Abstract
In the essay “‘Quare’ Studies, or (Almost) Everything I Know about Queer Studies I Learned from My Grandmother” E. P. Johnson provides an etymology and definition of the word quare, wherein, following Alice Walker’s definition of womanism (Walker 1983), Johnson lays out his understanding of what “quare” means. Quare, according to Johnson (Johnson 2001) is a Southern African American English variant of the word queer and it does a particular kind of work to animate the specificity of (Southern) Black queer experience within what had begun to emerge within academia as “queer studies” (Johnson 2001). In this spirit, and following Johnson (2001) “out on a limb,” I offer here what I consider to be a preliminary etymology and definition of ratchet. It is culled together from the way interlocutors in both formal and informal interviews used the word during my time in the field, but in no way is it meant to stand in for or be treated as the actual definition which is in constant flux. Instead, I am interested in its function and use value to those who put the word into practice.
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Notes
- 1.
In the first sentence of the essay Johnson writes, “I am going out on a limb.” He is remarking on the high stakes of attempting to re-conceptualize what was still forming as “queer studies.” He goes on to say, “This is a precarious position, but the stakes are high enough to warrant risky business” (Johnson 2001, 2).
- 2.
I prefer the spelling “b-o-o-j-i-e” because it better approximates my own pronunciation and I believe the “j” better captures the pretentiousness intended in the use of the word.
- 3.
For example, I abhor hotels that are less than a 4 star Micheline rating. They make me feel itchy. When it comes to hotels, I am boojie. There’s nothing wrong with 3 star hotels (though I reserve the right to argue that there may be something wrong with hotels that only have 2 stars or less), however, hotels with fewer than 4 stars simply assault my boojie sensibilities.
- 4.
This is not unlike parties that had begun to appear in the mid-2010s featuring Black “neo-burlesque” performers. The biggest difference is that the stripping taking place was not “sanctioned” vis-a-vie a trendy organizing moniker such as “burlesque.”
- 5.
An AAE phrase which roughly means getting people to behave properly, respectfully, and/or as if they have decency and “common sense.”
- 6.
In AAE, “knowing how to act” often refers to having knowledge of, and behaving in ways sanctioned by the Black middle-class.
- 7.
“Come up” refers to experiencing a form of upward mobility. In this case, she experienced class mobility. Being on the “come up” in terms of class may come about through earning more money, or strategic investments in education.
- 8.
Interestingly enough, if you’re being your most ratchet self, you would absolutely appear unable to assimilate.
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Lane, N. (2019). Defining Ratchet: Ratchet and Boojie Politics in Black Queer Space. In: The Black Queer Work of Ratchet. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23319-8_2
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