Queer Asia: Decolonising and Reimagining Sexuality and Gender

Description

Queer studies is now a rapidly expanding field, as scholars from a variety of disciplines seek to address the long-running marginalisation of queer perspectives and experiences. But there has so far been little effort to unify the study of queer communities outside the West, and much of the current writing views these communities through a narrowly Western lens.Building on the work of the annual Queer Asia conference, which the editors helped to establish, this collection represents the most comprehensive work to date on queer studies in an Asian context. Featuring case studies and original research from across the continent, covering the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Asian diasporas, the collection offers a genuinely pan-Asian perspective which places queer Asian identities and movements in dialogue with each other, rather than within a Western framework.By considering how queerness is imagined within plural Asian experiences and contexts, the contributors show a that re-envisioning of'queer'through Asian perspectives has the potential to challenge existing discourses and debates in the wider field of contemporary gender, sexuality, and queer studies. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgements Foreword References Introduction Positionality Decolonise ‘Queer’ and Asia Structure Notes References PART I: NEGOTIATIONS One: Under Empire and the Modern State: Unravelling ‘Queer Precarities’ inside Global Assemblages Introduction Assembling a Coherent Body: Rewriting the Hijra as a ‘Third Gender’ in South Asian History State/NGO Propaganda and the Creation of Imposed Subjectivities Queer Assemblages as Queer Precarities Conceptualising a South Asian ‘Queer’ Solidarity Can There Be a ‘Queer Asia’? References Two: Reimagining HIV in Indonesian Online Media: A Discussion of Two Recent Indonesian Web Series Conclusion Notes References Three: Rich in Desire: Sexualities and Fantasies Deriving from Poverty, Stigmatisation, and Oppression Introduction The Lucky One (宠儿, 2011, 36 minutes) Love You Too (也爱你, 2017, 16 minutes) Yvo and Chrissy (如此生活, 2017, 64 minutes) Yvo Chrissy Rich in Desires Queer and Rebel in Desires Desiring to Express References Four: Mithliyy, mithlak: Language and LGBTQ Activism in Lebanon and Palestine Introduction A Rainbow Dictionary: LGBTQ Neologisms Code-Switching and the Arab Queer Ana shaz, ‘I Am a Deviant’ Conclusion Notes References Online references Five: Interview with Alana Eissa: Trans Activism in Malaysia and the UK Asylum Process Can you speak a little about the context in Malaysia: in particular, how LGBT issues are unrepresented, restrictive laws, and dominant cultural practices that affect how LGBTQ communities live and exist? One of the interesting facts about the population in Malaysia is the different racial, ethnic, and religious communities, and different languages. So, are these burgeoning LGBTQ communities crossing cultural and racial categories? Is this happening at all, where their LGBT identity transcends other parts of identity, or are people more likely to organise among those they know? Can you speak about LGBTQ communities and movements in Malaysia? To what extent are trans issues located within LGBT organisations or groups or movements, or are trans issues seen as separate, and what are your experiences of this? You brought up the issue of access to hormones. In Malaysia, how is access to hormones gained? What are your experiences of access to hormones and healthcare in the UK? In addition, your experiences of the asylum process brought up the issue of naming and identification and problems you faced. Can you comment on this? Notes References PART II: TRACES AND AMBIGUITIES Six: Queer Desires and Satirised Empires: Notes on Aubrey Menen’s A Conspiracy of Women (1965) Introduction Queer Lines on Alexander the Great ‘To Make Love in Foreign Ways’ Imperial Encounters … and Analogies Some Conclusions Notes References Seven: Queer Objects: An Archive for the Future Scenario Planning In Context In but Not of Singapore In but Not of An-Archive Queer Archive as Subjugated Knowledge National Registration Identity Card The Invisible Dilator Conclusion Annex: Statement to the Press by Loo Zihan, 12 February 2016 Notes References Eight: The Isolated Queer Body: Harisu’s Dodo Cosmetics Advertisement Introduction Harisu’s Dodo Cosmetics Advertisement Laneige Cosmetics Advertisements from 1995 to the Present The Isolated Queer Body Notes References Nine: Interview with Floyd Scott Tiogangco: Filmmaking and Gender Expression in the Philippines What is the current state of LGBTQ+ movements in Manila? What has been the impact of Spanish and American colonisation on sexual diversity in the Philippines? We loved learning about your work in the film Slay (Roque, 2017) that was premiered in the UK at the ‘Queer’ Asia Film Festival in the British Museum in June 2018. How did you come to be involved with the film and the work it does, and about the process of identifying as a homosexual, trans-androgynous, genderqueer person? How does the use of Tagalog, Beki language, and language generally, challenge ideas of identity and gender based on anglophone identities? Notes References PART III: COALITIONS AND FRACTURES Ten: Intersex Advocacy in Chinese/Sinophone Contexts: A Primer, Accompanied by an Interview with Activist Small Luk Introduction Intersex Rights in Hong Kong or Chinese Contexts Interaction with the Global Movement: Engagement with the UN Human Rights System Regional Advocacy: The 2017 Hong Kong Statement ‘陰陽人’ (Yin-Yang Person) or 雙性人 (Middle Sex Person) Concluding Remarks: Intersex Rights at Cultural Crossroads Interview with Small Luk, 17 April 2018 Notes Bibliography Eleven: Queer Asia’s Body without Organs: In the Making of Queer/Decolonial Politics Introduction The Decolonial Queer Praxes That Queer Asia Encounters, or Creates Queer Asia’s Self-Problematisation as a Method to Resist Coloniality ‘Queer Asia’ as the Reflective Body without Organs of Queer Asia(s) Conclusion References Twelve: Feminist and Queer Perspectives in West Asia: Complicities and Tensions Introduction Historical Complicities Emergence of Queer Feminist Spaces Rainbow Contestations Conclusion Notes References Thirteen: Interview with Alqumit Alhamad: Art and Intersections from Syria to Sweden Your art represents a powerful expression of gender, sexuality, and violence. How did your art evolve over the period of your journey and struggles from Syria to Sweden? How does your art help you challenge ideas of sex and gender in Syrian communities, and when did you start using art to discuss issues around sexuality? A lot of the transformation in your art has also been about the journey you undertook as a refugee migrating from Syria to Sweden. How has your struggle been a part of your activism and art? How has your work as an activist changed and evolved from when you left Syria and to your outreach work now in Sweden? Note References Epilogue