It can be quite difficult to describe what it feels like to be a member of a group that is widely disparaged or hated. I mean really describe it in a way that other people who are not part of that group can understand. It is powerful when it can be done and even more powerful when it is done in a way such that members of other groups, who are disparaged or hated for other reasons, can see themselves in the story.
I think this is accomplished in the 10 minute monologue below. The speech is by Rory O’Neill, a famous Irish drag queen who goes by the name Panti Bliss. She speaks of what it feels like to encounter homophobia — indeed, to have internalized homophobia — and to try to manage life with an identity that some people openly disparage and hate.
She does such a wonderful job describing it, that I suspect that the feelings that she talks about might be familiar to a wide audience: women, people of color, people with disabilities, the homeless and the poor, people who speak English as a second language, and more.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 4
kafkette — November 11, 2015
one of the very worst things bourgeois academics have recently done is divide people into little stupid pockets, ie: women, people of color, people with disabilities, the homeless and the poor, people who speak English as a second language.....
FEH FEH FEH FEH.
divide & conquer, why doesn't anybody get that? because the faux left has won now? the faux left, with its no platforming & the warning of people's inexperienced & inexplicable triggers, on & on, is becoming ouroboral, with one end of the snake being the totalitarian right. the transmogrification, or even just the blending of one into the other will only be made easier for the everlovin bourgeoisie once it has the marginalized battling each other. were i a conspiracy theorist i would think that was the purpose of political correctness all along. instead & in truth, i think it's just the same old thing: ambition & self-righteous greed.
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ps. don't you remember that a few months ago, in this very blog, you were excoriating drag queens for being anti-feminist, over-stereotypically feminine portrayers of Real Women™? if you need to be reminded of yr position, i mailed the whole mess to a friend, so i have it. i realize yr position floated around quietly, slightly beneath the surface, but it never really caught, so i see you've changed yr tune. fancy flipfloppin footwork, there. then again, nothing about this culture is honest, nor is it committed, so i suppose you just did the ordinary thing, as e'er.
Caoileann Appleby — November 12, 2015
I'm glad to say Panti is a household name in Ireland (in large part as a result of the circumstances of that speech as well as the speech itself) and is the subject of a just-released documentary called The Queen of Ireland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db2857BR7GM
And if you're ever in Dublin you can still go for a pint in her bar (Pantibar on Capel St).
Annette Jorgensen — November 12, 2015
I use this incredibly powerful speech in my classes on gender and then we have a discussion of what students of any sexual orientation can do to make homophobia in Ireland a thing of the past. This year I'll remind them that on the day after the Same Sex Marriage referendum was passed, Panti tweeted 'I didn't check myself once today'. It's a start, but of course we still have a long way to go. For all minorities, as Lisa states.