Critical Theory
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Critical Theory Jazmine Starcher PHI-FPX2000
Phillip Nelson
December 31, 2023
Critical Theory
In scenario 1, a man named Randy who has volunteered for a historical committee for
over a year and decider that her name is now Rhonda and she identifies as a female. She now
uses the pronouns she/her/hers. One of the other volunteers, Phil, is refusing to call Randy by her
chosen name and is refusing to acknowledge his new pronouns. Phil is the only one on the
committee that is having a problem with this, as he has known Ransdy for eight years as a man.
Changing genders is not out of the ordinary these days, yet some people still struggle
with acknowledging the fact that a man can all of a sudden want to become a woman and vice
versa. In this instance, Phil has known Randy (Rhonda) for years as a man and now Randy wants
identifies as a woman. Phil is in shock and probably some disbelief this his friend is now a
transgender woman. Critical Theory Critical theory is an approach to analysis and critique humanities and society,
questioning society and history. Critical theory is a large theory with multiple parts, the main
portion of this theory is power; how it exists and how it can maintain itself. Examples are racism,
privilege, social justice, white privilege, sexism and white privilege. Many theorists struggled
with trying to find the perfect balance between guidance and being too forceful. If they were too
forceful, extremists would go one way of the other, thus losing site at to what the theorist was
trying to draw attention to. According to Celikates & Flynn (2023), there are 4 main methods to critical thinking. 1)
Self-reflective, 2) Interdisciplinary: a mix between philosophical analysis with social theory and
specific research. 3) Materialist: how critical theory is used with social reality. 4) Emancipatory:
the goal is social emancipation. With these methods, comes challenges; relation between critical
thinking theory and reality, the role of critical theorists and the foundations and force of the
theory. Queer Theory
Biologically, there are only two options for a gender; male or female. You either
have masculine or feminine tendencies and you are either male or female for life according to
sociology (Valocchi,S. 2005). Queer theory is resistance against heterosexual normality’s.
Heterosexuality is an attraction or romantic relationship towards to opposite sex. We have been
geared for thousands of years that this is a “normal” sexual relationship and that this is the only
way to naturally reproduce. Homosexuality is the opposite of heterosexuality, they are interested.
Queer theory explores the privileges and deviations from specific norms (heterosexuality) and
how those people are treated on the in the general public.
Queer theory focuses on the sexual practices and identities that do not fit into the normal
life styles. From life partners to career choices, there is a big difference in acceptance for the
people who are homosexual. Although this is very common these days, there are still people who
frown upon same sex life choices. Queer theory analysis the challenges of homosexual life
choices. Drag queens are a great example as to how they can combine masculine and feminine
tendencies together. They use costumes and stages to draw attention to their life style choices and
bring awareness to the current homosexual issues. Some men are afraid to make the full
commitment to being gay or even transgender therefore they feel more comfortable in drag as
they have a “mask” on and they can be free of judgements.
(Valocchi,S. 2005).
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According to Meyer & Willis (2022), the majority of LGBTQ people are women, people
of color, unemployed, undocumented immigrants and or lower income. Most of them face some
type of lower lever well-being; financial, social or physical. The LGBTQ has their struggles as
well as any other social group. (Meyer& Willis, 2022), researchers have found that there are less
job opportunities for people who identify as queer. Which only leads to lower level of living.
Thus, indicating that there are heterosexual privileges. As well as critical theory, queer theory has
a self-reflective method; this has allowed researchers and investigations to question their own
opinions, biases and personal thoughts on the subject without letting it interfere with the data
they collected. Queer theory is an antinormative; fear of being “normal”. Conclusion Critical theory and queer theory are different but also have similarities. They both are
geared as to how we should live, view others, what is right and wrong, what they deem as
socially normal. Now the we have more of an understanding as to what Randy (Rhonda) is going
through; not being excepted for her new identity by her own friend, we can better analysis his
friends reaction to what wanting to accept the change. Some people thrive on living on a
straightened path. Those people are afraid to wonder off their “perfect” lives. These people are
typically not creative, as they never wonder “what else is out there for them”, they have a hard
time thinking outside the box. This way of thinking may be normal to some, but not all. That
being said, Randy had to know that he would experience some type of negative reaction coming
out as transgender. He may have expected more support from his friends, but he needs to
understand his friend may still be in shock and has not yet come to turns with the new Randy.
When you make such a life changing choice, you will inevitability lose people but he may also
gain new friendships because of this change.
References
Celikates, Robin and Jeffrey Flynn, "Critical Theory (Frankfurt School)",
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Winter 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2023/entries/critical-theory/>
Meyer, S.J., ale, E.J.,& Willis, K.K.M. (2022). “Where are my gays at?” the status of LGBTQ people and queers theory in nonprofit research. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 51(3), 566-586. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640211021497
Valocchi, S. (2005). Not Yet Queer Enough: The Lessons of Queer Theory for the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality.
Gender & Society
,
19
(6), 750-770.
https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1177/0891243205280294
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