Imagining Utopia, Sustaining Community. Autoethnographic Research and Queer Affective Pleasure

Abstract

For queers, the affects of pleasure and risk are intrinsically interrelated, and the practice of imagining utopia signifies the importance of community as a place where we come together to sustain and nurture ourselves. This essay explores the affective pleasure of queer worldmaking through community building in Finland from my perspective as a non-Finnish queer researcher. Taking pleasure in the freedom to experiment is at the very heart of being together, resisting heteronormativity, and visualizing alternative and utopian ways of worldmaking. While such acts are not necessarily unique to Finland, my experience as a queer feminist researcher and participant in Finnish queer communities was unique to me. Thus, I use autoethnography to discuss my insider/outsider experience of conducting research in Finland, as a queer feminist from the US My work adds to a growing body of autoethnographic scholarship that raises questions about crosscultural perception and belonging, and offers new possibilities for queer methodologies.

Postfeminist Versions of Equality? An Analysis of Relationship and Sex Counseling Practices in Finland

“…Although consensus prevails in Finland regarding the importance of gender equality, there is no consensus on what this equality should actually look like. Likewise, Nordic countries are known for their advocacy of sexual rights (Lottes 2013) and are hailed internationally as queer utopias (Kjaran 2017; Whitney 2017), but progressive legislation does not translate into unquestionable collective support for LGBTIQ + rights (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer and/or questioning people where + is an acknowledgement of the non-cisgender and non-heterosexual identities that are not included in the initialism). In light of this, it is unsurprising that gender equality and sexual rights are supported in the myriad practices of relationship and sex counseling, almost without exception.…”