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Language is loaded with symbols, and has symbolismĪccording to American anthropologist and linguist Edward Sapir, symbolism is:
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In a nutshell, symbols are part of every culture and society, and without them we wouldn't have much to say to each other, or be able to communicate in both obvious and subtle ways. Philosophically, “ at its most basic level, a symbol is anything that represents another thing by virtue of customary association due to a conceptual connection or perceived resemblance”. We find symbols in nature, science, art, religion, communities, families, nations, books, online, economies, politics and identities… Yeah, everywhere. Given these explanations and their historic meaning, it’s easy to see why symbolism, even iconography, appeals to “queers”. The ACT UP “die in” or “kiss in” is a great example of rupturing, while Sylvia Duckworth’s Wheel of Power/Privilege nicely exposes how some have more than others, and her take on Kimberlé Crenshaw’s notion of intersectionality is spot-on. It’s a form of activism, and a way to rupture, expose and refuse institutionalised systemic inequity, inequality and discrimination based on gender and sexuality and other intersections – for example, of race. This is important, because the primary aim of such a “doing” is political. I’m old-school on this, because I grew up in the ’80s – great music and fashion, bad hair and bad politics, and around the AIDS pandemic, which still lingers with women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa bearing the burden of disease. I’ll also use it as a verb, an act/action a way of “doing queer”. Sam Killerman’s The Genderbread Person provides a solid explanation of these complexities. This is important, because the primary aim of such a “being” is to challenge and disrupt normative conceptions of gender and sexuality that suggest there’s only man/woman, or straight/gay, boxes for our bodies, minds and bits to fit into. In this article, I use “queer” as both a single and collective identity category a way to identify oneself or of “being queer” – for example, I’m queer, we’re all queer (I wish). But ever wondered what to wear, and why to wear it?īut first a caveat about my use of the term “queer”, the Q in LGBTIQA+. Queers love their symbolism, and wear their colours to show pride and self-respect, to find each other, and in an act of solidarity and resistance.