ABSTRACT
Writing in the midst of AIDS activism, Cathy Cohen (Reading 37) outlines a queer of color standpoint, arguing that queer politics can become the basis of an “encompassing challenge to systems of domination and oppression, especially the normalizing process of heteronormativity.” But that potential has not yet been realized because queer theory has lacked an intersectional framework. She argues that a “transformational” queer politics would not seek integration into dominant institutions but would pursue “change to the values, definitions, and laws which make these institutions oppressive.” Drawing on the writings of Black feminists, she articulates a queer of color theory that recognizes the “multiplicity and interconnectedness of our identities.” It is this, she argues, that “provides the most promising avenue for the destabilization and radical politicization of these same categories” (Reading 37). Furthermore, she argues that an intersectional lens enables us to see that heterosexuality is not a homogenous formation. Instead, pointing to the regulatory apparatus designed to contain the sexuality of poor heterosexual women of color, she notes that heterosexuality is hierarchically organized by class and race. This observation opens the grounds for more creative coalitions to oppose systems of sexual and gender oppression. The last reading in this subsection (Reading 38) is a poem by Cherríe Moraga, the editor along with Gloria Anzaldúa of This Bridge Called My Back. In this poem, Moraga uses the imagery of welding, of heat and melting metal, to describe the effort to “blend” “common elements to make a common thing.” The poem’s imagery evokes the difficult work required to build standpoints from which to act in concert with others. It evokes the passion required to build identity-based coalitions, to build “structures that can support us/without fear/of trembling.” And, in laying claim to the torch, a symbol of the welder’s work but also of social justice movements, she reiterates that coalition is not about losing one’s self but about “taking power” into one’s own hands.
