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Andrew Brock assginment 9

Roderick Ferguson characterizes the relationship between property, capital, and prostitution in his book Aberrations in Black Toward a Queer of Color Critique. He explains this relationship with his “Queer of Color” analysis. Which he describes as building on the idea that capital produces emergent social formations that exceed the racialized boundaries of gender and sexual ideals. His main subject in explaining his Queer of Color analysis is a Black drag-queen prostitute. This image puts forth the act of going against the social norms of property, capital, and prostitution in all forms. The simple fact of being a prostitute goes against these social norms because it is a form of income seen as far lesser than those with more “normal” forms of income and are viewed as less deserving of legal protection. Prostitution is seen as illegal in most of the world and this can easily stem from the perceived notion that it is an immoral act going against human rights. Sometimes this is the only way a person can earn an income, and even in some cases, it is a profession people want to pursue. The fact that Ferguson’s example character is both Black and a drag queen in addition to being a prostitute makes them even more connected to Ferguson’s Queer of Color analysis. Because the character is Black and a drag queen it becomes more problematic than what a typical prostitute would have to face. This type of person deviates so far from social norms that if they were to get into legal trouble their chance of proving themselves innocent would be far harder than any regular person. By having the combination of perceived inferior traits: being Black, a drag queen, and a prostitute; they are in a position where it would be near impossible to accept them as deserving as others, thus perfectly representing Ferguson’s Queer of Color.