Specimen days: Diversity, labor, and the university

AJ Musser - Feminist Formations, 2015 - JSTOR
AJ Musser
Feminist Formations, 2015JSTOR
Identity politics within the institution and within sexuality studies conspire to produce me, a
queer Black woman, as a specimen—that is to say, a commodity, static and rare. That this
feeling comes from two sources that are often assumed to speak opposing languages—one
of liberation and the other of the corporation—is no longer surprising, given incisive critiques
of the university and identity politics. Rather than rehearse these arguments, this article
teases out the affective currents that underlie these overlapping forms of objectification …
Identity politics within the institution and within sexuality studies conspire to produce me, a queer Black woman, as a specimen—that is to say, a commodity, static and rare. That this feeling comes from two sources that are often assumed to speak opposing languages—one of liberation and the other of the corporation—is no longer surprising, given incisive critiques of the university and identity politics. Rather than rehearse these arguments, this article teases out the affective currents that underlie these overlapping forms of objectification. Using critical autobiography, it maps out the emotional and physical work that I perform in three different loci: university rhetoric on diversity and inclusion, women's studies' insistence on intersectionality and visible difference, and the dynamics of the classroom.
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