Abstract

“There is something troubling, both ethically and politically, about a view that would deny any genuine insight or agency to those with whom one disagrees” (Felski, 2006: 274 emphasis added). I feel this captures the sentiment within my paper today and underpins my arguments and thoughts that I will try to convey. The deconstructionist turn, although useful to break down concepts and ideas, often leaves us with no place to go and perhaps leaves us with a zealous commitment to the act of negation. The term "genderqueer" began to be commonly used at the turn of the twenty-first century by youth who feel that their gender identities and/or gender expressions do not correspond to the gender assigned to them at birth, but who do not want to transition to the "opposite" gender. Characterizing themselves as neither female nor male, as both, or as somewhere in between, genderqueers challenge and negate binary constructions of gender and traditional images of trans people.
In this paper, I address the notion of failing, failing theories and failing politics and look towards a potential way of exploring gender generally and genderqueer and transgender particularly. I propose that we can embark upon an exploration of these aspects of the lived world failings through an engagement with embodiment. What are paramount for me are the connections and continuities between the aesthetic body, style, and desire in which the notion of the aesthetic cannot be set apart from the rest of life.