‘—

Cathy Cohen

In the article “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens,” Cathy Cohen discusses the radical potential of queer politics. She argues that queer activism could not be an efficient way to overcome oppression against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender groups. According to her, queer politics reinforced dichotomies between sexes. Problematic situations arose according to intersection of oppression and resistance. In queer theorizing, sexual subjects are regulated due to certain criteria, and therefore discounted as deviant. It normalizes sexuality, exploitation of labor, and constrains visibility. Often, the focus of queer politics have been “heteronormativity,” meaning that centralized institutions that legitimize heterosexuality (Cohen 440). Heterosexual relationships were acknowleged as the only natural act within society. Therefore, from a long time ago there existed dominance of heterosexuals, and queers, on the other hand, were all considered as inferior. They experienced limitations in many parts of the society, under multiple practices of normalization. Cohen throws intersectional analysis to this situation. For example, she mentions black lesbian, bisexual feminists that emphasized their experience of discrimination in their writings. As being in what is considered as inferior groups, they have gone through multiple layers of oppression. People of color and lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered are considered as minority groups of society and according to Cohen, the politics of them were arranged by radical intersectional left analysis. Within that, people recognize heteronormativity as a primary system of power and control. It interacts with fundamental political issues such as racism, classicism, sexism and institutional exploitations on class. Queer activists reject cultural norms of acceptable sexual behaviors. Instead, they come up with strategies that promote self-definition. Being acknowledged that problematic matters of heteronormativity exists in society, they argue fundamental challenge to the system. The privilege, power and institution heterosexuality has. As aspiring for challenges to domination and exclusion, in our society, new political identity has to be constructed, that is inclusive to all.