Under the Fantasy of Sovereignty: Homonormativity, Relationality and the Potentialities of Queer Sex

Authors

  • Caitlin Gladney-Hatcher University of Toronto Women and Gender Studies Institute

Keywords:

Sovereignty, Queer Theory, Homonormativity, Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Abstract
Working with queer, affect, and psychoanalytic theories, this paper conceptualizes sovereignty as an ideal that psychically structures interpersonal relationships as well as individuals’ interactions with institutions. It explores the extent to which homonormativity upholds the ideal of sovereignty in ways that delimit possibilities for relationality and social transformation. It also examines how queerness and queer sex more specifically become sites of resistance which threaten to undo and expose the fantasy of the sovereign self.  

Résumé
À l’aide de la théorie queer, de la théorie des affects et de la théorie psychanalytique, cet article présente la souveraineté comme un idéal qui structure de façon psychique les relations interpersonnelles ainsi que les interactions des individus avec les institutions. Il explore la portée selon laquelle l’homonormativité maintient l’idéal de la souveraineté de façons qui délimitent les possibilités de relations et de transformations sociales. Il examine aussi comment l’état queer et la sexualité queer, plus spécifiquement, deviennent des sites de résistance qui menacent de défaire et d’exposer le fantasme du soi souverain.

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Author Biography

Caitlin Gladney-Hatcher, University of Toronto Women and Gender Studies Institute

After completing an Honours B.A. at the University of Toronto in Women and Gender Studies and Equity Studies (2007-2011), Caitlin returned to U of T to work with the brilliant faculty, staff, and fellow M.A. students at the WGSI. In 2012-2013, she worked to complete an M.A. in collaboration with the Sexual Diversity Studies Program.

References

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Published

2015-09-30

Issue

Vol. 37 No. 1 (2015): Intimacies/Affect and Transgressing Borders/Boundaries: Gendering Space and Place

Section

37.1- Intimacies/Affect

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