Propagandhi: Refusing To Be A Man

In a previous post (also my response paper for a class), I was concerned with the translation of academic discourse into various other discourse communities, especially in regards to difference and oppression. As Lisa Duggan puts the sentiment, the discourse of queer theory “resists translation into terms that are cultural legible and thus usable in consequential public debates” (567). My concern was (and still is), how the “academic-ese” of critical theory can flow in networks other than the “ivory tower.”

Wandering through the city of the Internets, considering various interests of my own, I stumbled upon a band I used to listen to occasionally: Propagandhi (wikipedia), a Canadian punk bad that espouses anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobia, anti-capitalist, pro-animal rights values. They fucking rock.

This song could have come out of John Stoltenberg’s work, as well as other academic feminist and queer theory (not that I’m claiming it did or even needs to):

I’m not going to try to tell you that I’m different from all the rest. I’ve been subject to the same de-structure of desire and I’ve felt the same effects; I’m a hetero-sexist tragedy. And potential rapists all are we. But don’t tell me this is natural. This is nurturing. And there’s a difference between sexism and sexuality. I had different desires prior to my role-remodelling. And at six years of age you don’t challenge their claims. You become the same. (Or withdraw from the game and hang your head in shame). I think that’s exactly what I did.
I tried to sever the connections between me and them. I fought against their further attempts to convince a kid that birthright can bestow the power to yield the subordination of women and do you know what patricentricity means? I found out just a couple of days/months/years/minutes ago. It means male values uber alles and hey! Whaddaya know… sex has been distorted and vilified. I’m scared of my attraction to body types. If everything desired is objectified then maybe eroticism needs to be redefined. And I refuse to be a man.