*grimaces* Ummmm, your best bet is probably to find copies of The Gay Science and Geneology of Morals that have indexes and look up Buddhism. You'll probably find a lot on the concept of the "ascetic ideal," which is in the latter. The argument he puts forward is that abstinence from sexuality (and one could say by extention, queer sexuality), is historically understood to be "ideal," especially from the philosophical context. Mixed with Christianity, it becomes a "moral" (as seen in the works of Kant, Plato, Schopenhauer). However, Nietzsche contends that these "morals" are merely conditions for temperaments; in other words, people look to "moral" people and these people are expected to act a certain way ("morally"). The morality itself doesn't exist; what exists is a function of power.
E.g.: "I'm more moral than you because I have sex with women and not men." "No, you're not...what I do in bed has nothing to do with..." "ASK THE PEOPLE." The people, who are sheep, chant: "Yes, he is more moral than you." *smugly* "So, stop having sex with men." "I refuse." "Then you will be stoned to death." The people, who are sheep, stone Speaker #2 to death.
The "morality" in this above situation doesn't exist. What exists is a man being stoned to death because he has sex with men, because his autonomous nature doesn't fit the status quo. Nietzsche argues for complete and utter autonomy; the purpose of life is to be creative, and nasty power structures oughtn't get in the way. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is about an "overman" who is completely autonomous. Again, by extention, "queerness" is basically an autonomy. "I have sex with men and I'm a man. That sets me apart from the status quo. I can justify my having sex with men on my own 'moral' grounds. I'm one step closer to being an overman."
Make sense? This is mostly a rant, but it still gets a lot of Nietzschean stuff across, I hope. In terms of Mahayana Buddhism, the "overman" can be related to the "self that you never knew was in you." In fact--and this is a really important historical tidbit--Freud was highly influenced by Nietzsche when it came to the idea of looking within a person to get at things that are already there (Buddhism). Exploratory novels regarding homosexuality surfaced all throughout the early 20th century. Transgenderism takes many forms on the spectrum between "the gender I already was" and the "gender I'm choosing to be" which makes things confusing, because what's a lesbian if there's no such thing as a female?
I generally turn to Nietzsche and Foucault and Derrida and stick with postmodernism in that, I am what I choose to become, and everyone does the same thing, so I can only respect new categories that pop up, and apply them to myself accordingly.
E.g.: "I'm more moral than you because I have sex with women and not men."
"No, you're not...what I do in bed has nothing to do with..."
"ASK THE PEOPLE."
The people, who are sheep, chant: "Yes, he is more moral than you."
*smugly* "So, stop having sex with men."
"I refuse."
"Then you will be stoned to death."
The people, who are sheep, stone Speaker #2 to death.
The "morality" in this above situation doesn't exist. What exists is a man being stoned to death because he has sex with men, because his autonomous nature doesn't fit the status quo. Nietzsche argues for complete and utter autonomy; the purpose of life is to be creative, and nasty power structures oughtn't get in the way. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is about an "overman" who is completely autonomous. Again, by extention, "queerness" is basically an autonomy. "I have sex with men and I'm a man. That sets me apart from the status quo. I can justify my having sex with men on my own 'moral' grounds. I'm one step closer to being an overman."
Make sense? This is mostly a rant, but it still gets a lot of Nietzschean stuff across, I hope. In terms of Mahayana Buddhism, the "overman" can be related to the "self that you never knew was in you." In fact--and this is a really important historical tidbit--Freud was highly influenced by Nietzsche when it came to the idea of looking within a person to get at things that are already there (Buddhism). Exploratory novels regarding homosexuality surfaced all throughout the early 20th century. Transgenderism takes many forms on the spectrum between "the gender I already was" and the "gender I'm choosing to be" which makes things confusing, because what's a lesbian if there's no such thing as a female?
I generally turn to Nietzsche and Foucault and Derrida and stick with postmodernism in that, I am what I choose to become, and everyone does the same thing, so I can only respect new categories that pop up, and apply them to myself accordingly.
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