#24 "Queer in Turn..."

Alexander, Jonathon and David Wallace. “The Queer Turn in Composition Studies: Reviewing and

            Assessing an Emerging Scholarship.” College Composition and Communication. 61.4 

            (September 2009). W300-W320. Electronic.

Summary

            In their article, “The Queer Turn in Composition Studies: Reviewing and Assessing an Emerging Scholarship,” Alexander and Wallace argue that those in the English Department need to pay attention to queerness and try to move the idea from abstract to a normal routine. In the article, the authors point out that establishing queerness in the classroom can create much more conversation and important debates within the classroom. The authors also make it apparent that “three moves” are involved in queer composition scholarship. The first move is the need to confront homophobia. This includes teachers being open about their sexuality in the classroom. The second move is “the desire to be inclusive of LGBT people” (W305). Meaning, they should be able to partake in “hot topic” debates without feeling judged or looked down upon. The third move is the possibility of using queer theory in an effective way. Classrooms should be able to “break down the homo/hetero binary as a constraining mode of thinking about identity and agency” (W305), meaning classrooms should be able to move toward critical pedagogy on queerness.

Dialectical Notebook

In this column you RESPOND to the quotes	In this column you TYPE OUT the quote
In this quote, Alexander and Wallace distinctly state why they are writing this scholarly article. They had previously pointed out how only one out of the twenty two articles in College Composition and Communication discussed the issue of queerness. This article just so happened to be written by Jonathan Alexander himself.	“We hope that our critical reflections on this body of scholarship will demonstrate how paying attention to queerness in composition studies is much more than just including yet another set of marginalized voices in the composition classroom” (W302).
I knew right away that this article was going to be able to be compared to Berger’s article about how women are viewed in the public. Both authors discuss how their topic of choice is viewed and judged by the public, when it should be discussed and the stereotypes involving each topic need to be put to an end.	“… bringing feminism and feminist critiques to bear on composition theory and practice, showing us how the experience of gender in our culture shapes powerfully the social narratives and metaphors by which we live”(W303-W304).
I already briefly summarized the three moves of queer composition in the summary section of this reading response, but I felt that this quotes still needs to be specifically pointed out. I like to refer to this quote as an “essay map.” It was able to briefly state what each move was, but later in the section the authors went into a much more detailed description of each move.	“… three distinct theoretical and pedagogical moves in this scholarship: the need to confront homophobia, the desire to be inclusive of LGBT people, and the possibility of using queer theory to break down the homo/hetero binary as a constraining mode of thinking about identity and agency” (W305).
This quote was the opening explanation of move number one. The authors did a nice job of explaining the move and then giving an example of how tentative teachers actually are of “outing” themselves to the class. The author’s used Olivia’s experience of not coming out to her class as a way to get their point across to the audience.	“… the most basic problems related to issues of sexuality that instructors were facing in composition classes: namely, dealing with overt homophobia in students’ writing and the presence (or absence) of openly queer writing teachers” (W305-W306).
Prior to this quote, and literally right before it, the authors brought up different shows that discuss homosexual topics, such as Will & Grace. Later, the authors state that many shows make the homosexuals to seem sexless, and that most only emphasize the heterosexual relationships. I do not agree with their claim, and maybe if they were to rewrite this article now (it was written in 2009), then they would be able to point out shows such as Glee and Smash, which promote relationships among homosexuals and discuss how it can be changed in schools.	“This increased visibility has not, however, translated into an automatic acceptance of LBGT people and experiences in American society or composition classrooms” (W307).
This statement wraps up Alexander and Wallace’s ideas that in order for queerness to be accepted as a composition, we all need to help make an effort to promote the idea in school conversations. Unless everyone works for towards this common goal, the term “heteronormativity” may eventually be a unknown term, with no actual definition.	“Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all implicated in this struggle…” (W316).