I would add that adherents to critical theory don’t just want to subvert existing power structures, they want power for themselves. It’s why they take over every institution, from the arts to the schools. Once they succeed, they become the mullahs of queer theory.
There’s a tweet going around that is a distillation of this post, which goes something like this: “it’s amazing how much leftist discourse is just them pretending they don’t understand.”
Maybe some with Twitter/X on their phone can find a copy. Thanks Ben Appel for your brilliant writing & observations, and your determination that we indeed understand everything that’s going on. 💋
Someone posted this awhile back and it's truer than ever now seeing the critical theory folks after the protests in and strikes on Iran.
“It’s amazing how much leftist discourse consists of pretending not to understand what’s plainly being said — thus making discourse impossible.” The leftist doesn’t actually misunderstand you; they’re deploying a defensive manoeuvre designed to shift the exchange from truth to tone. This is the dirty secret of the progressive class. They’re exquisitely sensitive to symbolic harm and remarkably indifferent to actual suffering when that suffering is ideologically misaligned.
>> This is the dirty secret of the progressive class. They’re exquisitely sensitive to symbolic harm and remarkably indifferent to actual suffering when that suffering is ideologically misaligned. <<
What you say in this essay is what most people do not understand, including those who proudly call themselves "queer". Thank you for this concise explanation!
If you work at a university, you see this first-hand. Queering is about power and control. If they can control the language and disrupt the rules of the game, they can win.
Fascinating piece. These agitators remind me of every account I have ever read of the early Nazi movement in Germany. Before the ascent of Hitler to actual state power gangs of teens would routinely disrupt local meetings by shouting and pretending not to hear calls for order.
Thank you Ben! Queer = disrupting normativity (LGB not included!). The "queer" question and distort truth because they cannot handle it. Their purpose is to dismantle anything and everything.
Another great unveiling of queer theory! It is helping me make sense of my art school experience even back in the 1990’s. I wanted to get better at drawing - but what is “better”? Who decides what’s “better”? 3 years of re-educating me out of my natural instinct to seek beauty
I see this on posts about PCOS. The comments section gets derailed by calls for “inclusive language” because “not everyone with ovaries identifies as a woman”
I’d be interested to read about how this essay relates to your work with “Queer Majority.” Is use of the term alright with you in some contexts and not others? What’s the message to gay men and lesbian women when a publication title communicates to them if they don’t want to get on board with the publication’s perspective, they are in a newly declared minority? How is that different than the bullying that comes from the organizations that were set up to support gay men and lesbian women but now seem to despise them? Were you skeptical of the term when you began working with “Queer Majority” or did something change?
How true. Barring conservative speakers from college campuses is the same thing as disrupting the meeting describe by Ben. Different points of view should be heard but disruptors should be silenced.
I would add that adherents to critical theory don’t just want to subvert existing power structures, they want power for themselves. It’s why they take over every institution, from the arts to the schools. Once they succeed, they become the mullahs of queer theory.
There’s a tweet going around that is a distillation of this post, which goes something like this: “it’s amazing how much leftist discourse is just them pretending they don’t understand.”
Maybe some with Twitter/X on their phone can find a copy. Thanks Ben Appel for your brilliant writing & observations, and your determination that we indeed understand everything that’s going on. 💋
Someone posted this awhile back and it's truer than ever now seeing the critical theory folks after the protests in and strikes on Iran.
“It’s amazing how much leftist discourse consists of pretending not to understand what’s plainly being said — thus making discourse impossible.” The leftist doesn’t actually misunderstand you; they’re deploying a defensive manoeuvre designed to shift the exchange from truth to tone. This is the dirty secret of the progressive class. They’re exquisitely sensitive to symbolic harm and remarkably indifferent to actual suffering when that suffering is ideologically misaligned.
>> This is the dirty secret of the progressive class. They’re exquisitely sensitive to symbolic harm and remarkably indifferent to actual suffering when that suffering is ideologically misaligned. <<
This; a thousand times this.
Truth to tone 👌
What you say in this essay is what most people do not understand, including those who proudly call themselves "queer". Thank you for this concise explanation!
I can’t stand how it seeped into K-12
If you work at a university, you see this first-hand. Queering is about power and control. If they can control the language and disrupt the rules of the game, they can win.
It’s just another form of power. But they can’t see that.
I think they do. I think that is the point
Fascinating piece. These agitators remind me of every account I have ever read of the early Nazi movement in Germany. Before the ascent of Hitler to actual state power gangs of teens would routinely disrupt local meetings by shouting and pretending not to hear calls for order.
Thank you Ben! Queer = disrupting normativity (LGB not included!). The "queer" question and distort truth because they cannot handle it. Their purpose is to dismantle anything and everything.
This hits exactly right. I just wonder if a sane society will return in my lifetime?
Another great unveiling of queer theory! It is helping me make sense of my art school experience even back in the 1990’s. I wanted to get better at drawing - but what is “better”? Who decides what’s “better”? 3 years of re-educating me out of my natural instinct to seek beauty
and no skills acquired.
Enjoyable read. Thank you.
I see this on posts about PCOS. The comments section gets derailed by calls for “inclusive language” because “not everyone with ovaries identifies as a woman”
I’d be interested to read about how this essay relates to your work with “Queer Majority.” Is use of the term alright with you in some contexts and not others? What’s the message to gay men and lesbian women when a publication title communicates to them if they don’t want to get on board with the publication’s perspective, they are in a newly declared minority? How is that different than the bullying that comes from the organizations that were set up to support gay men and lesbian women but now seem to despise them? Were you skeptical of the term when you began working with “Queer Majority” or did something change?
How true. Barring conservative speakers from college campuses is the same thing as disrupting the meeting describe by Ben. Different points of view should be heard but disruptors should be silenced.
#DontPlayTheRiggedGame