ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how shame produces shamed subjectivities, however it is an aspect of the dynamism of shame that it also can produce a reactive, new self to form that has a liberatory energy. Shame is fundamental to the originary myth of Judeo-Christian societies, as Adam and Eve were shamefully expelled from Eden to discover their fallen humanity, in the world. Shame is personified as a weapon that cleaves asunder, that renders and splits the self from itself, and all others. Shame is a kind of imperative to the emergent self. Shame turns the attention of the self and others away from other objects to this most visible residence of the self, increases its visibility, and thereby generates the torment of self-consciousness. Queer As Folk was a huge hit with gay, lesbian, and straight women audiences; it functioned as a popular crossover text carrying complex enjoyment to some diverse viewing positions.
