The idea of queerness is often associated with nonconformity to socially constructed norms regarding gender identity and sexual orientation. This includes challenging traditional concepts of time, such as linear models of personal development, narratives, and ideas about selfhood. Queer temporalities question dominant structures that rely on binary categories and rigid expectations. Instead, they embrace fluidity, multiplicity, and interconnectedness.
Queer temporality rejects the notion that life follows a predictable path from birth to death, with fixed milestones like graduating from school, getting married, having children, and retiring. It recognizes that people's lives are shaped by multiple forces beyond their control, including race, class, ability, and more. It also acknowledges that there may be no single "right" way to live, love, or express oneself sexually.
We will explore how queer temporality challenges linear models of growth, narrative, and selfhood. We will discuss its implications for individuals and society, and suggest ways to embrace its potential for liberation and creativity.
Challenging Linear Models of Personal Growth
Linear models of personal growth assume that life progresses in a straight line, with specific goals set at each stage of life.
Adolescence is seen as a time for exploration and experimentation, while middle age is when one settles down and focuses on career and family.
These models do not account for the complexities of human experience, which often involves backtracking, detours, and unexpected changes.
Queer temporality subverts these models by embracing non-linearity, cyclical patterns, and unconventional trajectories. People may experience periods of growth followed by stagnation or regression, or make sudden transitions between different phases of life. Queer temporalities can involve playing with boundaries and breaking away from conventional expectations. They can be fluid, disruptive, and experimental, rejecting rigid ideas about who one should become or what one should achieve.
Someone might identify as gay at 20 but later realize they are bisexual or question their gender identity. Or, someone might find success in their career and then decide to start over again at 40, pursuing a new passion or following an unfulfilled dream. Queer temporalities allow people to redefine themselves and their lives according to their own terms, without feeling constrained by societal norms.
Subverting Narrative Structures
Narratives structure our lives into stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. We typically tell them chronologically, starting with childhood or birth and ending with death.
Queer temporality challenges this linear approach, emphasizing interconnectedness, circularity, and simultaneity instead. It recognizes that our pasts, presents, and futures exist together, influencing each other in dynamic ways.
Queer temporalities suggest that we cannot understand ourselves fully through the lens of a single narrative. Instead, we must acknowledge multiple, often conflicting perspectives and experiences.
Someone's sexual orientation may change throughout their lifetime, shifting from heterosexuality to homosexuality to non-binary identities. Or, their relationship status may oscillate between monogamy, polyamory, and solo exploration. These patterns can disrupt traditional narratives of growth and progress, leading us to question dominant assumptions about how life should unfold.
Challenging Selfhood
Selfhood is constructed through interactions with others, including family, friends, partners, and society at large. Traditional models of selfhood prioritize stability, consistency, and conformity. They assume that we have fixed identities, which we gradually reveal over time. But queer temporality suggests that selves are fluid, changing according to context and experience.
Someone might identify as transgender in one phase of life but later realize they are cisgender. Or, someone might shift from being a romantic partner to a platonic friend, or vice versa. Queer temporalities recognize that selfhood is complex, multidimensional, and ever-evolving, reflecting the various forces acting on us every day. They encourage us to embrace fluidity, flexibility, and ambiguity rather than seeking rigid definitions of who we are or want to become.
Queer temporality challenges linear models of personal growth, narrative structure, and selfhood. It offers an alternative approach to understanding and experiencing life, rejecting rigid expectations and encouraging creativity and liberation. By embracing its potential, we can reclaim our agency and create new possibilities for ourselves and those around us.