The Ecological Constructions of Queer

Queer ecology is a bridge between ecological criticism and queer theory. The word ecology is derived from the Greek word oikos, which means ‘home’ or ‘surroundings’ and summed as the study of organisms relationship to each other and to their physical, environmental surroundings. The word queer is derived from the German word quer, which means ‘transverse’, ‘oblique’, ‘sideways’, or more understandably “a moment of unfamiliarity” or not at home. These two words based on those definitions seem like they would seldom correlate. However the fact of the matter is that we would normally want to separate the two based on our foundations in understanding nature, the human experience, environmentalism, and gender and sex. This is even more of an imperative reason as to why Queer ecology needs to exist. As Morton said, “Ecology is Queer Theory and Queer Theory is Queer Ecology.”

There is no one static definition on what it means for any organism, especially humans in all our complexities to be queer because we often categorize queer people as “other” when they probably should be integrated into our normative viewpoints. Queer is a product of various theories influenced by cultural pressures into the structures we create and it is an alternative.

“Ideas and practices of nature, including both bodies and landscapes, are located in particular productions of sexuality, and sex is, both historically and in the present, located in particular formations in nature. The critical analysis of these locations and co-productions is what we mean by “queer ecology…” (Mortimer-Sandilands, pg.4)

Queer ecology (and queer theory) challenges what sexualities we deem as “natural” or “normal” and our biology diverting from social, physical, and conce...

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...sented as more than just deviance, but a way in to comparable differences to what are the societal and sexual norms of “typical” attractions and behaviorisms. This is the outlying interdisciplinary approach to the nebulous idea of queer ecology. In sum, clarifying the definition of queer and how queer ecology influenced and diverted from more biased structures to ecology has a positive effect on future studies, despite its own shortcomings. It provides a more fluid and approachable, albeit complex framework for many people.

Works Cited

Mortimer-Sandilands, C., and Bruce Erickson. Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire. Indiana University Press, 2010.

Morton, Timothy. "Guest Column: Queer Ecology." PMLA 125.2 (2010): 273-282.

Roughgarden, Joan. Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. Berkeley: U of California P, 2009.