I’m A... Queer Person Of Colour?

We were asked..What do the terms “Queer,” “of Colour,” and “Critique” do to each other in Johnson’s 2001 article and in the film (Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years)? If you haven’t gotten by now I’m currently attending University Of Toronto to finish my degree in Sexual Diversity and Gender studies. Why you might ask? Because a few months ago I suddenly had this epiphany that I want to be become a physician. A doctor. Specializing in Transgender Healthcare. BUT this post isn’t about my personal life. So before I rant about feeling like a ‘Non-Binary-Harry-Potter-meets-Elle-Woods’ here is my first “brief” essay in 7 years..

“Queer”, “of Colour”...“Critique”?

When proposing the functional nature of different social categories things can often become confusing. As Johnson’s 2001 article articulates, should their not be made a distinction between theory and practice? Personally, I hold a slight excitement to the reliability of “Queer of Colour Critique”. Dissection of this title is one thing, but the film is another. Though my personality typically gravitates towards the contradictions of life. I will explain in this brief essay how regardless of the tensions and possibilities of putting these categories together, the confusion (though defined as a lack of understanding) provides a new understanding for empathy.

What Johnson understands as “Queer” and what the film understands as “Queer” are different. Johnson’s article provides multiple perspectives and explores the discursive versus the material. The film explores Audre Lorde’s Intersectionality. In discussing perspective, both the article and the film share view points in what Linda Semple would call Political Inclusivity (Johnson 2001). What the article does better..is expand on the “Critique” of other Queer theorists. Such as Michael Warner’s “..more of a matter of aspiration” (Johnson 2001). Or Clara Anzaldua’s “..erases our differences”(Johnson 2001). As mentioned in the class, tensions exist but what is “Queer” ultimately achieving?

As there exists to be tensions between the two mediums, the possibilities are also put into challenge. To “Critique” Queer people of colour and as a person of colour things become more than confusing. Seeing positive possibilities when discussing “..racialized sexual knowledge” (Johnson 2001) might require ones ability for empathy. In order for us to empathize with other racial groups doesn’t it become necessary to comprehend texts like Johnson? Through his article or see value in the film? Understand where things are “historically situated” (Johnson 2001)?

Empathy is probably a personal goal of mine. To become someone as aware of Intersectionality as Audre Lorde, is a challenge for myself. Particularly easy to empathize with other material bodies other than my own? Maybe I’m experiencing a moment of “self-reflexivity” (Johnson 2001) Maybe it is natural for us to “Critique” ourselves on a daily basis. My struggle to empathize not just with others but with myself, leads for other underanswered tensions. Separated “Queer of Colour Critique” as stated with a few examples, provide a commentary for empathy.

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Concluding, I began this essay with “...functional nature..” for a reason. Before attending this semester I worked in the industry of fashion design. If I learned anything it was understanding the design of cultures. Culture whether racial, sexual, economical, I think can be designed. Possibly, thinking of “Queer” as design offers this aspiration Warner sees, but the practice Johnson expresses. Designing with function and practice in mind. Are different social categories cultures? In fear of this essay being too anecdotal in nature, the “Theory of Disidentification” by Munoz (Johnson 2001) could be considered a design tool for new cultures. As a Chinese born Canadian or CBC as they call it, I’ve had to design my own survival tactics. Definitely, Empathy is one of them.