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Beyond Tolerance: Heteronormativity and Queer Theory

Kavanagh, Declan (2016) Beyond Tolerance: Heteronormativity and Queer Theory. Maynooth Philosophical Papers: An Anthology of Current Research from the Department of Philosophy, NUI Maynooth, (8). pp. 73-82. ISSN 2009-7743. E-ISSN 2009-7751. (KAR id:58317)

Abstract

ABSTRACT:

The recent widespread transformation in the conjugal rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people across much of the globe may seem to suggest that, at long last, the history of heterosexism has reached its terminus. In Ireland, the Equal Marriage Referendum in May 2015 offered the opportunity for the citizens of the Republic to extend the same rights, permissions, and privileges to same-sex couples that married heterosexual couples freely enjoy. The passing of that referendum and the extension of these rights to same-sex couples denotes a move beyond societal toleration toward societal acceptance, yet it remains to be seen whether or not the affordance of conjugal rights to LGBT people will necessarily mean that all queer subjects will be given the same acceptance.

This article examines equal marriage and its potential engendering of binary divisions between queer subjects who adhere to the logic of cultural heteronormativity and those who transgress its structuring forces. It aims to historicise the discourse that surrounds gay marriage by tracing these debates back to the Enlightenment's production of the companionate marriage. The works of Edmund Burke, his aesthetic writings and political speeches, provide the textual basis for an examination of 'normative desire' in the eighteenth century. The article contends that assessing the eighteenth century's regime of heteronormativity will allow us to see the provisional nature of our own heterosexist cultural formations.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BH Aesthetics
D History General and Old World
D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
P Language and Literature
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
Depositing User: Declan Kavanagh
Date Deposited: 01 Nov 2016 19:13 UTC
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2021 15:28 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/58317 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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