Revelation
British supermodel Lily Cole has revealed that she identifies as “queer” adding that she sees other labels of sexuality as too “rigid”.
Or to put it less excitingly, a model says she calls herself “queer.” Nobody cares, and life goes on.
In a new interview with the Sunday Times Style to discuss her debut book, Who Cares Wins, the mother of one, 33, said the choice of the word queer allows her to be open while protecting her private life.
Yes indeed, and it allows her to be bold while remaining cautious, it allows her to be frank while remaining bashful, it allows her to be trendy while doing nothing at all.
“If I were living in another country today, my queerness would be a crime,” she said.
If she were living in another country today her femaleness would be a crime. In Afghanistan that crime is punished with a life sentence to house arrest.
In other words, how about being less precious and self-absorbed? How about not playing into this delusion that some minute variation in how she sees herself is worth confiding to a reporter? How about looking past the self instead of obsessing about it?
In the interview, Cole, who was first scouted at the age of 14 and appeared on the cover of British Vogue two years later, also discussed the duality of the modelling world. She said the industry both empowers women while imposing impossible beauty standards.
“I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I feel that fashion is one of the only industries where women are more empowered than men — female models are paid more than male models, the consumers are predominantly female, it is a very female-centric industry. And so, in a strange way, I felt very empowered.”
She can skip identifying as queer, she can identify as thick as a plank, instead. No, being a fashion model is not “empowering.” Well paid for some, but maek u powerful, no.
Homophobes have always liked to push the idea that people publicly identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual are “telling us about their sex lives,” which is rude, will corrupt the children, etc.
GLB people and their allies have correctly pushed back by noting that no, GLB identity is no more about sex than straightness is. If it’s appropriate for Peter to talk about having dinner last night with his girlfriend Mary without it being “flaunting his sex life,” then it’s appropriate for Paul to talk about his dinner last night with his boyfriend Pedro.
But I’m not sure that “queerness” can use the same defense, at least not given the conflicting and fuzzy definitions at present. When someone like Cole announces she’s queer, I have no idea what that actually means, unless she’s going to clarify with some specifics that probably involve her sex life. So it seems odd to claim this vague label and then insist that you want to protect your private life.
I’m becoming more sympathetic to the view that “queer” is just “straight” for hipsters.
What does “sexuality” mean in this context? That being queer is a sexual orientation? That it involves being a man, woman, both, or neither? Is it a measure of sex drive, or being kinky? Playing around with gender roles?
It’s all the above, or none of the above, or whichever you pick. What’s too “rigid” is obviously clarity, consistency, and being “straight.”
Echoing Screechy Monkey, could someone offer me a sense of what “queer” means? It’s presumably not lesbian, or gay, or bi, because if it were, those words’d do the trick.
So, then, what is it?
Enzyme,
As best I can tell, some people use it to mean a sort of bisexuality, like they’re mostly hetero but occasionally into same-sex or vice-versa, while others use it to mean “I do not conform to 100% of the stereotypes of my gender and sexual orientation.” (Of course, essentially nobody conforms to 100% of stereotypes, but some people like to think that this makes them special.)
“Queer” Person: “I’m queer, I’m defying your oppression!”
Iranian Purity Police: “So you bugger other men/women/whatever?”
“Queer” Person: “No, the label for my sexuality isn’t so rigid.”
Iranian Purity Police: “I have no idea what you mean, why are you wasting our time?”
*hesitates*
Iranian Purity Police: “Fuck it, you have blue hair; I’m sure that violates Islamic law somewhere. Let’s go!”
What if you don’t have blue hair, and you dress exactly according to the norms of your sex in your culture, like this very very queer couple:?
Well I seem to remember president Ahmadinejad saying in an American lecture that there aren’t any homosexuals in Iran, that that was an American phenomenon.
Perhaps we should take that further: “There are no homosexuals in Iran, only queers.”
Nice that the term ‘queer’ has taken on its old definition of odd/weird. Full circle. Everyone is queer in some way or another, it’s just another way of saying we are each unique snowflakes – just like everybody else. ME people are so banal. Maybe the term ‘woman’ will eventually come round to it’s old meaning too. I can dream can’t I? :P
There’s nowt so queer as folk, as they say in the Dales.
In Iran, gay men are offered a choice: prison, or transition. They don’t have a problem with TIMs as long as they’re castrated and chopped. I’ve heard that this Islamic country is very advanced and “enlightened “ when it comes to gender-confirming surgery — which puzzles some TRAs. If even Iran gets it, why can’t everyone?
Of course,”transing away the gay” knows no borders. It would be interesting to see if the Taliban would also adopt that solution for the sin homosexuality— and if the media would report it if they did.
I think the Taliban’s way of being “queer” is loving to kill people.
Re #10
It occurs to me: TRAs often use a “guilt by association” charge by claiming that gender critical people are in league with right-wing Christians. Maybe the TRAs need a little “guilt by association” charge against them, accusing them of being in league with the oppressive Iranian government.
On the topic of old and new and old definitions of words — I learned a new TRA word this morning: “perisex”: https://themeaningofbisexuality.tumblr.com/post/147553978486/what-tf-is-perisex
It means “not intersex”. When you want to dismiss a woman, you just point out her cisgender perisex privilege, and suddenly all her female disadvantage becomes irrelevant in the face of all that privilege.
@ #9
My old grannie used to say “All the world’s queer except thee and me, and even thee’s a bit peculiar”. That’s an Irish lass brought up as a Novocastrian.
Roj, my dear departed Mum used to say that occasionally. No idea where she got that from, but certainly no connections to Ireland or either Newcastle.
So maybe that’s the proper reply to Lily Cole; Well of course you are, darling, it goes without saying…
Unless you’re one of those social media types that has to express your specialness, or what you’re having for lunch. Either of which I would be blissfully ignorant of. :P
We have a word for all these “not-x” words: normal. We don’t need new words to describe “normal” or “healthy”.
How dare you suggest that it’s more normal to be perisex than to be intersex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s more ideologically comforting to believe that somehow Iran is oh so puzzlingly progressive about this one thing, than to admit that trans activism is built on a foundation of regressive, sexist stereotypes.
A clear reference to everyone’s favorite folk band, Peter, Paul, Pedro & Mary.
The “all the world is queer…” quote has been attributed to Robert Owen:
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/robert_owen_193664
…but wikiquote has classified it as “unattributed”:
https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Robert_Owen
Regardless, it seems to have been around for a long time. I like Roj’s granny’s end wording (“and even thee’s a bit peculiar”) better.