An Examination of the Emergence of the Queer Figure in North American Culture Using a Queer Marxist Theoretical Framework

This thesis develops a new sociological perspective entitled “Queer Marxism,” a neo Marxist perspective on gender identity, gender expression, and gender oppression that incorporates Judith Butler’s queer perspective of gender performativity. Using this Queer Marxist framework, this thesis will identify an existing tension, due to emerging contradictions within the North American capitalist structure, between the current realities of gendered bodies and the dominant gender binary ideology of North American society. In reflecting on this tension, this project will argue that non-normative genders (and sexualities) are gaining more recognition and validation at a cultural level which, in turn, serves to only further contradict the hegemonic presence of the gender binary ideology that is upheld by the dominant socio-political and economic structures of North America society. As a result, the cultural forces of gender based domination and subordination that support the relations of capital have begun to destabilize, diversifying gender performativity as a consequence