Studying, thinking, and writing sexuality may now, or at any point, seem a pointless discussion and diversion from more critical events like the ongoing genocide, war, onslaught on human rights, poverty, casteism, racism, etc. Yet Gayle Rubin (1984), in “Thinking Sex”, writes “it is precisely at times such as these, when we live with the possibility of unthinkable destruction that people are likely to become dangerously crazy about sexuality.” Thus, it is pertinent to decipher how to find discursive uses of sexuality in these trying times. It is this critical juncture, which encourages consideration of alternative social bonds, envisions potential future communities, and emphasises the relevance of sexuality at a time when neoliberalism tends to prioritise individual interests over a broader understanding of social dynamics and power relations. But this raises a question: Who gets to imagine this utopian sociality, or future, of the queer movement? While imagining such sociality, people of identities marginalised along several intersectionalities do not easily feature since they live under the watch of state violence, injustice, and societal pressure. The logic of sexuality then becomes enmeshed with an imagined ideal citizen who also happens to be queer, not the other way round.

Embracing a queer identity means recognising the malleability of the body and its desires. Queerness challenges rigid notions of identity and highlights the fluidity inherent in the way we think about the human body. Socialisation within a heteronormative system pushes individuals to confront the norms imposed upon their bodies and desires. Recognising one’s queerness also entails acknowledging deviations from dominant societal structures and norms (Ross, 2023). Along with it comes the need to embrace alternative modes of existence and expression. In a close-knit endogamous society like India, the body is strictly constructed and disciplined along gender lines to fit into the binary of male-female. Further, one’s sexuality is confined within the heteronormative framework. Several institutions like family, religion, caste, law, state and police function within the purview of maintaining control over bodies. Bodies failing to adhere to these norms are constantly met with violence thus prompting a reflection on how queer politics can effectively address the complexities of lived experiences while remaining committed to challenging normative structures and advocating for social justice.

As the visibility of Indian queerness grows, it poses emerging intersectional challenges within queer politics. These challenges arise from the intersections of queerness with other axes of identity such as class, caste, and gender thus requiring a more nuanced understanding of queerness and its relationship to broader systems of oppression and privilege. The inclusion of ignored, un-gazed upon gendered and sexualised bodies can lead to some exciting understandings about otherwise what come to be known as heteronormative knowledge streams. Much of what we know or study is a product of an implicit heterosexual bias that boxes things into binaries, whereas, queerness destabilises the preconceived assumptions about society, identity, and normativity, while simultaneously offering a critical lens to look at knowledge construction. Queer bodies are perceived in different ways, often arousing emotional, disruptive, and conflicted ways of perceiving. For queer people themselves, bodily display or performance may elicit feelings of euphoria, dysphoria, pride, pleasure, guilt, shame, or disgust which are bound to the cosmetic and aesthetic regimes that reveal bodies as deeply emotional zones that dictate how one feels, thinks, and does. Queer spaces become an important category in this regard, as a site for the expression of one’s feelings, desires, and anxieties with its potential for intimacy and care. These environments provide spaces for community dwelling and belongingness altogether, while offering the potential for deeply intimate identity formation that can foster a political selfhood. Queer spaces exist because the premise of endured suffering and experiential understanding of the world promises a rallying point for politics based on shared intimate bonds, solidarity, and empathy. Thus, despite potential challenges or conflicts, queer spaces based on sociality provide a sense of belonging and continuity within the individual’s social and familial contexts. Yet, I argue that these shared spaces also function beyond queerness as a sole unifying identity. Roy (2022) calls it a form of “caste kinship” which implies a sense of solidarity and belongingness based on shared social location, access, and identity.

Caste holds on to every facet of life like water in a sponge, sometimes though not explicitly, yet seeping through when least expected. In queer-dominated spaces, bodily autonomy and agency protest against the heteronormative social norms that dictate one’s being and belonging in society. However, with such rebellions against the disciplining of the body, one forgets the pre-constituted element of caste that has already seeped through a body right with birth, making caste as valid as one’s sexuality and preferences. Still, caste is a very selective part of the queer movement and academic discourse. It is often so because the function of caste is associated with heteronormative and heterosexual means to control and territorialise the body. Kumar (2014) contends, that endogamy being a predominant feature of the caste system, it remains confined to heterosexual norms. Sexually reproducing bodies along the lines of the heterosexual binary can be contained, as against non-conforming bodies. Notwithstanding the lack of caste in studying queerness, even anti-caste perspectives are limited in dealing with non-conforming genders and sexualities due to their preoccupation with material realities of exploitation, abjection, and violence in the caste system (Gopal, 2019). Kumar (2014) further demonstrates in his work what happens when the body of a lower caste queer person is violated. The said body cannot seek support out of fear and shame of abjection by its own community and family. Thus silence becomes the only articulation. Furthermore, the violence against queer bodies is retained in silence because of their attraction and productive abilities falling against and outside of the family structure (ibid). Thus without their reproductive powers, queer bodies remain disposable and invisible. There are varying markers among queerness based on space and class differentiation. In rural or semi-urban spaces, the categories of identifying queerness are very different from their metropolitan counterparts.

The once-rigid links between sex, gender, and sexual desire, which the invisible heterosexual matrix firmly secured in bourgeois culture, have become more flexible as the gendered divisions of labour among the middle class in industrialised countries have shifted. While these more accommodating gender codes are not yet pervasive, they have begun to take hold, particularly among the young urban middle class. This shift reflects changing attitudes towards gender roles and sexual identities, influenced by increased awareness and acceptance of diverse expressions of gender and sexuality. As traditional norms are challenged, there is a growing recognition of the fluidity and complexity of identity, leading to a more inclusive and flexible understanding beyond what it means to be male or female. By commercialising and institutionalising aspects of queer identity, commodification both reflects and reinforces shifts in societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality. However, it also raises questions about the co-option of marginalised identities for profit and the potential dilution of radical queer politics in favour of more palatable, marketable representations.

References:

• Kang, A. (2023). Savarna citations of desire: queer impossibilities of inter-caste love. Feminist Review, 133(1), 63-78.
• Kumar, P. (2014). Queering Indian sociology: A critical engagement. Explorations: ISS e-Journal, 2, 60-85.
• Ponniah, U., & Tamalapakula, S. (2020). Caste-ing queer identities. NUJS L. Rev., 13, i. 3.
• Ross, S. (2023, May). “I chose to look like this”: Body modification and regretting visibility. TigerPrints.
• Roy, S. (2022). Changing the subject: Feminist and queer politics in neoliberal India. Duke University Press.
• Rubin, G. (1984). “Thinking sex: Notes for a radical theory of the politics of sexuality” in Pleasure and Danger, edited by C. Vance, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.

Cover Image: Photo by Amadej Tauses on Unsplash