"Don't dream it, be it"

The sixth chapter by Gauntlett changes from Anthony Giddens to Michael Foulcault. Foulcalt's main discussion is about "modes of living," and how discourses can help us view the world around us. He then also talks about how certain groups have the so called "power" to cause discourses to be swayed an influenced. I really like this concept of power that he goes into. "Power simply cannot be held by one group; power is everywhere and plays a role in all relationships and interactions. Power does not exist outside of social relationships; it's exactly within these relationships that power comes into play" (pg.118). He then gives the a few examples of this (boss is powerful at work, but weak at home). On the opposite, he also mentioned how with power there is almost always resistance. Since this resistance comes into play, it is that which can cause even greater change to occur. "Power is productive" (pg.121).

The next chapter(7) by Gauntlett has to do primarily with the theory of queer (quickly explained that it is not related to homosexual activity, but can be used by them). The big wig behind queer theory that Gauntlett talks about is Judith Butler (though the ideas are developed from Foulcault). One of the big bullet points about queer theory is that nothing about the identity is fixed, and when I mean nothing, I mean nothing. Probably the backing point behind this is the idea of gender. Playing on identity, Butler mentions that gender is merely something that is played into by our society. If identity is not fixed at all, then gender is not fixed either. Butler is very keen on calling gender a "performance". "Butler is saying that we do not have a gender identity which informs our behavior; on the contrary, that behavior is all that our gender is" (pg.139).

Ok, so with the talk of power, resistance, and queer theory, the first thing that I thought of was The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Well, what can you say about it? Susan Sarandon losing her innocence, Bary Bostwick playing a square being sexually released, and Tim Curry in womens intimate apparel talking about transsexuals (something nobody really wants to see) to name just a few. Beyond that, there are points at which Foulcalt and Butler's ideas come into play. With power and resistance causing change comes the idea of Eddie and Dr. Frank-N-Furter creating tension and a change (leading to the creation of Rocky). With Butler and queer theory comes the idea of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Brad, and Riff-Raff being ok wearing womens clothing, since it is just a part of their identity they can change.
image from http://kingdomofstyle.typepad.co.uk/my_weblog/images/2007/08/31/ringlogo_rhps.jpg
(by the way, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is pretty weird, so if you ever go and see it....be sure to have an open mind....yeah its goofy)