Table Of ContentIntroduction
EMBRACING SHAME
‘‘BLACK’’AND‘‘QUEER’’INDEBASEMENT
TheEyesoftheTimes
InthesamesummerthetvsensationQueerEyefortheStraightGuyburst
onthescene,makingitseemasifeverymanwhowashopelesslydense
abouthousewaresandclotheswasnowahappymannequintoagroupof
queens,theNewYorkTimesMagazinewasreporting,inacoverstory,on
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aidsanddoublelivesintheblackhomosexualunderground.
SuchanuncoveringbytheTimes,linkingblackmentohide-outsand
aids,wasprobablynotprettytoconventionaleyes:blackmenmeeting
inthebasementofabathhouse,tryingtodresslike‘‘thugs,’’seekingsex
frommenwhoalsoseek‘‘thugs,’’menwhoreportthattheyarenotgay,
justblackmenseekingotherblackmenonthesecretcircuittheycallthe
DownLow.‘‘Gaysarethefaggotswhodress,talkandactlikegirls.That’s
notme,’’onemanexplains(32).Or,astheTimesreporterputit:‘‘Reject-
ingagayculturetheyperceiveaswhiteandeffeminate,manyblackmen,’’
whosleepwithmen,andcomefrommanywalksoflife(professional,un-
employed,working-class),‘‘havesettledonanewidentity,withitsown
vocabulary...anditsownname:DownLow’’(30).Hypermasculinityis
theircallingcard;‘‘dlThugs,’’theironlinechatroom.
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True,saidtheTimes,‘‘therehavealwaysbeenmen—blackandwhite—
whohavehadsecretsexualliveswithmen.Butthecreationofanorga-
nized,undergroundsubculturelargelymadeupofblackmenwhoother-
wiselivestraightlivesisaphenomenonofthelastdecade’’(30).Aman
on the dl glosses the term: ‘‘Being on the dl is about having fun. . . .
Theclosetisn’tfun.Inthecloset,you’relonely....Ithinkdlisjusta
new, sexier way to say you’re in the closet’’ (31). ‘‘Still,’’ said the Times,
‘‘forallthedefiancethatdlcultureclaimsforitself,foralloftheforce-
fulnessofthe‘neverapologize,neverexplain’stance,asenseofshame
canhoveratthemargins’’(48).Andwhateveritsintent,thearticlemakes
shamehoverratherdarklybyciting‘‘grimstatistics’’:‘‘Accordingtothe
Centers for Disease Control,’’ the Times continues, ‘‘one-third of young
urbanblackmenwhohavesexwithmeninthiscountryarehiv-positive,
and90percentofthoseareunawareoftheirinfection,’’‘‘making[these
men]aninfectiousbridgespreadinghivtounsuspectingwivesandgirl-
friends’’(30).
ThisnewnewsfortheNewYorkTimes,in2003,wasaformofoldnews
inadifferentform:thestrainedrelationsbetween‘‘black’’and‘‘gay’’atthe
levelofsigns,evenasongoingstrugglesforrightsandahealthepidemic
ofepicproportionscontinuedtoconnectblackandgaypeople.Notmuch
newer in the Times’s cover story was the dream of a bottom (here, the
DownLow)asasexualandeconomicsocialcommunion,morethanany
kindofeconomiccondition—oneensuringpleasures,eveniftheycome
withshame.AsIsay,thesedynamics—sensitiverelationsbetweentwo
signs and embrace of bottom states—were hardly new, as I will amply
show. But there has been too little intellectual curiosity applied to the
waysthesedynamicsintersect.
Iwouldliketotakeanewlycuriouslookatbottomvaluesforwomen
and men; to understand why certain forms of shame are embraced by
blacksandqueers,andalsoblackqueers,inforcefulways.Wearebound
inthispursuittoprobethevalueofdebasementasacentralsocialaction,
evenwhendebasementseemsaprivate,lonelyact.Wearelikewisebound
tocutapaththroughstrainedrelations(betweengroupsofpeopleand
between their signs) to see how ‘‘queer’’ and ‘‘black’’ touch upon each
other’smeanings,nomatterwhoorwhatwouldkeepthemapart.These
two forms of social communion—through acts of debasement and the
crossingofsigns—arethefocusofthisbook.
2 INTRODUCTION
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1.Hedwigbottom-upondoor,HedwigandtheAngryInch(2001).
SeductiveDebasementandtheRoleofaSwitchpoint
Letmeintroduce,provisionallyhere,howwemightthinkaboutthecross-
ingofsignsinthecontextofdebasement—andthinkaboutdebasement
in the context of seduction. Imagine a man’s putting candy on some
rubble, making a line, marked by candy, on top of the rubble, drawing
youtowardhisbeautifulbody,partsofitcoveredincandywhenyousee
it.The candy-covered body, with its candy-colored spread, leads you to
find yourself carried away—by a seduction that you’ve never seen take
2
thisstrangeform.
The seduction of our eyes (eye candy, indeed) takes place while we
areseeingaseductiononitswaytounfoldingadebasement.InHedwig
andtheAngryInch(2001),anEastGermanyouth(effeminate,flamboy-
ant,lyingbottomupontheruinsofadoor)meetsaseductiveandolder
blackAmericanarmysergeant(abuff‘‘SugarDaddy,’’witharichsupply
ofcandy)whentheyouthistanning,inabombed-outcrater,bytheBer-
linWall(seefigures1and2).Thetwohatchaplantomarryeachother
byunusualmeans,therebypullingtheGermantwenty-somethingacross
thewall:theyouthwillhaveasex-change.Asitturnsout,theprocedure
isbotched,leavingtheyoungmannotwithapenisnorwithanewvagina,
but, instead, an ‘‘angry inch,’’ as the movie’s title puts it. His move to
theStatesissimultaneouswiththefallofthewall(ironicallymakinghis
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2.SugarDaddywithcandy,HedwigandtheAngryInch(2001).
great escape moot), along with the end of the lovers’ relations, leaving
thevieweratthispointtowonder:thefilmneedsablackAmericanmale
(needsaspecificallyblackSugarDaddy)toindicate...what?
Wecan’tfullytell,thoughanynumberofassociationsseemtoriseup:
freedom,falsefreedom,migration(ofcourse),thecuttingtoneofirony,
mythsofcastrationandgenitalfullness,miscegenation.Theblackman’s
momentary passage through this text operates as a luxurious crossing,
so voluptuous at the level of image that no one’s political extraction of
apointcansufficientlydeliverthefunkofhiscandy-coveredform.And
yet,initsfullness,thiscrossingalsoworksasafascinatingswitchpoint.
Byswitchpointhere,Imeanthepointatwhichonesign’srichaccumu-
lations—those surrounding ‘‘American black’’—lend themselves to an-
other—‘‘East German queer’’ (among other possible readings of these
bodies).Thatis,throughthefigureoftheblackSugarDaddy,numerous
meaningsattachedto‘‘black’’(perhapsfalsefreedomormythsofcastra-
tion,totaketwoobviousassociations)switchontonewtracksandsignify
inthefieldof‘‘queerness’’(whetherhisownqueernessorthatoftheboy).
Ithinkofaswitchpoint,atleastinpart,inrailroadterms,according
towhicha‘‘switch’’is‘‘amovablesectionofrailroadtrack’’thatis‘‘used
intransferringatrainfromonesetoftrackstoanother’’;or,inelectrical
terms:‘‘adeviceusedtoopen,closeordivertanelectriccurrent’’;or,in
4 INTRODUCTION
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thegeneralsenseofaswitchas‘‘ashiftortransference,especiallyifsud-
3
denorunexpected.’’ Mytalkofswitchpointsthroughoutthisbookwill
drawonallthesepossiblemeanings.Largely,Iwillusethetermtorefer
toapointofconnectionbetweentwosigns(ortworatherseparateconno-
tativefields)wheresomethingfromoneflowstoward(isdivertedinthe
directionof)theother,lendingitsconnotativespreadandsignifyingforce
totheother,illuminatingitandintensifyingit,butalsosometimesshift-
ingitoradulteratingit.Indeed,themeaningofHedwig’ssexchange—as
abotchedpromiseofhappymigration—becomesmoreexpansive(more
texturedandintense)byaseriesofconnotativejunctureswiththehistory
ofthesignifier‘‘black,’’andwiththelayeredmeaningsofablackSugar
Daddy.Notthatwereceiveapreciseandsingularviewfromthisswitch-
point.Weonlyknowforsurethatthefilmputsthesignofablackman
(differentlyqueerfromtheboy)attheoriginofthe‘‘angryinch’’—thestart
ofasurprisinglytenderdebasement,whichitistheviewer’stroubledtask
tocomprehend.
ComprehendingDebasementandtheValueofShame
Exploring the conceptual contours of debasement, this book discovers
switchpointsbetweenblackandqueer,queerandblack,withreference
tosuchmattersasthestigmatized‘‘skin’’ofsomequeers’clothes(chap-
ter1),theanaliconographyofblacklaborstruggles(chapter2),thevisual
powerofinterracialso-calledsame-sexrape(chapter3),thepretzellogic
ofhomosexualmiscegenation(chapter4),andthefluid,aids-liketrans-
missionstoblacksofmemoriesofdeadblackAmericanslaves(chapter5).
Considerthefollowingtextualblocksthatdepictthesedebasements:
The law said [women] had to be wearing [at least] three pieces of
women’sclothing....Inevertoldyouwhattheydidtousdownthere
[inthejail]—queensinonetank,[we]stonebutches[dressedlikemen]
inthenext—butyouknew....Yougentlyrubbedthebloodyplaces
onmyshirtandsaid,‘‘I’llnevergetthosestainsout.’’
—LeslieFeinberg,StoneButchBlues
[In the] darkness and freezing stench [of the outhouse], Eva turned
[her]babyoveronherknees,exposedhisbuttocksandshovedthelast
bitoffoodshehadintheworld(besidesthreebeets)uphisass.
—ToniMorrison,Sula
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Butch cuts across traffic and dashes into a business with a sign that
reads:mason-dixon pawnshop....Miserable,violatedandlooking
likearagdoll,[blackdruglord]Marsellus[Wallace],redballgagstillin
hismouth,openshiswateryeyestoseeButchcomingupbehind[the
redneckwhojustrapedMarsellus].
—QuentinTarantino,screenplay,PulpFiction
Isawsuddenlythepowerinhisthighs...andinhislooselycurledfists.
Thatbody[Joey’sbody]suddenlyseemedtheblackopeningofacav-
ern...inwhichIwouldlosemymanhood.Precisely,Iwantedtoknow
that mystery and feel that power. . . . A cavern opened in my mind,
black,fullofrumor,suggestion....[‘‘Theincident’’ofsexwithJoey]
remained...atthebottomofmymind,asstill...asadecomposing
corpse.
—JamesBaldwin,Giovanni’sRoom
And,forsomereasonshecouldnotimmediatelyaccountfor,themo-
mentshegotcloseenoughtosee[Beloved’s]face,Sethe’sbladderfilled
tocapacity....Shenevermadetheouthouse.Rightinfrontofitsdoor
she had to lift her skirts, and the water she voided was endless. . . .
[I]nfrontofherownprivy[shewas]makingamudholetoodeeptobe
witnessedwithoutshame.
—ToniMorrison,Beloved
Eachoftheseblocksgivesaviewofshamethatisuniqueconceptually
and potent historically: a stigma attached to certain clothes akin to the
stigmaofcoloredskin(andastrangemartyrdomtocloththatensues),
awoman’sanalpenetrationofamaleasawayoffeedingandprotecting
him,abody’sanalcut(throughtheactofanalrape)inwhichistuckeda
history(aMason-Dixonhistory)thatispiercingtotheeye,male-to-male
miscegenationasthebirthingofacorpsethatisblackinthemind,and
the brain’s prophylactic struggle with the dead, especially those voided
whowerebeloved,whothreatentowashacrossthemindinthemanner
ofafluidsexchange.
BeforeIreturn,later,tooutliningthesespecificchapters,letmeex-
plainthedefinitionsandintentsthatshapethisbook—andalso,inamo-
ment,offermyreaderacriticalgenealogyofinfluentialthinkersthinking
throughshame.MovingthroughBataille,Kristeva,Taussig,Bersani,and
Sedgwick—thelattermostcentrally—alongwithEdelman,Litvak,Ken-
nedy,Muñoz,Holland,andalsoReid-Pharr,Iwilljointhisgenealogy.But
6 INTRODUCTION
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first,somedefinitions.Obviously,shameisacommon,forcefulwordfor
disgrace.Bydefinition,shameis‘‘apainfulemotioncausedbyastrong
sense of guilt, embarrassment, [or] unworthiness.’’ For example, in the
textualblocksabove,weclearlyencounterguiltoversex(renderedinthe
image of a decomposing corpse), obvious embarrassment over voiding
(Sethe’smakingof‘‘amudholetoodeeptobewitnessedwithoutshame’’),
and two attempted enforcements of unworthiness through police bru-
talityandredneckrape.Wealsoencounteraseeminglymorematter-of-
factdescriptionofananalfeedingbyamotherinanouthouse—ascene
likelytoriskareader’sattributionofembarrassment,anattributionthat
Morrisonbothgoadsandrefusesinheruniquelyuncensoriousrelation
toanalityinSula.Infact,itwillbeaconstantquestioninthisstudy:who
attributesshametoanyfeelingoraction?Acharacter,anarrator,aliter-
arycritic?Andwhatwide-rangingtonalitiesareevident(includingakind
ofmatter-of-factness)inthewaysthesedifferenttextstakeon(potential
mattersof)embarrassment,guilt,orunworthiness?
AlthoughIwillspeakofshameinthesecontexts,Iwillalsogravitate
toshame’ssynonym,‘‘debasement,’’inthisbook.Ilikeitsrelation,the
seemingmisfitofdebasement,totheconceptof‘‘value.’’Ilikeitsassocia-
tionwith‘‘adulteration.’’Ienjoyaswellitspropensitytobemisheardbya
heareras‘‘thebasement.’’Accordingtothedictionary,‘‘todebase’’means
‘‘tolowerinquality,character,orvalue.’’Debasement,bythisdefinition,
wouldseemopposedtovalue,since‘‘tovalue’’means‘‘toesteemhighly.’’
Sowhatwouldthevalueofdebasementlooklike?Mybookprobesthis
issue.Secondly,‘‘todebase’’means‘‘toadulterate’’:‘‘tomakeimpure...
byaddingextraneousorimproperingredients.’’Thisdefinitionsuitsmy
mixingofblackandqueersignsandassociationsinthisstudy(anadul-
teration,perhaps,tosomereaders)alongwithmyspecificinterestinmix-
ing(miscegenation).Finally,IhavefoundthatwheneverItellpeoplewhat
Iamwriting—abookaboutdebasement—almosttoaperson,theythink
Iamwritingon‘‘thebasement.’’Thismisperceptionaccords,ofcourse,
withdebasement’s‘‘lowering.’’Italsoagreeswiththephysical,material
loweringIdiscussinreferencetothe‘‘bottom’’:thebody’sbottom(two
chaptersareaboutqueeranality),butalsojustascentrallythebottomof
one’smind,and,byeconomicreference,thelowestend(thebottom,that
is)ofaneconomicscale.Forallofthesereasons,‘‘debasement’’isoneof
mytermsofchoice,alongwith‘‘abjection’’and‘‘humiliation,’’whichIask
the reader to keep close at hand. ‘‘Abject’’ (listed in its adjectival form)
addsthesenseof ‘‘castaway’’(fromtheLatinabjectus,abjicere,tothrow
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away)andmeans‘‘ofthemostcontemptiblekind.’’‘‘Humiliation’’lends
the important sense of ‘‘religious mortification’’—illustrated, in Ameri-
canHeritage,byDonne’sline:‘‘Humiliationisthebeginningofsanctifi-
cation.’’Thissensewillfigureinmybook’sfirstchapteronamartyrdom
toclothes,andinseveralotherchaptersinmoresubtleways.
For all of this, debasement should not be seen as a theme in this
book—though anyone wanting to theorize shame or historicize shame
(assomemightputit)shouldreadon.Debasementisafullyindispens-
ableinformant.Itisakeytounderstandingtheties,boldandsubtle,be-
tweentwosignsthatwouldseemlinguistically,historicallyseparate.The
strangenessofqueernesswouldnotseemparticularlydestinedtomeet
thedarknessofblackness,exceptinthebodiesofdarkqueerfolk.Wewill
seethisisnotso.Shameisanequal-opportunitymeeting-placeforthese
signs.Infact,Ibelievewecannotgraspcertaincomplicatedcultural,his-
toricalentanglementsbetween‘‘black’’and‘‘queer’’without,atthesame
time,interrogatingshame—itsbeautiful,generative,sorrowfuldebase-
mentsthatmakebottompleasuressodarkandsostrange.
Before I continue with this book’s plan, and take up more fully the
crossing of signs in the context of debasement, I want to offer a short
genealogy of influential thinkers who have thought about embracing
shame,orsomethinglikeit.Intriguingpatternsofthoughtemergeacross
this group (which is not exhaustive) and raise the question of certain
asymmetriesclingingtostudiesofblacksandqueers.
WhoThinksAboutEmbracingShame?ACriticalGenealogy
Atfirstglance,embracingshamewouldseemtobeanathemato(overlap-
ping)groupslikequeersandblacks,whohavebeensopubliclymarked
asdegradedanddebased.Infact,famousvoicessuchasthoseofFrantz
Fanon,writinginthe1950s,andbellhooks,writingin2004,havetire-
lesslyandcarefullychampioneddignity.
Fanon, in his classic Black Skin,White Masks, opens his book with
anepigraphtakenfromAiméCésaire:‘‘Iamtalkingofmillionsofmen
whohavebeenskillfullyinjectedwithfear,inferioritycomplexes,trepi-
4
dation, servility, despair, abasement.’’ He starts his chapter ‘‘The Fact
ofBlackness’’withthestinginglines,‘‘‘Dirtynigger!’Orsimply,‘Looka
Negro!’...Ifound...Iwasanobjectinthemidstofotherobjects....I
wasindignant....Iburstapart’’(109).Afewpageslater:‘‘Shame.Shame
andself-contempt.Nausea....Theevidencewasthere,unalterable.My
8 INTRODUCTION
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blacknesswasthere,darkandunarguable.Andittormentedme,pursued
me,disturbedme,angeredme’’(116–17).Andso,hetellsus,heiswriting
hisbooktoaddressblackpeoples’‘‘internalization—or,better,theepider-
malization—ofthisinferiority’’(11).‘‘Ihopebyanalyzingittodestroyit,’’
Fanonsayssuccinctly.‘‘Iseriouslyhopetopersuademybrother,whether
black or white, to tear off with all his strength the shameful livery put
togetherbycenturiesofincomprehension’’(12).Shameislikeagarment,
then(‘‘ashamefullivery’’)—butalsolikeaskin(an‘‘epidermalization’’)—
thatcanbetakenoff,andputon.(‘‘Willy-nilly,theNegrohastowearthe
liverythatthewhitemanhassewedforhim,’’34.)
HalfacenturypastFanon,andwritingnotinaFrenchpsychoanalytic
vein like his (with its stress on an ‘‘inferiority complex’’) but in a more
Americanidiom,bellhooks,inarecentbook,Salvation:BlackPeopleand
Love(2004),speaksintermsof‘‘self-esteem.’’Inachapterentitled‘‘Mov-
ing Beyond Shame,’’ hooks addresses ‘‘the negative impact of the color
castesystem...asamajorimpedimenttohealthyself-esteem,’’which,
shestates,isabiggerproblemnow,post–civilrights,thanitusedtobefor
5
blackAmericans. ‘‘Sincetelevisionhasprimarilyexploitedstereotypical
imagesofblackness,’’hookswrites,‘‘smallchildrenheldcaptivebythese
screenimagesfrombirth...absorbthemessagethatblackisinferior,
unworthy,dumb,evil,andcriminal’’(77).Whathooksreferstoas‘‘racial-
izedshaming,’’whichmayresultfromstandardsofbeauty,formsofhu-
mor,orverbalattacks,‘‘hasbeenacentralcomponentofracialassault,’’
she writes, and ‘‘leads . . . to significant breakdowns in [black people’s]
mentalhealth’’(81–82).hooksconcludesherchapter:‘‘Thereshouldbe
booksthatdonothingbutaccentuatethepositive,sharingtheoriesand
strategiesofdecolonizationthatenableself-love’’(92).
I give these examples from Fanon and hooks to beg an uncomfort-
ablequestionfromthestart.Istheconceptionofvaluableshamesome-
thing only a queer would consider (a white queer at that)? Throughout
this book, I will say it is not. First of all, we should note that homo-
sexuals,gays,andlesbians,fromtheearlyhomophilemovementsofthe
fifties(whenFanoniswriting)togaypublicadvocatesasdiverseasLarry
Kramer,UrvashiVaid,JonathanNedKatz,AudreLorde,andthechanging
headsoftheHumanRightsCampaign(allofwhomareactivewhenhooks
iswriting),alsospeaktodignity.Second,thoughsurelystrangeandper-
verse,thisembracingshame(asIamcallingit)inculturalcriticismand
social commentary does not begin with queer theory—a phenomenon
underwayintheUnitedStatesonlybythe1980s.Thisembrace,thatis,is
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nothomosexualinitsinception.Moreover,whenqueersdotakeitup,it
isfurtheredbyblacksaswellaswhites.Thus,totheextentthatthoughts
aboutembracingshameseemweightedtowardthefieldofqueertheory,
thisweightingmayresultfromthegreaterembraceinsidequeertheoryof
thethinkersIwillmention.Asregardsfiction,notexpositoryprose,and
thisparticulardistinctioniscrucial,IhopetoshowdramaticallythatBald-
win,Genet,Tarantino,andMorrison,amongotherwritersdiscussedin
thisbook,areintenselyengagedinembracingcertaingenerativeaspects
ofshame.Thebeautifulbottomasimaginativeresourceisawell-traveled
crossroadsfor‘‘black’’and‘‘queer.’’
Charmingly, the reason for this is the toe—at least according to
Georges Bataille, a highly influential and original critical voice who
speakstoembracingdebasement.Someoneseenasperversebysurreal-
ists (which is not as contradictory as it sounds), someone deemed an
‘‘excremental philosopher’’ by André Breton (the chief surrealist in the
twentiesandthirtieswhenBatailleiswriting),andsomeonewhowrotea
novelentitledW.C.(withitsheroineDirty),Batailleisknownforattack-
ingdignity.Ofcourse,hemightsaythat(ideasof)dignityjumpedhim
firstandassaultedhishumanity.Thisiswherethehumantoeentersin.
Thebigtoe,specifically—anequalopportunityorgan,wemightnote—
‘‘isthemosthumanpartofthehumanbody,’’Batailleasserts,sinceitdif-
6
ferentiates people from apes and allows human beings to stand erect.
‘‘Butwhatevertheroleplayedintheerectionbyhisfoot,’’Bataillewrites,
‘‘man...seesitasspit,onthepretextthathehasthisfootinthemud’’—
‘‘mudanddarknessbeingtheprinciplesofevil,’’heremindsus(hisem-
phasis)(20).Bataillecontinues:‘‘Humanlifeentails,infact,therageof
seeingoneselfasabackandforthmovementfromrefusetotheideal,and
fromtheidealtorefuse—aragethatiseasilydirectedagainstanorganas
baseasthefoot’’(hisemphasis)(21).Moreover,‘‘manwillinglyimagines
himselftobelikethegodNeptune,stillinghisownwaves,withmajesty;
nevertheless, the bellowing waves of the viscera . . . put an end to his
dignity’’(22).
Twopointsclearlyemergefromthisessay(called‘‘TheBigToe’’):de-
basementiswithinusanddefinesourhumanity;debasementisseduc-
tive.Onthislatterpoint,Batailleremindsusofthe‘‘sacrilegiouscharm’’
ofsomethingasreveredasthequeen’sfoot:‘‘Hereonesubmitstoaseduc-
tion radically opposed to that caused by light and ideal beauty; the two
ordersofseductionareoftenconfusedbecauseapersonconstantlymoves
10 INTRODUCTION
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