As I sat in DMAC today and discussed the idea of identity and gender performance with Cheryl Ball, she mentioned a book chapter that she had recently read by Michelle Gibson, Martha Marinara, and Deborah Meem entitled "Bi, Butch, Bar Dyke: Pedagogical Performance of Class, Gender, and Sexuality." This was an article I couldn't wait to read, so I secured a copy for tonight's blog post. While technology is something that gets my heart pumping, issues of identity, gender, sexuality, and the performance of these things is another topic I find VERY interesting.
I thought I would read the entire article for tonight's post, but after reading the brief introduction,and realizing that each section was written by one author and basically related their experiences and narratives on the subject, I have decided I will deal with them individually. After the introduction, tonight's section was the Bi narrative by Martha Marinara. My head is still reeling from just this one section.
Marinara discusses her position as a bisexual, working class female, who has entered the academy as a professional: a position I'm not totally unfamiliar with. She argues that we see identity primarily in terms of binaries. We can be either working class or professional, we can be either straight or homorsexual, we can be either man or woman (although Marinara does not mention this). But the point is that we see things as black or white. As Marinara point out, "most lesbian and working-class autobiographies, rather than defying the fixity of identity, merely redraw the boundaries and serve to categorize individual subjects as different from those defined as 'straight' and 'professional'" (538). It may not be the "normal" binaries we are use to, but they are still binaries. The fact is, however, that identity is sooooo much more than black and white. I, like Marinara, see myself as a working class individual in a professional world. That can be a tough position to be in. Marinara is also both straight and lesbian, and that certainly does not fit the "universals" that we live by.
The fact is, I underlined, noted, and set off by parenthesis so much of what I read in these few pages, that it is mind numbing. The gist, though, is that identity is ever shifting. Marinara's narratives are interesting and thought provoking and I can't wait to finish the rest of the article.
I thought I would read the entire article for tonight's post, but after reading the brief introduction,and realizing that each section was written by one author and basically related their experiences and narratives on the subject, I have decided I will deal with them individually. After the introduction, tonight's section was the Bi narrative by Martha Marinara. My head is still reeling from just this one section.
Marinara discusses her position as a bisexual, working class female, who has entered the academy as a professional: a position I'm not totally unfamiliar with. She argues that we see identity primarily in terms of binaries. We can be either working class or professional, we can be either straight or homorsexual, we can be either man or woman (although Marinara does not mention this). But the point is that we see things as black or white. As Marinara point out, "most lesbian and working-class autobiographies, rather than defying the fixity of identity, merely redraw the boundaries and serve to categorize individual subjects as different from those defined as 'straight' and 'professional'" (538). It may not be the "normal" binaries we are use to, but they are still binaries. The fact is, however, that identity is sooooo much more than black and white. I, like Marinara, see myself as a working class individual in a professional world. That can be a tough position to be in. Marinara is also both straight and lesbian, and that certainly does not fit the "universals" that we live by.
The fact is, I underlined, noted, and set off by parenthesis so much of what I read in these few pages, that it is mind numbing. The gist, though, is that identity is ever shifting. Marinara's narratives are interesting and thought provoking and I can't wait to finish the rest of the article.
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