This was so illuminating but also pretty challenging— an amazing articulation and enunciation of what it means to be Queer.
Queer theory supports the rejection of the regimes of the normal, and being at odds with this world. Where do “unsavory” erotic tendencies (i.e. incest, pedophilia, beastiality, etc.) fit into this conversation? What enables these erotic orientations to exist? Non-horizontal power structures, the ethics of consent, patriarchy, and/or the lack of agency children have, maybe. I was really challenged by this point Rubin makes, because I understand the logic and how the state exercises punitive power over demonized, sexual minorities (often painting them with a wide brush). When these right-wing talking points and laws are enacted to drive Undesirables out of communities, visible daily life, and the labor force all “perverts” can be treated with the equal amounts of disgust, regardless of where they sit on the sexual hierarchy in relation to a heterosexual, monogamous, non cross-generational dynamic. And besides, when the state does try to circumvent the threat of violence against a vulnerable population (usually, children), the laws are most often misguided, ineffective, and employs the use of defenseless scapegoats (historically, gay men, and currently trans people).
(Also, who has and continues to deprive children of their agency and rights, anyways? We simultaneously want to put them on a moral pedestal, while also completely failing to advocate for their dignity and freedom. Something I definitely need to think about more.)
I think the true concern we would have— especially as Queers, is with the abuse of authority, and not pathologizing variations of sexuality per se. We are concerned with the deconstructing of supposedly morally chauvinistic or superior stances/ways of life which protect, foster, and normalize violence. I need to read more about this but the feeling I get now is not the impulse to include every “sexuality” that is oriented against the regimes of the normal under the Queer descriptor uncritically, but to interrogate how abuse of authority and power relations can come into play especially by the state and protectors of Capital. I don’t think Rubin’s end goal was to write a defense of pedophilia and incest specifically, but to demonstrate how the knee-jerk reaction to pathologize sexuality and incite
moral panics over sexual plurality materially hurts all queer people (and sex workers) especially those already being driven out of a visible life.
Also, see: the fallacy of misplaced scale. It’s a great way to suss out moral panics over sex and sexuality.