A Review of ‘Queer: A Graphic History’
I came into Queer: A Graphic History — a graphic novel primer on queer theory — with some prior knowledge regarding feminist, gender, and queer theory and still wound up having learned a great deal more about the subject at hand. Intended as an introduction to queer theory from its precursors in sex and sexuality research starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century through to the origins of the gay rights movement; through black feminist movements; and through the so-called sex wars of the eighties and beyond, writer Dr. Meg-John Barker and illustrator Julia Scheele strive to make this book accessible to the average reader through a combination of text and cartoons. It also raises interesting questions regarding the bridge between theory and activism and the “queering up” of language, art, and culture.
What Queer strives to impart more than anything else is difference and how it is expressed, as well as our evolving understanding and responses to it throughout the decades. It interrogates our understanding of biology, gender, and sexuality through myriad lenses, from scientific research and surveys from the likes of Alfred Kinsey, John Gagnon and William Simon, and Sandra Bem; to intellectuals and philosophers like Sigmund Freud, Jacques Derrida, Simone De Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault, all of whom paved the way for later thinkers within the studies of gender, sex, and sexuality. Also covered are how these studies intersect with other disciplines regarding marginalized peoples, which gives a potential entry point to those who come from such disciplines (e.g. theories on race and ethnicity). Besides these, the myriad contradictions and contentious topics within the umbrella of queer theory — including those who believe the topic inadequate and/or outdated — are covered in depth, as well as criticisms of how queer theory and queer activists may inadvertently perpetuate what are seen as harmful social practices (the privileging of those who are white and male over people of color and female, to give but one example). Scheele’s illustrations are simple to interpret and also often include paraphrases of the beliefs of major thinkers to help the reader further grasp their ideas, and Scheele also illustrates various concepts explained in the text literally and to the same end. Far from insulting the intelligence of their readers, these illustrations work as equals to the text by Dr. Barker.
Queer establishes early on two major themes that occur throughout the book: the division between theory that is taught and researched and the application of theory through activism; and the tendency of queer studies as a whole to resist a sort of pinning-down of personal identity. Throughout the book various dichotomies that are opposed by queer theorists and their related fields of study are dismantled and critiqued. So-called essentialist interpretations of gender and sex are rebuked as misguided and outdated — being born biologically male or female does not guarantee one as being gendered male or female respectively, if one is even born with seemingly unambiguous genitalia or other sex organs to begin with. Also rebuked is sexuality as being defined in cramped, binary terms that make no room for and actively erase those who consider themselves bisexual or asexual, to name only two. To the credit of Dr. Barker, she does not fail to mention that these sorts of dichotomies also tend to make their way into queer theory as well; for instance, that “the assimilationist/revolutionary split” as engendered in the tension between the homophile movement (assimilationist) and their opposition (revolutionary) could also be taken as “another oversimplifying binary.”
One could argue that this book works as an instance of the bridging of theory and activism, as a document that is “queer” in its organization and presentation. While it may be confining the medium of cartooning to a ghetto, Scheele’s cartooning work is likely to be taken by the majority of readers as a softer, safer entry point into the realm of ideas present here that an academic paper or text-heavy book could not provide. Dr. Barker’s textual approach matches the ambitions of Scheele’s art: there are no chapter breaks or any broad means of organization with the text, which allows for brisk reading but makes it somewhat difficult to go back and find what it is one is looking for in particular. As a result, the combination of the art and text and their own specific aims ultimately bridges the theory-activism gap by more readily democratizing the body of knowledge accumulated over the past half-century and beyond. Dr. Barker does a great job at translating the language and jargon that comes with academia into more accessible and readily digestible text for the reader, but there are definitely points where the text can become difficult to grasp. For instance, Dr. Barker and Scheele introduce heteronormativity, homophobia, and heterosexism together and provide an explanation for how they differ from one another; however, in attempting to critique homophobia and heterosexism as concepts from a queer perspective, Dr. Barker writes:
From a queer perspective, however, these concepts are problematic because they locate attitudes or biases within the individual. The idea of institutional or structural homophobia or heterosexism goes some way towards addressing this, but heteronormativity is helpful for locating the problem within cultural assumptions from the outset.
While it may be understandable to someone with some prior knowledge, some readers coming in may want more information on the topics of institutional or structural biases and prejudices that the text implies, but such an overview does not exist here.
As a primer for new readers, however, and even with the above problems in mind, Queer: A Graphic History could be called essential for those who want to understand more those who subscribe to the queer umbrella. Not only are many of its ideas explained in fairly accessible terms, with illustrations accompanying them, it also lists enough important names and works for readers to refer to should they wish to take their study of the topic further and deeper than a primer such as Queer allows.