CR #5

Kimberly Brown

Qwo-Li Driskill

Cr #5

          Reading Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet made me think quite a bit more about the different binaries that our society uses to determine the division of power. The binary Sedgwick talks about the most is the homosexual and heterosexual binary. The idea that they are two opposite categories and that they cannot exist on their own. Heterosexuality did not exist until homosexuality was recognized as the opposite of the norm and given a name in order to more adequately extract that group of people from positions of power. Sedgwick addresses this matter often in her book as the main binary in the power structure that gives and take privilege in our society. I disagree with this.

       For much of my college career I have spent time pondering the power structures and how they impact me. I have come to the conclusion that the main binary that impacts my life, and the lives of many like me, is the male/female binary. Many cultures use this binary as a division of power and labor. The assumption is that there are only two sexes and the traits are vasty different between the two. Although the homosexual-heterosexual binary certainly plays a role in this, I feel the male/female binary is the primary mode of division. Just as without homosexuality would not exist; sexuality in general would not exist without the assumed difference between the sexes. Without named genders and sexes sex would just be sex and there would be no need for naming the different ways people love and show love.

      The gender binary serves the structures of power in many ways. The male is assumed to have the dominant traits and is able to hold that above the female of the same standing. In many situations, past and present, a male is put in charge because of traits they are expected to possess because of their genitalia. This is the primary mode of division amongst the people. It is the way power and labor is divided most often and is the most accepted form of predjudice.