Queer Theory (Other Keyword)
26-34 (34 Records)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Sex workers exist outside of the heteronormative expectations of society by not conforming to the traditional structure of relationships such as monogamy and non-deviant sexual practices. This deviation from societal norms can manifest in the way they present themselves and behave, such as types of clothing...
Queering the Household Group: Challenging the Boundaries of an Archaeological Unit (2015)
The use of queer theory in archaeology aims to challenge static social structures. This paper focuses on how traditional assumptions of family and the household can be problematized through an investigation of non-household ‘households’ – such as saloons and other non-domestic residential spaces. In deconstructing the family, queer theory has elucidated the Western and modern biases that underlie the traditional definition of this social group. By challenging normative social constructions of...
Queering the Narrative: Diverse Pasts and Political Futures (2016)
This paper explores the impact of queer theory in destabilizing heteronormative and other fixed discourses in archaeological method, practice, and interpretation. By challenging the very idea of what constitutes “normal’ in archaeology, queer theory provides new ways of thinking about and engaging with change, process, and difference. These discussions become important and necessary interventions in political debates around modern queer identities as well as social diversity at a much larger...
Queering the Norm: Reinterpreting the Heterosexual Ideal (2015)
This paper aims to problematize the concept of heteronormativity through a queer perspective. Too often, heterosexuality is posited as a universal norm against which queer identities can be examined. Through a look at archaeological deposits associated with heterosexual relationships and practices - such as courtship, marriage, and prostitution- this discussion queers the 'normalness' of heterosexuality by showing that an ideal heterosexuality is rarely, if ever, truly performed. Using examples...
Queerness and Blackness: Reimagining Bioarchaeological Paradigms (2025)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Broadly, Black feminism is based on the notion that Black women and our knowledge matter. Our positionality, being Black and female within a patriarchal white supremacist society, subjects us to unique experiences that give us insight into the many forms that oppression can take. Sexuality emerges as a core...
Teaching on the Down-Low: presenting queer theory to a broad audience (2015)
Because we so often think about archaeological theory as something for "advanced" students, and gender and queer theory still regularly get little 'air-time' in most courses, it is unusual to introduce students to these perspectives at the level of general education and introductory course work. Personal experience in teaching Archaeology of Gender in two religiously conservative states - Kentucky and Wisconsin - over the last 15 years suggests that there are ways in which we can move students...
Things that Queer: Disorienting Intimacies in Late Nineteenth Century Jooks (2015)
This paper examines late nineteenth and early twentieth century jook joints as sites that generated queer African-American intimacies and animacies. Emerging in the 1880s throughout much of the rural United States, jook joints crafted a performatively queer medium within African-American communities. Particularly in the rural south, these jooks offered a haven for black music, dance, gambling, prostitution, and alcohol consumption that disoriented expectations of temperance and frugality. ...
Tracing Relationships Among Buffalo Soldiers in 19th Century Fort Davis, Texas (2015)
The historic archaeology of US cavalry forts in the 19th century allows for exploration of a wide range of social issues and historical questions. Using examples from Fort Davis, Texas, this study analyzes Buffalo Soldier troops stationed there from 1867-1891. It presents results of an investigation of male identified homosociality within black communities by tracing male relationships within 19th century gendered labor spaces. A queer perspective allows this research to focus on the bonds and...
Understanding the Expressions of "UnFreedom" at the Montpelier Plantation’s Home Farm (2023)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Materialities of (Un)Freedom: Examining the Material Consequences of Inequality within Historical Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Montpelier Archaeology Department conducted archaeological surveys across the Home Farm at Montpelier, the plantation home of James Madison, from 2019-2022. In this paper, we will take a step back to explore how choices we–as archaeologists–made to interpret and...