constructs, shaped by discourse and performance, rather than reflecting a fundamental reality.
The problem with Queer Theory is that it is anti-essentialist in a fundamentalist way. Taken to its logical conclusion, almost everything is a social construct (including trans identity), and nothing has any concrete meaning at all! This is why it's such a bad basis on which to argue for trans acceptance and trans rights. Hence, I totally believe that Queer Theory's ideas are fundamentally detrimental to trans people.
Why Queer Theory is Bad For Trans People The fundamental reason why queer theory is bad for LGBT people is because it is ideological, i.e. it is rooted in certain philosophical commitments rather than empirical reality or the actual lived experience of LGBT people. Queer theory is heavily influenced by the philosophy of postmodern thinker Michel Foucault, which means that it is fundamentally committed to a postmodern, Foucauldian worldview. Included in this package are very problematic ideas like how knowledge and discourse is fundamentally about power and oppression. These ideas have fueled an LGBT culture that is overly focused on matters of language, style and identity labels, which I believe is ultimately unhealthy for us. As a trans person, I can say that my life experience of the world does not agree with the postmodern worldview. I simply 14
