January | 2022 | Maleccha

Queer Intentions, A (Personal) Journey through LGBTQ+ Culture written and read by Amelia Abraham (available on Storytel) is a rendezvous with the diverse sexuality discourses in the west. You dwell on the question of intersectionality, where the allocation of positions of power to marginalized peoples is a starting point and not an end goal in itself. The demand for same-sex marriage, why that choice needs to be there, even though the real emancipation may not lie in the institution of marriage.

Her conversation with the pride organisers in Europe and why they feel that we should not reject the corporate sponsorship of the pride march based on the ideological dogma. In countries, where homosexuality is still criminal and the state and religious authorities are not keen to make a change or accept other sexualities, the token sponsorship by multinational corporations, and a clear mandate for diversity policy within their offices across the world, can ignite a sense of hope in those who are a sexual minority in their homeland. In her expedition to learn about the organizing of various pride marches across the capitals of Europe, Berlin, Amsterdam, Belgrade and Istanbul, she informs us about the nuances of why these marches are important. Over a period they need not become restricted rather be a little more welcoming to those who are marginalized because of their sexual identities, occupations and desires.

She travels and meets transpersons of colour in the United States to learn how they challenge the status quo, and in another chapter joins a large scale supper commercial drag event. Her adventures of falling in love with an Icelandic girl and in less than a week of meeting breaking up as if it was the idea of dating or being partnered that was more important than an actual partner, something we all do, as we do not have a roadmap for those who are not heteronormative. Why do we need a roadmap when we can be the founders of many different forms of utopias, new forms of organising families and our spheres, being different liberates us to undertake such ventures. She meets a non-binary person belonging to an indigenous community in Sweden, whose identity was layered with different forms of marginalisation and they contest it in their everyday living and then learns about a commune where different forms of sexualities are explored through sex and connection.

On the question of coming out, she reflects that it is never going to be a single-time event. It is a continuous pursuit, as even now societies are yet to see a life beyond binaries, therefore need to be frequently reminded about those who are outside the binaries and are probably the majority.

Today, very few readers read Sartre, Camus or Beauvoir, in their original yet they know them, they know a few bits of their lives and may have an opinion on ‘existentialism.’ Some people associate it with nihilism, freedom or a conversation about the banality and mundane. ‘The Existentialist Cafe,’ is an in-depth introduction to existentialism, about which we know in parts and pieces. It is a biography of Existentialism as a philosophy as lived by its philosophers. It is an intimate way of creating interest in the gone writers and philosophers, who have left a profound impact on our lives, even though, we don’t know them. Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Karl Jasper, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Hannah Arendt, are all there in the book by Sarah Bakewell, glance at their writings, relationship with each other, their lived lives, and reflections on each other’s worldview.

It is like viewing a philosopher in relation with the other, where they complement, where they depart and the reasons behind those differences. In the book, one learns, how Beauvoir viewed Camus, an ethical philosopher and how she and Sartre differed from him. And then you learn about the contribution of Merleau Ponty to both psychology and philosophy, where expands on the impact of early childhood experiences on the making of our being. There is a discussion on whose view to endorse, Sartre, takes the view that we should perceive the world and ideas from the eyes of the most oppressed, even though at times it may mean endorsement of violence to bring change, this is where he differed from Camus, who was against all forms of violence including the one perpetuated for a just cause or by the state for punishment.

The premise of existentialism is that we assert our existence by living, not just by thinking. By making choices and asking questions to make those choices, we assert our ‘being’ and freedom. A lot of times those choices are a ‘leap of faith,’ as Soren Kierkegaard put forward, and it is important to leap to the unknown, to assert our existence.