The concept of queer temporality refers to the ways in which marginalized identities and communities negotiate and navigate time in relation to their experiences of oppression and resistance. Queer theory emphasizes the fluidity and nonlinearity of time, challenging dominant linear narratives that privilege cisgender, heterosexual, and white perspectives. By disrupting dominant temporal frameworks, queer theory allows individuals and communities to explore new ways of relating to past, present, and future selves, enabling ethical engagement with history, present conditions, and potential futures. This article will discuss how queer temporality can be used to examine the interplay between memory, desire, power, and justice in order to unpack the complex dynamics of gender, sexuality, and identity.
Queer temporality is rooted in the recognition that dominant historical narratives have erased the experiences and contributions of marginalized groups, including those who identify as LGBTQIA+. These narratives often position cishet whiteness as the normative standard, while excluding and silencing other voices.
Traditional family values narratives often ignore or minimize the experiences of same-sex couples, families headed by single parents, and other nontraditional arrangements. By rejecting these dominant narratives and embracing a more fluid approach to time, queer individuals and communities are able to challenge hegemonic power structures and reclaim their own stories. This can involve revisiting traumatic events from the past or reinterpreting them through a queer lens, allowing for deeper reflection on the impact of violence and oppression.
One way that queer temporality enables this type of engagement is through its emphasis on memory work. In many cases, memories of past abuses or traumas may be repressed or ignored altogether, leading to internalized shame and self-blame.
When viewed through the lens of queer temporality, these memories can be reclaimed as part of a larger struggle against oppressive systems. By acknowledging these memories and working towards healing, individuals can begin to recognize their own agency and resilience, and develop new strategies for resistance. At the same time, this process requires accountability and restorative justice, which cannot be achieved without reckoning with the ways in which one's past actions have contributed to harm.
Queer temporality also challenges traditional notions of desire and pleasure, allowing individuals to embrace a more expansive understanding of intimacy and relationships. This includes recognizing that desire is shaped by social, cultural, and political forces beyond individual control, and that there are many different expressions of love, sex, and connection.
Some individuals may experience nontraditional forms of sexuality or relationship dynamics, such as polyamory or BDSM, which challenge dominant norms around monogamy and heteronormativity. Others may explore kink or BDSM communities, where power dynamics are negotiated and consented to, rather than assumed based on gender or sexual identity. By exploring these alternative modes of relating, individuals can challenge the status quo and create spaces of liberation and empowerment.
Queer temporality enables ethical engagement with future selves, by providing frameworks for imagining alternate possibilities and scenarios. In a world that often privileges cisgender, straight, white bodies and experiences, it can be difficult for marginalized individuals to envision themselves outside of dominant narratives.
When viewed through a lens of queer temporality, there is potential for reimagining what relationships, family structures, and identities could look like. This can include creating new models of community care and support, developing radical visions for alternative futures, and advocating for systemic change. It also requires intergenerational dialogue and collaboration, in order to ensure that younger generations have access to the knowledge and tools needed to dismantle oppressive systems.
Queer temporality provides an important framework for understanding how past, present, and future selves are shaped by social, cultural, and political forces beyond individual control. By rejecting linear narratives and embracing fluidity and complexity, marginalized individuals and communities can develop new strategies for resistance and liberation, while also acknowledging their own agency and resilience. Through this process, they can work towards healing, connection, and justice, both within themselves and in wider society.
How does queer temporality allow for ethical engagement with past, present, and future selves?
Queer temporality is defined as an awareness of time that moves beyond the binaries of past/present/future and emphasizes the fluidity and multiplicity of identity formation over linear progressions. This can include exploring multiple ways of being and living at once, challenging traditional narratives of linear progression, and recognizing the interconnectedness between individual and collective experiences across different temporalities.