Readings on Writing (p. 110-129)
Reading Response
“Queer Texts, Queer
Contexts” by Harriet Malinowitz
Summary:
In “Queer Texts, Queer Contexts,”
Harriet Malinowitz attempts to address the issue of the homosexual community
and how its practice in the writing discourse community influences identity.
Malinowitz argues that a classroom does not have a set ideology and that
ignoring the topic of sexual identity does nothing to help limit
discrimination. Malinowitz claims that the term “gay” or “lesbian, or even
“woman,” does not have a set definition in culture but it nonetheless unifies
those who believe they belong to that category. The array of characteristics
shared or differentiated within each category contributes to that categories
generalized view from the public. Generalization is a wide view of a community,
though when people (like Sojourner Truth- who defied her generalized view)
stand up to what is a common belief- it ultimately strengthens the respective
community. Malinowitz describes how the “stigmatism” of sexual identity can hugely
impact one’s social identity. Heterosexuals would not exist if the counterpart (homosexuals)
weren’t also a community. Since heterosexuality is believed to be the most
common of the two, homosexuality caries a social identity that is not as
desirable. Malinowitz’s main argument is that sexual identity and homosexual
studies should be incorporated into the classroom because it ultimately
discourages discrimination, and because otherwise -it denies students the opportunity to
learn how “sexual identity is constructed through language” and writing
discourse.
Excellent work. What point does Malinowitz make re: critical pedagogy?
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