Striving to Be Queer
Striving to Be Queer
Challenging Inequality from Positions of Privilege
This chapter presents the author's account of how he is challenging inequalities from the position of privilege that he occupies as a White, heterosexual male. He argues that that privilege obligates people to consciously struggle to take action against sexism and other forms of oppression because their silence is complicity. His analysis is relevant not only to White heterosexual men, but to all people who occupy any position of privilege. Straight academics should “strive to be queer” by undermining heteronormative ideas and confronting homophobia in their teaching, research, and activism. Whites must combat racism, and men must battle sexism. For the author, “striving to be queer” is about recognizing privilege while simultaneously undermining the categories and assumptions that buttress privilege and oppression. More than an identity, it is taking action against injustice when others turn away from it.
Keywords: inequality, white males, heterosexual men, queer, racism, sexism, injustice
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