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THE ORIGINS OF QUEERS

                                                                 by Michael Kirwan

      A little more than 30% of males are born without established gender traits. These boys come into the world without competitive, combative, or the mechanical skills normally attributed to their sex. They lack the aggressive tendencies usually associated with “maleness” and for the most part fail to react to the accepted stimulus (trucks, sports, weaponry) most “normal” boys readily respond to naturally. These boys are a blank slate, an empty canvas, dropped into society without the intuitive masculine behavior patterns in place. They are neither boisterously male nor passively female, they have no predilection one way or another and as a result must learn to emulate and mimic the role models around them to forge a recognizable identity. Little sexual ciphers, without a specific set of propensity for any particular mannerisms. Since most youngsters spend their early formative years in the company of their mothers and other female relatives the boys tend to reflect some of the feminine qualities they are initially exposed to. Women are obvious and for the most part emotionally transparent so it is little wonder that the boys will impersonate their behaviors, seeing them as the model to follow. Men, being more taciturn and stoic, are more challenging to imitate. As they grow a little older, the absence of any sense of competitiveness makes playing with other boys difficult and disorienting. They do not understand the need to inflict pain or form tribal allegiances, characteristically inherent patterns revealed in the interaction of young boys. The need to win, a “King of the Hill” mentality, is not in place and can cause these boys to be mocked and ostracized by their male peer group. The ouster and humiliation usually promotes them to seek out the companionship of girls who are also born without the need for physical domination in their playtime activities. The boys avoid the brutality and seemingly irrelevant contests to establish authority and a place in the pecking order. The “blank boys” end up spending more time amidst the more nurturing and collective practices of developing girls. The boys also gravitate towards being alone as much as possible so as to be removed from the pressure of “acting” like anyone else. It is important to understand that this “acting” is a lifelong condition. Our boys are born without the purely masculine warrior tendencies and although they can learn to fake it, they are never subconsciously as driven as are their more naturally aggressive male counterparts.

       At the advent of puberty two important factors come into play. The first is related to the noncompetitive aspect of our boys’ psyches. Other young boys begin to compete with each other for the attentions of females. To them the girls are mysterious “others” that must be sought out and claimed. The “normal” boys seek to own and dominate a girl, making her their property for sexual exploration and as a status symbol to the members of their particular fellowship. The more aggressive males (propelled by hormonal upsurges) develop tactics, ploys and strategies to ensnare and inveigle their female quarry. A contest ensues wherein each boy in a group tries to best his compatriots by getting a “better” girl and going further with her. The Blank Boys, who don’t view females as being more “other” than they do the males surrounding them, do not gravitate towards the need to dominate a female any more than they felt a need to dominate in games as youngsters. The aggressive need to prove their place in the male hierarchy never kicks in.

     The second and more salient circumstance has to deal with the “acting” that our boys have been practicing since birth. Born without the most obvious male-related behaviors to function in society the Blank Boys have been studying and imitating the behaviors of whoever they deem a successful exemplar. Now they are acutely aware of the sexualized attitudes displayed by other young men and surreptitiously watch these males for behavioral cues. They also experience the massive hormonal shifting and it coincides with the nearly obsessive observation of the “regular” boys to learn the most commonly accepted model of conduct. While studying the sexual awakenings of the males around them and dealing with their own budding sexuality, the Blank Boys recognize for the first time a kinship, a parallel experience, and a sense of brotherhood with the source of their inspiration. Our boys finally feel a kindred spirit to the males that had mystified them with the brutality and combative attitudes of youth. The incessant teenage erection serves as the great equalizer. The Blank Boys suddenly feel a great attachment and genuine affection in the companionship of male society, and will relive that sense of belonging by having sexual relations with other males thereafter. Some Blank Boys will adopt a heterosexual façade, imitating what they perceive to be a “male” lifestyle. Others will reject that level of “play acting” since it requires such a lengthy commitment and offers little opportunity to just behave in the “blank” way that is their natural state. They become queers, or opt out of any sexual categorization altogether.

      I’d just like to make a few side comments here. One has to do with the Blank Boys spending their early lives continually observing social interaction to glean clues about how they should identify themselves. The whole “acting” as a boy or as a girl conundrum, if you will. The Blank Boys pick up feminine behaviors and attitudes because they are the distaff side of what is considered male attributes (aggressiveness, competitiveness) which they were born without. They must fill in the “blanks” their entire lives by parroting what other people do naturally, eventually creating a comfortable persona to inhabit. Because our boys have to watch everyone else so closely, because they feel compelled to understand how and why other people function in order to “pass” in society, they develop certain abilities that the rest of the population doesn’t require. By dissecting and scrutinizing the various personalities they come in contact with, the Blank Boys accrue a deeper understanding of how humanity operates. That’s why they excel in the arts. They’re drawn to the field of drama because they are intimately familiar with the nuances of “acting”, having to do it so much. They become artists because they see society more keenly, with more objectivity, and more curiosity. To them, the artistic representation of life is as valid as real life, since that is how they evaluate their surroundings. They naturally “see” more because they are compelled to look deeper to make sense of a system in which they always feel like outsiders. As a result, Queers are regularly holding up a mirror to society, showing them who they are and how they appear in the various lives observed. We reflect who they are in art.

       Since Queers do not share the biological imperative to propagate, the need to produce progeny, they are forever precluded from the routine expectations of normal society. This is one of the reasons Queers are historically reviled and feared. Our disinterest in producing offspring is so alien and incomprehensible to the rest of humanity (for whom this is the most basic and primal of urges) that our very existence is threatening. The continuation of the species is the main purpose of every organism on earth, that any sub-group should reject that priority is alarming and offensive to the general community. At this point in time it has become abundantly clear that there is very little chance of Homo Sapiens dwindling in significant numbers due to lack of breeding. On the contrary, there are very nearly more people inhabiting the planet then can be optimally sustained. Nature always finds a balance and as a result the percentile of Blank Boys will grow to prevent the incursion of overpopulation. The Queers exist as a reproductive stopgap, and that is a good and honorable role to play in the advancement of human civilization. In the end, Queers are a vital and totally necessary element for the betterment of mankind.

                                               THE      END

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They may not be: redistributed; sold; altered; enhanced; modified by artificial, digital or computer imaging;
used on another website or blog; posted to any internet or computer newsgroup, forum or media sharing site;
nor used for any other purpose without the express written permission of the artist or KirwanArts.com.