Articulating Lgbt Social-Movement Identities
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INTERVENTION: (RE)ARTICULATING LGBT SOCIAL-MOVEMENT IDENTITIES Item Type Electronic Dissertation; text Authors Werner, Margaret MacGregor Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 22:51:25 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/145279 INTERVENTION: (RE)ARTICULATING LGBT SOCIAL-MOVEMENT IDENTITIES by Margaret MacGregor Werner _____________________ Copyright © Margaret M. Werner 2011 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the ENGLISH DEPARTMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN RHETORIC, COMPOSITION, AND THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2011 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Margaret M. Werner entitled Intervention: (Re)Articulating LGBT Social- Movement Identities, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ____________________________________________________________Date: 3/23/11 Thomas P. Miller ____________________________________________________________Date: 3/23/11 Adela C. Licona ____________________________________________________________Date: 3/23/11 Theresa J. Enos Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ____________________________________________________________Date: 3/23/11 Dissertation Director: Thomas P. Miller 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder. SIGNED: Margaret MacGregor Werner 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to The Marshall Foundation for its generous support of this dissertation. I would not have made it this far without it. I am profoundly appreciative. Thank you to Tom Miller for supporting me every step of the way, for giving me many opportunities to work and grow, and for believing in me; I am indebted to you. Thank you to Adela C. Licona. You constantly remind me of the value of the work that we do and pushed me to take my work further than I wanted to. Thank you to Theresa Enos. I learned more about the craft of writing from you than anyone else, despite my persistent inability to use commas correctly. Thank you to Roxanne Mountford for encouraging my ethnographic when nobody else did, for teaching me the craft of rhetorical analysis, and for pushing me to analyze Prop 107. Thank you to Julie Jung for introducing me to the discipline of rhetoric and composition, for telling me that I was good enough to get a PhD, and for saying “Of course you could go to the University of Arizona! Why couldn’t you?” I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you to Jerry Savage for teaching me articulation theory and for mentoring me throughout my time at Illinois State. Thank you to Kendal Washington White, Stephanie Balzer, and Katie Johnson Gindlesparger for giving me the chance to work with students who made me learn to love teaching. Thank you to Fatemma Rashwan-Soto and Jessica Mejia for keeping in touch and letting me see the amazing things you are doing with your lives and reminding me that teachers can make a difference. Thank you to Star Medzerian for commenting on drafts, sharing ideas, caring about the discipline, talking to me five times a day, and making me a better teacher. You are like a sister to me, and I heart you. Thank you to Veronica Virgen for making me laugh and to Alethea, Jasmin, Jr., and Vivi Virgen for sharing your lives with me. Thank you to Mary Beth Werner. You are my best friend, and I love you. Thank you to John Werner and Katie Pearson for setting the bar high. Thank you to Justine, Zane, and Angela for inspiring me. I love you all. Thank you to Penny Hankins for always being by my side, no matter how much I don’t deserve it. I love you. Thank you to Alex, Ellie, Jackie, and Sampson for loving me and bringing me joy every day. Thank you to Milo and P.K., you are gone but not forgotten. I love you. 5 DEDICATION This is for my parents Donna and John Werner. Thank you for giving me a love of books and learning. Thank you for loving me well and taking care of me always. I love you. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................8 ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................9 1. ARTICULATING IDENTITY IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: ANALYZING ACTIVIST RHETORICS ..................................................................................................10 Social-Movement Theory: A Brief Encounter ...............................................................14 Articulating Identity in Social Movement .....................................................................21 (Re)Articulation as Strategic Intervention .....................................................................26 LGBT Social-Movement Identities as Revolving Articulata ........................................29 Articulata: Identity .....................................................................................................33 Articulata: Strategy ....................................................................................................36 Articulata: Kairos ......................................................................................................38 Rearticulating Articulata ................................................................................................40 Rearticulating Social-Movement Identities ...................................................................41 Overview of Dissertation ...............................................................................................55 2: MOMENTS IN MOVEMENTS AND ITERATIONS OF IDENTITY ........................58 Signs O’ the Times: A Note on Rhetorical Context ......................................................61 The Homophile Movement: Sowing the Seeds of (self) Love ......................................68 The Times They Are A-Changing: The Militant Turn ..................................................75 Gay Liberation: The Queerest of the Queer ...................................................................77 Illusion of Conclusion ....................................................................................................86 3: GAY SEX, LESBIAN LUST, AND THE RHETORIC OF ALTERITY .....................89 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Rhetorics of Alterity – Defining the “Not I” .................................................................92 Ushering in Alterity – Larry Kramer’s 1,112 and Counting ..........................................93 Finally. Feminists .........................................................................................................105 Concluding Thoughts on Rhetorics of Alterity ............................................................118 4: WE ARE EVERYWHERE: THE RHETORIC OF NORMALITY ............................120 Let’s Begin Again ........................................................................................................123 Agitation in the 80s ......................................................................................................126 Rhetorics of Normality ................................................................................................133 The Route to Power .....................................................................................................139 Mainstreaming ≈ Marriage ..........................................................................................147 The Commercialized, Commodified Conclusion ........................................................153 5: THE FAILURE OF SUCCESS: RHETORIC, IDENTITY, AND THE (IM)POSSIBILITIES OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ACTIVISM .................................157 The “Most Bang for Their Buck”: The Arizona Together Brand ................................160 Taking a “Pass” on Gay Marriage: Synecdochal Representation and Strategic Avoidance .....................................................................................................167 Articulation, Deviance, and Social-Movement Identity ..............................................172 Outcomes of Arizona Assimilation ..............................................................................176