Bill Plympton, Trump Bites – © Bill Plympton, 2018
Studies that survey sexual identity across industries have recorded a higher number of queer-identifying people working in industries that require “above-average social perceptiveness”. Ranking high on these lists are occupations within the arts, media, psychology and sociology. Anteby et al. (2016) theorise that queer people are drawn to these occupations due to “skills developed as a result of social adaption to discrimination”.
This essay posits that this discrimination is the result of a heteronormative pedagogic method and encoded behavioural norms in society. Both influence the ways in which we think and identify with the self.
Through analyses of education of the mind at a formative stage, this essay will demonstrate the restrictions placed upon the individual by operating within a ‘straight’ OS (Operating System), put in place by a heteronormative pedagogy. These restrictions inform personal liberty, roles in society, and are inscribed both consciously and subconsciously on depictions of queer people.
The paper resultingly argues for a queer pedagogical method that will improve the ‘Umwelt’ and orientate the mind to a Queer OS (Queer Operating System). This has repercussions for the queer individual, but also potentially liberating repercussions for those that face discrimination and a restriction on mind-set due to a variety of factors, including their race, sex, religion and age. It is also theorised that a queer pedagogical method would place greater emphasis on individuality, creative thinking, and a questioning mind-set for all.
The essay will first cover the literature that has been produced in the field with regards to the Umwelt, Queer OS and ‘self-shattering’, before exploring concepts of child development and how education orientates the individual and society from an early age. The impact of popular culture and the subliminal messages it contains will then be examined. This paper reaches the conclusion that through engagement with popular culture and the introduction of a queer pedagogy, individuality, a questioning mind-set, and creative thinking will attain higher value and encourage a greater level of happiness in society.