this way, sexual alliances that cut across gender
> appear
> > to take the place of
> > > gender-based solidarities, and queer activism, though indebted to
> > feminism,
> > > takes its distances from feminism through this formulation that
> Foucault
> > in
> > > part inspired."(Theory, Culture, Society, avril 1999, 16 (2): 11-20,
> URL
> > <http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/16/2/11>)
> > > I guess Sedgwick's statement is hiding in her Epistemology of the
> > closet, but I'm struggling to find the relevant passage.
> > > Is someone aware of such a passage ?
> > > Thank you in advance,
> > > Tiffany P.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Foucault-L mailing list
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Foucault-L mailing list
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Nathaniel Roberts<
> http://www.mmg.mpg.de/departments/religious-diversity/scientific-staff/dr-nathaniel-roberts/
> >
> Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
> Herman-Föge-Weg 11
> 37073 Göttingen
> Germany
> +49 (0) 551-4956-0
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list