On Wednesday, October 4th JMU held its very first Queer Teach-In at the University in Madison Union 235. The event consisted of all-day lectures, workshops, artwork, exhibits, performances, etc. The event went on from 9:05 am to 7:20 pm, with endless amount of information to indulge in. The room shined with pure queer joy that is so necessary and needed on this campus.
I attended Dr. Reslie Cortés, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at JMU. Her lecture topic was Coloniality and the Gender Binary: Cultural Histories of Trans and Intersex Peoples. Dr. Cortés was not only an amazing speaker but shared so much valuable knowledge that has been suppressed in the education system due to colonization.
First, she went over gender & sex as sociocultural constructs. Biological sex being made up of genes, hormones, primary/secondary sex characteristics. Cortés highlighted intersex people and how overlooked they are in society. 1.7% of people born as intersex. That number may sound small but that is 130 million people, more than the population of Mexico (Cortés). She then highlighted how gender is built as a sociocultural construct: social, cultural, psychology, spiritual. Each category is individual to each person and makes up how they identify their gender.
Cortés went on to explain the Colonial Matrix of Power and our lives revolve around it, this includes our gender & identity. There were 5 different ways in each the speaker explained how/why we come to find gender identity.
- Narrativization: story-telling to connect with others within your cultural group,
- Representation: language to a particular cultural group that connects/unifies a group
- Ideological Interpellation: set of rituals that inducts group members (for queer community: coming out)
- Performativity: sociocultural practices that include repeated stylizations of the body (women: told to sit with their legs closed/crossed).
- Symbolic Resignifications: redefining groups & what it means to be a group member (Ex: being a woman but wearing a pant-suit instead of dresses).
Dr. Cortés showed amazing pictures and examples of non-binary or intersex people from different cultures, time-periods, and religions. Including the Muxes of Mexico, 2 Spirit people of indigenous tribes, Hijras, intersex people of the Hindu culture, and examples even dated back from ancient Mesopotamia.
The final part of the presentation went to show ways/steps that we may decolonize society and its views pertaining to gender/intersex people.
- Rediscovery/Recovery: do your research on your own culture and how colonization effected the non-binary or intersex people in history.
- Mourning: the lives & identities that were wiped out due to colonization
- Dreaming: consider one’s spiritual/personal feelings on one’s own gender identity
- Commitment: Remain committed to the group/culture you identify with and lean on them for justice/support
- Action: spread awareness and take action to make lasting changes of decolonizing society’s views on gender, sex, and sexualities.
I do not have enough to say expect thank you, for this lecture, this event, and a safe space for the JMU community to come together to learn, support, and connect upon queer topics. If you could not make it to this year’s Queer Teach-In, I highly recommend you go to next years.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 