Queer identity can be conceived as a bridge rather than a closet.
Evidence
Instead of speaking of being in or out of the closet, or knitting, what if we spoke of being bridges? Bridges exist to make connections, spanning obstacles without closing off that which is above or below. They allow movement in at least two directions, but also open up proliferating pathways beyond. They can be sturdy or flimsy, made more stable or precarious due to different elements and interactions. They vary in design and function, taking natural elements and context into consideration. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1270
Categorization
- DEFINE: Proposes reframing ‘in or out of the closet’ with the metaphor of bridge, tied to Anzaldua’s borderlands.
- XREF: Echoes the grafting-as-metaphor move in the reader’s Trees article — identity metaphors that open rather than close pathways. — connects to: Openly gay teachers often perform palatable identities that reinforce dominant norms. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 1258; Identity is constituted through exclusion of what it is not; Identity is constituted through splitting and an interiorized Other, not pure difference. (+9 more)
Broader Connections
- Identity is constituted through exclusion of what it is not
#complicates(0.78) - Identity is constituted through splitting and an interiorized Other, not pure difference.
#complicates(0.78) - Modern identity is constituted through the exclusion of its own opposite
#complicates(0.75) - Identity is defined oppositionally, against those one is not.
#complicates(0.75) - Identity is constructed through opposition to a continuously reinterpreted other
#complicates(0.75) - Individual identity forms dialogically through a constitutive outside, not autonomously.
#complicates(0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 363 - Group identities are formed negatively as ‘not-barbarian’ rather than positively.
#complicates(0.75) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 154 - Identity construction is an exercise of power through exclusion
#complicates(0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 371 - Identity is a political claim to belonging, not a fixed trait
#expands(0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2696 - Improving intergroup relations requires changing identity thinking, not identity categories.
#qualifies(0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 587 - Group identity is fluid and contextually chosen, not fixed.
#qualifies(0.72)