Internalized Homophobia and the Rules of Feeling

Jillian Nauss, M.A. in Sociology at Concordia University

Abstract

This article unpacks how institutions of belonging are often the very same institutions that isolate, marginalize and peripheralize human beings. Situated within the dramaturgical theory of Erving Goffman and the concepts of feelings and feeling rules developed by Arlie Hochschild, this article theorizes internalized homophobia as an embodiment of the values that are held by the institutions of the family, friends and churches – three institutions that are supposed to function as supportive environments but often display a hatred towards anything that deviates from the heteronormative script. This article reminds us that despite a growing awareness and acceptance of queer identity, these institutions often times do not foster a community of belongingness and instead force queer individuals to internalize their feelings and emotions in order to preserve the status quo.

Mediating Eros: The Structure and Relations of Erotic Participation in Plato and Plutarch

Erica Kunimoto, M.A in Political Theory at University of Calgary

Abstract

This article explores the transformative possibilities present in the eros. Using Plato’s Symposium and Phaedrus, and Plutarch’s Advice to the Bride and Groom, the article demonstrates the various ways in which erotic openings involve a degree of mediation in their striving for the beautiful or immortal. In raising questions about the individual transformative potential in the face of something objective, this article asks us to consider how participation and mediation effects, and reflects, on both the lover and beloved - both parties of a relationship.

A Life of Death: Necropolitics and Indigenous Women in Canada

William Hollingshead, M.A in Sociology at Queen’s University

Abstract

This article mobilizes Achilles Mbembé’s concept of necropolitics in the context of the Canadian settler-colonial state and its treatment of Indigenous women. Extending the sovereign’s right over life, this article makes evident the Canadian state’s manufacturing of, and apparent right over, death. An indictment of the colonial state, it is demonstrated that an existence preoccupied with violence and death is produced through colonial-patriarchal legislation and language meant to dehumanize the already excluded.