Excerpt From Navigating Troubled Waters: The Sexual Politics of Heterosexism and Homosexuality: The Formation of Sexual Hybridity

Sexuality is often a difficult concept to understand, and it is important to remember there is a problem of defining the concept of sex because of what the word sex implies (Kempadoo 60). This stems from the fact that gender and sex are often categorized as the same concept, but each word signifies an individual meaning of its own (Kempadoo 60). In order to understand homosexuality and heterosexism it is important to understand that when the word sex is invoked it often signifies whether a person is male or female, and when the term gender is used it signifies whether a person is masculine or feminine (de Beauvoir qtd. in Arndt 1). With that said, sex is a natural state, while gender is a product of culture (de Beauvoir qtd in Arndt 1). On the surface this is a simple construction of the concepts of both gender and sex because it presents them as two separate concepts, but the connection between the two is more intricately complex. There is a third concept that comes to mind when it comes to understanding gender and sex, and it often creates a connection between the two. The concept of sexuality is what creates a connection between both gender and sex, and in terms of the Caribbean gender and sex go hand in hand when it comes to sexuality. Going back to the original definition of sexwhether a person is male or female according to the laws of natureit is clear that in the Caribbean a persons sex and their cultural gender often dictate the type of sexuality a person must have to be considered acceptable. The following diagram best illustrates the connections between sex, gender, and sexuality. Within this diagram sexuality is the connection between a persons gender and sex.

Fig. 1. The Relationship between Sex, Gender and Sexuality

In the Caribbean a person must perform the gender that is specific to their sex to be accepted culturally as well as on a national level because the nation-state imposes a certain homogeneity on its citizens (Cummings 173). So in essence a persons gender is often linked to a persons sexual identity, and a persons sex is also connected to their sexual identity. It is important to remember, that sexuality is the signifier to who a person is attracted to sexually. The following diagram splits sexuality into its respective components. In the Caribbean, when a male is attracted to the same-sex it creates
Fig. 2. Construction of Sexuality

problems because he does not conform to the type of sexuality deemed appropriate and dominant by the hegemonic sexual power in charge. Sexuality is thus connected to a persons citizenship, and the politics of sexual exclusion are created (Cummings 173).

Ultimately, sexuality is the key factor in defining a persons identity and place within the Caribbean community, and in order to understand this it is best took look at the dominant sexuality that acts as the controlling force within the islandsheterosexuality. Heterosexuality is when a person is attracted to the opposite sex, and [it] is founded on two fundamental oppositions constructed as hierarchies (Ryder 370). These hierarchies can be constructed as male and female and heterosexual and homosexual (Ryder 130). Heterosexuality is accepted as the norm where as When heterosexuality is considered

homosexuality is often looked upon as deviant.

the norm, and used to oppress other sexualities or even other people, it often leads to sexual discrimination or sexism. Heterosexual oppression can be defined as Heterosexism, and it characterizes a political situation in which heterosexuality is presented and perceived as natural, moral, practical, and superior to any nonheterosexual option (Hopkins 232). So in order to understand homosexuality within the Caribbean it is best to look at the politics of heterosexism and the space within which the homosexual is defined. Before that can be done it is important to remember that when it comes to studies on sexuality, one must not collapse gender and sexuality into continuous categories instead they must be understood as a unified whole (Sedgwick How to Bring 157). The main power behind heterosexism comes from the fact that it is maintained through denial and exclusion (Ryder 370). Denial and exclusion are fundamental to any type of oppression because they operate on the premise that if one follows the appropriate rules and guidelines of a society then they will be entitled to certain privileges. When a person is heterosexual within the Caribbean they are entitled to

what is called heterosexual privilege (Ryder 373). People that enjoy the privileges of heterosexism often exploit their power, and thus use politics, religion, and economics to secure their place as heterosexuals. The second form of power behind the structure of heterosexism is the concept of gender binarieswhich also operate on the premise of exclusion. According to Patrick D. Hopkins No individual escapes being genderedbecause so much else depends on gender....there is no such thing as a gender undifferentiated person....[because] Binary identities demand criteria for differentiation (232). Once again, this proves that gender is a cultural creation, and in order for heterosexism to thrive it must be created on the basis of gender binaries. Since gender is a cultural production it is deeply connected to the way a society or community functions and it: Produces [a] multiplicity of other categories in society: labor, reproduction, associated responsibilities, childrearing roles, distributions of political power, economic status, sexual practices, [and] uses of language, application of certain cognitive skills, possession of personality traits, spirituality, and religious beliefs. (Hopkins 231) Once again, gender creates an identity for each person within a society, and because gender is closely linked to sexuality, every aspect of life is controlled by becoming autonomous with the privileges of heterosexual identification. This creation of gender binaries within a heterosexual dominant society leads to the controlling and policing of a persons sexual identity (Cummings 174). Because personal identity is heavily genderedany threat to sex/gender categories is derivatively interpreted as a threat to personal identityand like most serious threats, is

often met with grave resistance for challenging the regulatory operations of a gender system (Hopkins 233). Intense heterosexual fear of homosexuals stems from the fact that homosexuals are a threat to the established heterosexual hierarchies and because of that they must be punished and eliminated (Pharr 260). This intense fear that leads to the violent and abusive acts committed against homosexuals is called homophobia. So it is clear that homophobia is the result of heterosexism (Hopkins 235). In order to understand homophobia it is best to take a look at the way it affects the homosexual individual within a heterosexually dominant society. The first way homophobia affects the homosexual is by instilling fear within the individual, but this fear has to do with the fear of ones own sexual identity. Because they fear the consequences of being gay within a heterosexual dominant society, homosexuals often become the perpetrators of homophobia. This leads homosexuals repressing their own sexuality which in turn forces them to compartmentalize their erotic orientation and same-sex sexual experiences so radically that they live two separate, torturous lives (Hopkins 235). Fearing the repercussions of being labeled as the sexual deviant, homosexuals become something other than either a homosexual or heterosexual male, and they occupy a space of sexual hybridity. They are sexual hybrids because even though they may identity as heterosexual they are ultimately only sexually attracted to the same-sex. They are forced to mask their own identity within the confines of heteronorms, and in essence wear a heterosexual mask (Murray 263). In order to understand this concept of sexual hybridity it is best to look at another diagram that demonstrates the space in which homosexual men identity themselves within a heterosexist society. Fig. 3 demonstrates the hierarchy in which heterosexuality

Fig. 3. Sexual Hybridity

dominates both self identified homosexuals as well as homosexuals who identify as heterosexuals. It is important to remember that although their sexuality is split within two subgroups homo/hetero homosexual that perform sexual hybridity are not considered bisexuals because they are strictly attracted sexually to the same-sex but hide behind the faade of heteronorms. Figure three also demonstrates the fact that at the top of the hierarchy is the heterosexual, which encompasses a significant part of the homosexual group. At the bottom of the hierarchy is the homosexual that has risked the stigmatization of heterosexism and self identified strictly as gay. As a heterosexist society entails, only a small portion of homosexuals actually identify as such. The breaks within the circle between the heterosexual and the hetero-homosexual represents that the heterohomosexual can penetrate the liminal boundaries of heterosexuality, but is prevented from crossing the liminal boundary to identifying as homosexual. This results in the hetero-homosexual as constantly contesting the spaces between heterosexuality and homosexuality never fully being one or the other. Eventually the Repressed heterohomosexual often reveal[s] his repression through obsession, sometimes through

active malignancyby assaulting or killing or merely registering disgust at that which he hates embodied in that which he desires (Hopkins 242). The space within which the hetero-homosexual occupies is one of violence, death, and longing to obtain wholeness from sexual fragmentation. Another problem that arises from the sexual hybridity of the hetero-homosexual is that for a homosexual to keep up the mask of heterosexuality he must perform the gender identity specific to that of heterosexual males. This gender identity is masculinity, and in order to hide or mask their sexuality homosexuals over perform the masculine gender identity. This leads to what is called a hyper-masculinized persona (Crichlow 107). Because homosexuals must "mask" their own sexuality by over performing a specific gender which results in hyper-masculinity, it is clear that "gender and sexuality [must be seen] as interlocking vectors of oppression" (Ryder 373). In the Caribbean men who are hypermasculinized are called "Bullers," and in order to secure their positions as men they often resort to acts of physical strength or even acts of violence (Crichlow 113). Crichlow relates to this type of hyper-masculinity as "walking around with a permanent 'hard-on'", and by asserting their masculinity through acting it out Bullers " [buy their] way into the communal construction of normative masculinity...through the prism of heterosexuality" (113). "Bullers" are forced to become something "other" than their own true sexual identity. They are unable to cross the liminal boundaries of sexual identification, and are forced to live with the violent consequences of being unable to express their sexuality. It is evident that when heterosexism is bound up within national identify it forces sexuality and gender to become one. This leads to harmful and permanent

discrimination against individuals that have same-sex desires. Just like colonialism resulted in the formation of cultural hybridity and the concept of the "other", heterosexism within the Caribbean forces homosexuals into a space of sexual hybridity as well and they become the new "other" of colonialism. Therefore colonialism has had an enormous affect on the sexual identity of homosexual men within the Caribbean. Because the history of colonialism forces countries to create a national heterosexual identity, any person who is considered otherbecause of their sexual identityis seen as opposed to the nations identity (Sedgwick Nationalisms and Sexualities 150). No person within the Caribbean can avoid the historical effects of colonialism, and they will forever be subjected to new laws of colonization like sexual oppression.

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