Queer studies

Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, intersex people and cultures. Originally centered on LGBT history and literary theory, the field has expanded to include the academic study of issues raised in archaeology, sociology, psychiatry, anthropology, the history of science, philosophy, psychology, sexology, political science, ethics, and other fields by an examination of the identity, lives, history, and perception of being queer. Queer studies is not the same as queer theory, which is an analytical viewpoint within queer studies (centered on literary studies and philosophy) that challenges the existence of "socially constructed" categories of sexual identity. Queer is the implicit identity of gender and sex, and how it is incorporated in individuals lives. It can be used as an adjective, verb and a noun. Queer has been used intersectionality in academia, becoming a mode of analysis. This is since the reclaimed-slur encompasses inclusivity into the 21st century. Some find using the term queer studies more defining than LGBTQ+ Studies, as it provides more universal experiences. Many topics within queer studies focus on the open possibilities beyond heteronormativity; detailing texts, cultural artifacts produced by queer individuals, as well as expanding beyond into how queer interacts with daily life. Though a new discipline, a growing number of colleges have begun offering academic programs on the expansive topics of queer. This has been a trend in higher education since the early 90's. Queer has become the topic of controversy over the reclaiming of the word used against LGBTQ+ individuals for the last century. There is a debate on the use of LGBTQ+ studies or queer studies. LGBTQ+ provides categorical depiction in the subjects, Whereas queer has a history of being a common descriptor for someone who was any emotion from happy to drunk in the 19th century, then a slur against same sex individuals in the 20th century.

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Related concepts (8)

Queer studies

Women's studies

Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppression; and the relationships between power and gender as they intersect with other identities and social locations such as race, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, and disability.

Queer theory

Queer theory is the perspective that questions the perception that cisgender and heterosexual identities are in any sense “standard.” It revisits such fields as literary analysis, philosophy, and politics with a “queer” approach. Queer theory is a field of post-structuralism that emerged in the early 1990s out of queer studies (often, formerly, gay and lesbian studies) and women's studies.