Table of Contents
Definition of Queer Theory
(noun) A theoretical approach that critically deconstructs and challenges binaries such as male and female or heterosexual and homosexual.
Examples of Queer Theory
- Barnard, Ian. 2004. Queer Race. New York: Peter Lang.
- Warner, Michael. 1999. The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life. New York: Free Press.
Queer Theory Pronunciation
Syllabification: queer the·o·ry
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kwIR thEE-uhr-ree/
- British English – /kwIUH thIUH-ree/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /kwɪr ˈθiəri/
- British English – /kwɪə ˈθɪəri/
Usage Notes
- Plural: queer theories
- Queer theory challenges existing and essentialist notions of gender and sexuality, in particular arguing there is a bias toward heterosexuality as “normal”, referred to as heteronormativity. This bias silences nonheterosexual voices
Additional Information
- Sex and Gender Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “queer” and “theory” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Dillon, Michele. 2014. Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Queer Theory
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “queer theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/queer-theory/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
queer theory. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/queer-theory/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “queer theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/queer-theory/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“queer theory.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/queer-theory/>.