Question : “The human, it seems, must become strange to itself, monstrous even to re-achieve the human on another plane.” (-Judith Butler, Undoing Gender)
How have the bodies of female, queer, trans, and/or intersexed people—especially people of color—been construed historically as “deviant”/ pathological; criminal/ threatening; “disposable” and/or “inhuman” in medicine and popular culture? How are portrayals of certain lives as “disposable” negotiated today in art as well as social movements? Discuss specific examples from the realms of art and social protest, drawing on movements such as Black Lives Matter and subversive re-framings of previously devalued bodies and subjects in contemporary popular culture, music/ art, and social media.
Discuss 3 of the following in your response: Martin, Garland Thomson, hooks, Hobson, Yancy & Butler, Frank, Wright, Pascoe, and/ or Kessler. Include one of the following multi-media materials: “A Girl Like Me”; NPR podcast on “Misogynoir”; video clips re Hottentot Venus, including public response to Beyonce’s proposed movie; bell hooks “Are You Still a Slave” excerpts from New School panel.
