å April 2017

In his book Aberrations in Black Toward a Queer of Color Critique”, Ferguson reveals how African American are placed outside heteronormative patriarchal norms and how racial segregation is a way in which capitalism keep gender and sexuality norms. Ferguson also suggests that there is a relationship between property, capital and prostitution. Property relations within tribal communities are heterosexual and patriarchal arrangements. It is interesting the relationship between capitalism and prostitution because the symbol of prostitution was used by Marx to represent the man’s dehumanization (Ferguson p.7). Prostitution was the representation of man’s feminization. Wage labor did not allow a man to be independent by himself and that need forced him to become prostitute and sell himself to his work to get capital and survive. In nineteen century the prostitute was a racial metaphor for the gender and sexual confusion created by capital, which related the figure of prostitute to sexual savagery of black women and to establish nonwhite sexuality as the alliance for other kinds of womanhood. While the industrial capital was developing working-class white women with a limited income, but the prostitute became the racialized figure that represented demonstrations against those changes.

On the other hand, the transition from an industrial economy to a post-industrial economy created a slope in manufacturing jobs, but at the same time occurred an increase in service jobs, in the private sector and government jobs as well. This improved the development of different social classes among African Americans. Ferguson also explains this relationship between capital, property and prostitution is related to “queer of color” because capital produces different kinds of social creations as the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and class that surpass the limits of what is considered the rationalized gender and the sexual ideas of the different individuals and the same time the queer of color represents the malformations of modern society.

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.

I think queer of color mentioned by Roderick Ferguson is a group of people that are outcast/misfits and the analysis behind it is that these group of people has their own identification (culture, ideas, beliefs, etc…) that may or may not be a reflection of other people (Marxism, liberalism, nationalism, etc…). Instead these queer of color debunk the ideas and beliefs of those other people ideologies and create a sense of something similar to group work. And the connection that this has to property, capital, and prostitution create those ideologies (norm in society). The capital (government) create the policies/laws that become the norm that societies follows and the people in those societies become the property of the capital. So when time begins to change (the economy and the revolution like the industrial revolution begins people are affected differently. Prostitution in particular may dehumanize a person and make them treated as a lust object which can affect people around them. Things that were never possible (expensive things like clothes, etc…) soon became possible for prostitution to get (even though they were poor) and creates a potential threat to gender stability where people could now be forced to do something they don’t want to do (e.g. human traffic). These people (the prostitution-er) like everyone else is apart of the capital property where they work for money (job), but are treated differently due to this not being a norm and how dehumanizing it is for that specific gender (reason for why feminism exist and an example is if a girl/women does something in the adult industry they are called slut). Also capital in Ferguson article is formed when the discourses of race, gender, and sexuality comes together. How this affects the formation prostitution is due to those social norm as mentioned above. By setting the discourses as a norm for society, it becomes harder to understand the morals of certain people, but once we come to an understanding of those certain people we will know how they feel.

In his book “Aberrations,” Roderick Ferguson articulates that racial issues stem from a difference in gender and sexuality. He begins his novel by referencing Marlon Rigg’s documentary, “Tongue’s Untied.” The documentary shows a black drag-queen prostitute. Ferguson mentions that living such a life will have other people questioning if she is really happy or not. He uses this scene to help bring about the corrupt effect of urban capitalism and how that has an effect on the black community especially. The drag-queen embodies a larger community that has been judged by their race, gender, sexuality, and social class. To others, these qualities of an individual are interwoven into one and therefore, can be confused and misinterpreted.
This rigid structure of what is considered normal to the government and economy is carried over during the increase of immigration in the United States. Ferguson brings about how capitalism goes against the core of citizenship. When the number of immigrants entering the United States peaked, different cultures began to mix and the definition of what was considered normal was challenged. As a result, the government decided to take measures into their own hands by regulating certain practices and patterns once these new citizens joined the workforce. For example, Americanization programs prepared Mexican mothers to enter the workforce by making sure they could perform domestic duties efficiently so that American women would feel comfortable allowing them in their homes. These programs also attempted to conceal and prevent the spread of provocative tendencies from Asian American communities to American neighborhoods. This was taken a step further by regulating these tendencies within the workforce as well amongst African Americans and Asian Americans.
These examples support Ferguson’s the “queer of color” analysis and how gender and sexuality brings about racial separation. He argues that in order to progress and move forward, we must look at these issues as a whole and as a starting point in learning new information to gain a new perspective.

In Roderick Ferguson’s “Aberrations,” he suggests an idea of how property, capital, prostitution are related. He starts the article with stories that clearly show the intersection of poverty, race, gender and economic discrimination. First, racial exclusion in social occupation is emphasized as he shows a picture of colored men waiting room and colored men restroom. Also, an example of black drag queen is introduced. Drag queen prostitute is shown as one of the features of urban capitalism, and showed how sexual difference became reasons for discrimination and poverty. Them, in particular, represented economic and social alienations. They were even being excluded from mainstream queers, and African-American communities. Ferguson asserts that racialized gender is one of the capitalist modes of production. According to the article, Marxism and liberal pluralism share the idea that the nation and property are outcomes of racial and class exclusions. Also, the idea relates with historical materialism. Emerged from racialized discourse, normative heterosexuality is justified. In capitalist theme, Marx argued universalism of heteropatriarchy, as symbolization of labor done by heterosexuals. Marx also asserted that the symbol of dehumanization is largely shown through prostitution. He focused prostitution as a specific representation of generalized “labor prostitution.” According to the article, it states that being castrated from all the means of production, the worker has only that labor resides in his body to sell. (Ferguson 8) Therefore, Marx relates prostitution as property of communal lust, that is an outcome of capitalist alienation.

On the other hand, Ferguson starts the interpretation from “Queer of Color” analysis. According to him, nation and capital is outcome of intersections that contradict the idea of liberal nation-state and capital as sites of resolution, perfection, progress, and confirmation. (Ferguson 3) Therefore, queer of color analysis justifies the intersectionality of race, gender and class and proves that the contrasting idea of capitalism is mistaken. Furturemore, queer of color analysis extends its idea to women of color feminism, by investigating intersections.

Throughout the history of the world there have been various societies present across the globe. These societies have consisted of numerous working parts. After reading Aberrations in Black by Roderick A. Ferguson, I will be discussing the relationships between property, capital, and prostitution. Property is an object, piece of land, or in barbaric cases people that a person owns. Capital is a means of wealth used by citizens in many societies to purchase both necessities and desires. Prostitution is the action of an individual using their sexual practices to obtain wealth.

Roderick A. Ferguson does a great job of explaining how property, capital, and prostitution relate to each other. We the citizens are property. When we work, we become property to the various institutions that we work for. Not only are we property to our employers but we are property to the very thing we are trying to obtain from our work which is capital (Ferguson, 2003). We citizens become a form of property so that we can obtain capital. Many people in the world are driven by their desire to accumulate a large amount of wealth and this desire sometimes influences people to engage in “immoral” acts. We the citizens are then prostitutes. We become prostitutes by selling ourselves and our work to obtain capital. Citizens are like prostitutes because we must sell our services to receive capital and to survive (Ferguson, 2003).

In Ferguson’s piece Aberrations in Black he speaks extensively about “queer of color” and its relevance to the relationship between property, capital, and prostitution. I believe that “queer of color” is slightly like prostitution because they are both believed to be an enemy to heteropatriarchy. Both prostitution and homosexuality are viewed as vices that aim to destroy the integrity of heterosexual males. Also, prostitution was deemed as a cause of gender and sexual confusions and I believe that “queer of color” brings up these same confusions (Ferguson, 2003). Lastly, property, capital, and prostitution are believed to be factors that have negatively impacted the practice of heteronormativity in America. Similarly, “queer of color” can be seen to do the same things because it goes against the natural roles that the state has institutionalized among its citizens. Just like the three factors listed above “queer of color” can be seen as a threat to a society and as a vice that aims to taint the idea of a “normal” American.

Ferguson, R. A. (2003). Aberrations in Black. University of Minnesota Press.

Ferguson relates property to the description of the heteronormative patriarchal family that anyone alive in America can identify with as the social standard, one that you are expected to assimilate to or a the very least you are trying to achieve. The family or tribe has a presumed division of labor, working husband, wifely housework, and children providing gender specific maintenance such as lawn mowing or sibling child care.

Capital is illustrated as the person as a commodity, primarily as an unskilled wage slave. The hierarchy of capital is skilled workers, unskilled workers, women and then children, with success measured as finding a way to profit using the least skill at the lowest price point. Capital also behaves differently in relation to involvement from the state, if the state is involved then capital will appease the state by perpetuating heteronormative roles. However, capital only has interest in profit so when the state is not a factor race and gender have no influence over cheap labor for profit.

The relationship between property and capital becomes most interesting when Ferguson adds prostitution, in part due to the dehumanizing effect and literal collaboration of property and capital, but also because it is entirely queered by the disassociation from gender and race. Prostitution is an obvious branch of capital because the value of it is outside of the heteronormative boundaries and threatens the nature of the boundaries. This disruption is especially threatening because it provides a mobility for a class of people that are not deemed worthy of mobility, a side note that could provide insight to why Western society protects the john and not the prostitute.

When “queer of color” is considered as part of the analysis the representation of disempowerment becomes clear and Marx’s critiques of capital and property relations as universal ideals evolves into an emblem of the separation of order and refinement from poverty and degradation. The racialization of heteronormative capitalism has normalized this as universal and desirable. Queer of color analysis also attempts to explain the emergence of drag queen prostitutes and their place in the working class struggle as surplus laborers. Additionally, queer of color becomes most important in historical terms when color and/or queer sociologists were excluded from contributing their work, acknowledging this work separately is necessary to highlight the previously exclusionary practices of an imperfect discipline.

In her essay, Punks, Bulldaggers, and, Welfare Queens the Radical Potential of Queer Politics Cathy Cohen argues that “…a truly radical or transformative politics has not resulted from queer activism.” With politics getting any type of change to happen is a long and hard endeavour. For any type of significant change to happen it can take literal years with how rigid politics are. There are several reasons this process takes so long. One of them would be the unwillingness of people to act against politics. The major thought process among people is that if they were to act it would not make any difference; that they should just wait out the present problems in hope that they will fix themselves; or hope for a better person to come into a leading position and leave it to them to fix current problems. This kind of thinking leads to nothing being done in the way of change in a timely fashion. The only true way for change to occur is to speak out against injustice but even that has its drawbacks. Cohen finds that the one of the largest failings of queer theory and queer politics has been their inability to incorporate into the analysis of the world and strategies for political mobilization the roles that race, class, and gender play in defining people’s differing relations to dominant and normalizing power. For political change to work, those vying for it must avoid infighting as it only halts the process to achieve change. Power relations add to this problem as stating dominance over another based on, as an example, not holding a leading position such as a planner can cause the major reason of halting feeling useless or unneeded. Instead of making enemies of each other or excluding others based on race or class the common enemy must be focused on in order to instate political change.

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.

In her piece “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens”, Cathy Cohen discusses queer politics, an idea that many people thought would transform the structure and operations of oppressive systems especially against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities. However, Cohen argues that queer activism is not an efficient way to transform oppressive conditions. According to Cohen, a downfall to queer politics is their dichotomization of sexuality and exclusion of other oppressed groups. Focusing on sexuality has cost the movement any potential growth due to their consistent isolation. The government’s domination over sexuality was critical because it used a “scientific” standpoint to prohibit and obstruct sexual identities that the queer movement has been focused on. Such intervention made it harder for people to associate freely with sexual behaviors that go against the law. Furthermore, the divide between different groups that were oppressed made it more challenging to change the politics surrounding sexuality and the identities of many. I think Cohen suggests a more successful transformation if the queer movement has connected with other minority groups who were also oppressed. The fight would become bigger if different groups joined all together as one and faced their oppressor (government).

Cathy Cohen suggests that in order to bring change and be more effective as activists, we must critically study power and the role that gender, race, and class play when it comes to its distribution. This is a very important point because it seems true that queer activist have overlooked other contributing factors to their oppression rather than just their sexuality and what people identify as.  It is very significant to bond with different groups of people in order to understand different forms of oppression from many perspectives. Not only does this concentrate more power to the activists, but it also strengthens the cause in which they are all fighting for (equality).