The Power of A Definition

As we've read the various assigned essays and books these past few weeks, there has been a common thread throughout them all - the power of a definition. Something that I took away from this week's reading was the power that the lack of information about a definition can have on altering one's perspective on a term or identity. We were assigned to read a volume 16 from the journal titled "GLQ: A Journal Of Lesbian And Gay Studies." In this volume there was a lot of talk about how queer studies and Native studies were very similar because of the response of fear garnered from the largely heteronormative, white, patriarchal society we Americans inhabit. There is a fear associated with both of these terms because they largely comprise a community that is unknown to the heternormative society in the U.S. There have been negative connotations associated with the word "queer" and most people outside of the social sciences and Native American culture have little to no knowledge about what a two-spirit identity means. I believe that even when a definition of the two terms is provided, there is a larger fear associated with them because there is certainty that they do not encompass your "average" American. They encompass all of those who have been "othered" and who have felt push back, discrimination, and hate from the society they have been forced into or born into.

Along with this week's reading about two-spirit and queer identity, there was a lot of body talk by the feminist and fat activist Vergie Tovar. Immediately what stood out to me from Vergie Tovar's radio interview was her use of the word "fat" and how she was able to change the definition of fat for me in just 70 minutes. Much like the word "queer" (before taking WGSS/QS courses), "fat" has always had a negative connotation to it. It was a word used to put people down and force the feeling of shame upon them. Tovar was able to turn this word around however, and use it as a word to unite her and other women in a way that is not very present in our society. She was able to use her fat identity to reach an audience that is often voiceless, and was able to make a space for herself and other fat identifying women.

Another part of Tovar's radio interview that resonated with me, was her talk about creating space for queer women of color. She mentions one of her professors at UC Davis and how that professor was the first queer woman of color in her life to ever take up her rightful space. She used her platform as a professor to speak to all of the other queer women of color in her class, giving them the tools and the knowledge to speak about how they are wrongfully treated by society. I think that this it is very important to recognize as Tovar points out, that one needs to be able to have the proper knowledge and tools to speak about their experiences to be understood. Tovar also acknowledges that academia is still predominantly run by white males. This unfortunately means that everything that is to be understood in academia and given any credit, must also be written in a language understood by white males. This unfortunately leads to a lot of information being left out, also stripping many people of their identities. I think it is important to recognize at Tovar points out, that women and people of color to deserve a space in this society to be able to vocalize their experiences. I strongly believe that there needs to be a shift in academia from forcing people to write a certain way in order to be understood, to instead forcing people to learn to understand writing and experiences outside of their own.