Critical Response

Week 6

Nadja Dixon

                This week I was encouraged to consider the true and painful realities of identifying as queer. Sedgwick in the “Epistemology of the Closet” brought to light the idea that coming out of the closet isn’t as easy as I had imagined. I would have believed that coming out would be so liberating that I would want to do so immediately. What I had failed to consider was the comfort with which people find in their secrecy. This idea isn’t as farfetched as I might think, though, for I have often hid within myself and my closet, withholding information to remain safe and cozy. I want to encourage people to be more authentically themselves. I watched Ellen Paige’s public coming out speech, and it moved me greatly. This time in our society’s life is about transforming ideas and evolving beyond that which we believed to be true. I want to come out of my closets in all my queerness, and be the strength for others who cannot yet do so themselves.

The video I found yet again addresses this concept. In this video, a 9 year old transgender is open and public about her transformation and struggle. Her parents are luckily very supportive, which allows her to be as true to herself and her feelings as possible. After I watched this video I found so many others on the same exact topic. There are children around the nation who are openly being themselves. I have had a common theme throughout this course, stating that it will be up to us to inform and educate our newer generation on queer issues. What I have come to learn this week, though, is that it may very well be the children in this new generation who inform and educate us. It seems as if it will be up to the older generation to alter their perspective and accept the new, as the newer generation is already moving towards communal harmony. This is amazing!!