Where do I differ, from you or from anyone you know? What parts of me are different, the same, or reflect distortedly? Are you curious about my context? Have you pondered the reasoning behind my actions? Do you care? Should you care? 

Please, hear my silent prayer. 

In the previous chapter, I discussed the importance of context – a critical intro for our topic today. While I would love to detail my own nuanced and varied context, I instead will share how my context informs my perception of myself, of others, of the people I interact with, the environments I occupy, and the ever-changing and interacting world around me. To me, context provides a steady and broad foundation to understanding. 

Context, as we saw last week, does not always provide justification; Rather, it provides clarity. This clarity helps me to understand Jacob’s actions, his queerness, and his individual existence as a human. Previously, it assisted in my understanding of why my abusive parents believe their actions to be godly. And, even more previously, it synthesizes my first love of chicago. Context shines a light on the intricacies of all interactions. 

The foundation of understanding that context facilitates is vital to an idea known as one’s “Standpoint”. Now, if you google this idea, you will be met with an oversaturation of academic lingo that is not quite beneficial to the broader understanding of this concept. Standpoint suggests that each person is influenced by their own perspective as well as influenced by the groups they partake in and the environments they occupy; Thus, when a person acknowledges these influences, their standpoint becomes realized.  

For example, I am influenced by my own perspective: the situations I partake in, the people I talk to, the people I do not talk to, the actions I take, and the thoughts that I have. Additionally, I am also influenced by the groups I partake in: I am a business-person, I am queer, I am masculine, I am nonbinary, I am latina, I am white, I am a former catholic, I am an author, I am a midwesterner, I am an academic, and the list goes on. Each of these descriptors influence my perception because of my active participation in them. My standpoint is realized because I understand that these have influence in my perception of the world. My standpoint existed prior to its realization though; These influences have always occurred, it is simply my acknowledgement of the influences that allow me to effectively use my standpoint for various understandings in daily life. 

This means that you, too, have a standpoint. Every person mentioned in this book, every person reading, all the people we know, and all the people we do not – have their own individualized standpoint. But, that isn’t quite where standpoint ends; One’s standpoint can be utilized to foreground a perception that is less popularly held. 

The example most often given is that of a slave and their owner, and from the surface we may assume that both may recognize their standpoints. The slave is subordinate and at the bottom of the dominance hierarchy, where the owner is dominant and ranks at the top. But, do either have access to an experience that the other does not? A slave-owner understands the institution of slavery, its benefits, and its risks. A slave-owner, however, lacks the experience of being a slave, and is unable to put themselves in the shoes of what it means to be a slave. Thus, the slave occupies a crucial standpoint: they understand how the institution of slavery works, how it benefits the owner, the risks to the owner, and the impact of slavery on their own being. Slaves, in this example, have the firsthand experience of how detrimental slavery is on the human body and psyche, how it attempts to erase culture, and how it creates generations of engrained trauma. Their firsthand experience, their ability to utilize their standpoint, is incredibly important to progressing a slave’s mission towards freedom. 

And, while slavery still exists in our own country and across our world, many people are privileged enough to attempt to background all instances of slavery to our historical past. So, I would also like to give you a more personal example: 

The standpoint that seems most-frequently present in my life is that of my queerness and former submittance to organized religion. Specifically, I am queer where my parents are not. Previously, my parents and I shared our belief in catholicism, and where my parents damned queerness, so did the congregation. Firsthand, I saw the way our congregation acted towards our one openly gay member. Firsthand, I heard my family and my peers of the church voice their support for The Westboro Baptist Church’s messages. Firsthand, I tasted the body and blood of the man who would banish me to hell. And firsthand, I felt the disappointment my parents cast upon me when I was outed. In this scenario, my parents and the catholic church are the domineering figure, where I am the subordinate. The domineering figure here understands the institution of religion, the benefits and risks it poses, and how skillfully it works in oppression. What these domineering figures lack however, is their experience as the subordinate of religious oppression. As a queer catholic, I occupied a unique position where I both understood the perception of the oppressor and the oppressed. Open discourse about my experience exists as an avenue of utilizing my standpoint as a means towards progression. 

These are deep and intense uses of one’s standpoint, but other instances occur as well. One’s age can provide a standpoint, granting one wisdom or the lack of fatigue. Standpoint is utilized in reclamation, such as the Black culture’s use of the N-word or the gay’s use of Faggot. We employ our previous experiences as knowledge for progression. 

Many scholars dedicate their lives to Standpoint Theory, and while that is highly important, it is by no means my intent. Instead, I seek to employ standpoint theory where necessary, and discuss its expansion into a broader populous. Of course, no theory is without its critics.   

Any theory, especially ones which seek to broaden our understanding of the human population, are subject to a wide variety of critiques, and Standpoint is no different. I find the critiques on standpoint theory to be quite paradoxical though. 

Most importantly, is the critique of objectivity. Can a truth be more objective, more correct, more accurate than another truth? The answer is yes. We see that a slave can provide a more accurate perception of the institution of slavery, but does that make the slave owner’s perception less truthful, less correct? No, it simply makes it more narrow. When it comes to the complexities of human interaction and sociability, a narrow view is not optimal. Instead, we should seek to broaden our understanding of both ourselves and those around us. Standpoint theory attempts to assist in this very broadening of perception.  

Another critique of Standpoint Theory is that it is too separatist. That is to say, the standpoint theory suggests we all recognize, accept, and embrace our differences without reservation. And while it does attempt to broaden our recognition of these differences, it does not suggest we erase, ignore, or disregard them. This critique is nothing more than a misinterpretation; the standpoint theory suggests not only that our differences should be acknowledged, but that these differences are critical in our progression as a society of intersecting and interacting lives. 

Paradoxically, the other main critique of Standpoint Theory is the insistence on social situations. Critics ask if everything actually is as socially situated as the theory suggests; Do our social environments and interactions actually have this much influence on our interpersonal relationships and worldly perceptions? And absolutely, they do. Though many animals are communal and share social environments and interactions, none come close to comparing to the sociability and community-reliance that occurs amongst us humans. Whether bestowed upon us at birth or carefully cultivated across one’s life, we all occupy membership to various communities. Our participation in these communities, and our active choice to not participate in others, strongly influences our perceptions. We cannot escape from the intersection of our communities, of theirs and our own identities, and how these meld to form our perceptions. 

To prove my responses to these critiques, I’d like to share a few other personal anecdotes: 

In my life I have seen many oppressions occur to demographics that do not reflect my own. I have seen these oppressions occur firsthand, proximally, or historically. Most importantly to my own context, is that of the progression of queer rights. Queer rights were afforded to me by the voices, hands, and actions of Black and Trans Women during the second half of the 20th century. Black, Trans, and Women are three separate demographics that were also attacked within that century. Through the lens of their own oppression, these activists were able to organize and vocalize in support of the gay community. Without their intersectional support, parts of my identities would cease to exist. 

Then in high school, firsthand I saw some of my queer peers advocating for a Free Palestine. This was my introduction to the atrocities that have been occurring since the UN-sanctioned partition in 1947. Today, with a full blown genocide occuring in Palestine, I see the most vocal support from oppressed demographics, be it queers, gender variant people, religious minorities, and racial minorities all demanding the liberation and ceasefire of the genocide of Palestine. Groups that have historically faced oppression, by means of their standpoint, feel empowered to resist the oppression of other minorities. At the time of writing, students have become the newest demographic to support a Free Palestine at large. Students, the demographic oppressed by life-altering debt, the insistence of ignorance, and the impression of immaturity, are harnessing their oppressions to advocate for a broader understanding. Recognizing our standpoints enables us to demand change.   

And, when the Black Lives Matter Movement reached a peak in protesting in 2020, again, we saw oppressed and minority demographics link arms in support of non-oppression. 

Consistently, our employment of our standpoints create intersection and broaden our truths. 

As you move to the following chapter, where I highlight my deviance, my queerness, and tell you my tale of the one that got away:

I ask you to question my own standpoint, and my own context, 

I ask you to question your standpoint, and your own context, 

I ask you to employ your standpoint; take an action to broaden our understanding of one another.