Opting Out
Enough!
No!
I’m so over it!
Haven’t we all used these phrases? Or felt this way at one time or another? This sentiment has been at the forefront of my mind since reading the book The Ethics Opting Out by Mari Ruti.
A philosopher and queer theorist, Ruti, outlines her arguments for “opting out” as a queer person. Applied broadly she looks at the physical, emotional, psychological, ethical, and philosophical ways queers push back against and deviate from oppressive systems. It could be family, government, sexuality, capitalist consumerism…whatever.
She also spends a chapter exploring Lacan’s theory of Enough! (and I’m paraphrasing here, because I do NOT want to go deep into French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan-at least not now) He posited that in his analysis his patients would reach a point where they had had enough of the oppression of systems and what he calls the Other (which is another way of saying a system like for example patriarchy).
It’s this concept of Enough! of Opting Out that’s really been intruiging me. I’ve been seeing it in my own life in the form of protesting, poetry, and art-making. I’m seeing it in my work with clients as they leave and push back against oppressive people and systems. It excites me to think this way…to Opt Out! To boycott, to protest, to heal from trauma. To build on that healing as a way to be in community and find solidarity and help others heal so they can find their own ways into community and solidarity and giving back.
So, if you’ve had Enough! Join me in asking: In what ways do I Opt Out?