Editing Queer theory (section)

{{Short description|Field of critical theory}}
{{LGBTQ sidebar}}'''Queer theory''' is a field of [[post-structuralist]] [[critical theory]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ranjan |first=Ritesh |date=July 2019 |title=QUEER THEORY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ITS IMPLICATION IN ART HISTORICAL READINGS |journal=International Journal of Current Innovation Research and Studies |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |location=Maryland Heights, Missouri |volume=2 |issue=2 |url=http://www.ijciras.com/PublishedPaper/IJCIRAS1287.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Theory |url=https://www.sexualdiversity.org/edu/theory/ |website=sexualdiversity.org |date=January 2019 |quote=Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and women's studies. |access-date=2023-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What is Queer Theory? |url=https://libraryguides.fullerton.edu/c.php?g=1134908&p=8436083 |website=California State University, Fullerton Library |quote=Queer theory is a critical theory that examines and critiques society's definitions of gender and sexuality, with the goal of revealing the social and power structures at play in our everyday lives. |access-date=2023-08-25 |archive-date=2023-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826012513/https://libraryguides.fullerton.edu/c.php?g=1134908&p=8436083 |url-status=live }}</ref> that emerged in the early 1990s out of [[queer studies]] (formerly often known as [[gay]] and [[lesbian]] studies) and [[women's studies]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chandler |first1=Daniel |last2=Munday |first2=Rod |title=A Dictionary of Media and Communication |date=1 January 2011 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-956875-8 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199568758.001.0001/acref-9780199568758-e-2220 |chapter=queer theory }}</ref> The term "queer theory" is broadly associated with the study and theorization of gender and sexual practices that exist outside of [[heterosexuality]], and which challenge [[Heteronormativity|the notion that heterosexuality is what is normal]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warner |first1=Michael |title=Fear of a queer planet: queer politics and social theory |date=2011 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]] |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |isbn=978-0-8166-2334-1 |oclc=934391034 }}{{page needed|date=July 2022}}</ref> 

Following [[Social constructivism|social constructivist]] developments in [[sociology]], queer theorists are often critical of what they consider [[Essentialism|essentialist]] views of [[Human sexuality|sexuality]] and [[gender]]. Instead, they study those concepts as social and cultural phenomena, often through an analysis of the categories, [[gender binary|binaries]], and language in which they are said to be portrayed.

Scholars associated with the development of queer theory are French [[post-structuralist]] philosopher [[Michel Foucault]], and American feminist authors [[Gloria Anzaldúa]], [[Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick]], and [[Judith Butler]].