Queer Theory: Origins, Evolution and Application

ABSTRACTThus, this chapter gives a brief history of queer theory, its assumptions and use, and various fields of study. Havingoriginated at the end of the 20thCentury, queer theory seeks to unsettle fixed gender and sexual identities by subvertingthe conventional oppositions like male/female and heterosexual/homosexual. Derived from post-structuralism andcultural feminism in alliance with psychoanalysis, queer theory sparked more from Foucault, Butler, and Sedgwickon how power relations and institutions regulate sexual identity. The current chapter discusses how Queer theorydisplaces fixed identitarianism where gender and sex rate as sui generis stressing heteropatriarchal assumptionsthat regard heterosexuality as homosexuality’s antithesis proffered as a natural orientation.Thus, besides making theoretical interventions, queer theory has functioned as the influential framework of cultural,social, and political discussions. They include literature sociology anthropology and education, which offers relevantaspects of the analysis of identity, resistance, and justice. The chapter also expounds on how queer theory relates topresent activism in this regard especially in movements that aim at subverting the oppressive structures instead ofwearing them. Thus, turning queer theory is an empowering tool in academia and activism as it provides innovativeways of reading and challenging the regulatory norms of society. This chapter is set within these parameters witha focus on indicating that queer theory remains an important lens through which continues to address currentquestions of gender, sexuality, and power.