“Away from home, my partner and I are on holiday on a resort on an island. Mealtimes bring everyone together. We enter the dining room, where we face many tables places alongside each other… I face what seems like a shocking image. In front of me, on the tables, couples are seated. Table after table, couple after couple, taking the same form: one many sitting by one woman around a ‘round table,’ facing each other 'over’ the table… I am shocked by the sheer force of the regularity of that which is familiar: how each table presents the same form of sociality as the form of the heterosexual couple. How is it possible, with all that is possible, that the same form is repeated again and again? How does the openness of the future get closed down into so little in the present?”
Quote by Sara Ahmed
Work
Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
Sara Ahmed
Sara Ahmed is an influential scholar in the field of contemporary social and cultural criticism. Her research focuses on gender, race, and power structures, particularly as they manifest in academia and public life. more
You May Also Like
“I have my moments,” he mused. “They’re few and far between,” I countered, grinning”
Source: Ryder
Source: Memories of My Melancholy Whores
“The best couples share the load, divide the grief, and add to the peace, thereby multiplying joy.”
Source: Esa piel que no es mía
Source: Miracle's Mate
Source: The Other 99 T.Y.M.E.S: Train Your Mind to Enjoy Serenity
“All I want is you. You don't have to choose me now or ever, but when you choose, I want you free.”
Source: The Evolution of Mara Dyer