Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Drawing from performance, affect, and queer theories, I explore how queer identity is storied, performed, and sensed in everyday life.I access performance and sensory ethnographic practices to examine how queer persons "do" their identities on a daily basis.I draw from data collected through ethnographic participation in a queerfriendly district of Columbus, Ohio in addition to in-depth interviews with fourteen selfidentified queer persons I met through my fieldwork.My approach privileges observations and reflections of mundane moments of everyday life to position queer identity as a routine, repetitive, habitual, and otherwise performative practice.I question the emphasis on verbal disclosures of queer identity in both academic literature and lived experience by positing a distinction between "coming out" and "being out."Working from this distinction, I investigate the purpose of queer identity stories, how queer identity is embodied, the affect generated by queer identity, and the way a cohesive queer community is challenged by differences in identity performances.iv Dedication This project is dedicated to my parents.Your endless pride and unwavering faith inspire me to carry on, even when I lose faith in myself.v
Author: Justin J. Rudnick
Institution: Ohio University
Language: English
Topic: Gender and Feminist Studies
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2613985863