Queer Temporality refers to the way that queer people experience time differently than cishet people do. It challenges the linear and progressive model of time that is often used to describe the passage of events in society. Queer temporality disrupts normative assumptions about life sequencing because it emphasizes multiple temporalities and nonlinear patterns within the same lifetime.
According to queer theory, there are four types of queer temporality: 1) counter-chronological, which involves moving backward through time; 2) retroactive, where past events can affect present actions; 3) simultaneous, where different times can be experienced simultaneously; and 4) hypertemporal, which encompasses all possible temporalities. These different forms of queer temporality challenge the conventional idea of chronology as a straight line from past to future. Instead, they emphasize the importance of multiple temporalities coexisting together.
One way that queer temporality disrupts normative assumptions about achievement is by subverting traditional timelines for accomplishments such as marriage or childbearing.
Many queer couples choose to have children later in their lives or opt out of having children altogether. This breaks with the typical trajectory of starting a family in one's twenties or thirties.
Some queer individuals may feel like they are "behind" in terms of achieving certain milestones due to societal expectations.
This sense of being behind does not necessarily reflect the individual's actual lived experience, which could include a wide range of achievements and experiences.
Another way that queer temporality challenges normative assumptions is by blurring distinctions between past and present. Queer people may feel more connected to history than cishet people do because they see themselves as part of a longer legacy of queer identity and activism. This connection to history allows them to understand their own identities within a broader context and resist dominant narratives about queerness.
Queer temporality highlights how time is structured around power dynamics. Dominant cultural discourses often frame time as linear and progressive, but this can erase the experiences of marginalized groups who exist outside of those structures. By prioritizing other forms of time, queer temporality disrupts the idea that time flows from past to future in a straight line. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of multiple temporalities and nonlinear patterns.
Queer temporality also challenges conventional notions of memory and forgetting. It suggests that memories can be stored and accessed in non-linear ways, allowing for new connections and interpretations to emerge over time. Queer temporality acknowledges that memory is not always linear and that individuals can have different relationships with the past based on their identities and experiences.
Queer temporality offers an alternative view of time that breaks down rigid concepts of chronology and achievement. It emphasizes the importance of multiple temporalities coexisting together and resists the idea that there is one "correct" way to experience time. In doing so, it provides a new framework for understanding the complex relationship between gender, sexuality, and time.
In what ways does queer temporality disrupt normative assumptions about chronological life sequencing and conventional achievement?
Queer time has been defined as the rejection of traditional narratives of progress and linearity that prioritize temporal progression towards an idealized endpoint. Queer temporalities challenge this by emphasizing the importance of embracing multiple timelines and nonlinear patterns, thereby disrupting normative expectations of life sequences such as marriage, parenthood, education, and career progression.