Can Woke Get Any Woker? Now 'Neuroqueerness' Is a Thing

Natacha Pisarenko

Let’s be honest, shall we? Many if not most of us have morphed from shock, or worse, over each new pronouncement from the woke among us, to “meh, what’s new?” — and even laughter, often, because the shock factor is no longer shocking. Today’s case in point falls squarely into the latter category.

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This fall, several major public universities are offering courses on LGBTQ sexuality, sex education, and activism that go far beyond the historical boundaries of LGBTQ individuals and their respective movements, as reported by Campus Reform. Instead, many of these courses focus on leftist politics and activist causes.

After all, what good is a radical adherent of anything, unless he, she, or “they” don’t proactively and effectively push it down the throats of the vast majority of America, demanding acceptance and respect?

Perfect example: The American University in Washington, D.C., offers a course that “teaches” students about “the lived experience of madness” and what it means to be “neuroqueer.”

People who identify as neuroqueer “often reject binaristic ideas of gender and sexual orientation. They can be nonconformists who think radically about queer and disabled identities.”

Let’s stop right here and ponder for a minute.

Is the American University equating “madness” and “queerness,” and suggesting that both are due to neurological or psychological disorders? If so, doesn’t that run contrary to everything they now preach, ad nauseam? Haven’t we been bombarded for years with Pride parades and such? That same-sex relationships and transgenderism are natural and healthy? Yep, I’m confused, too.

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According to AU’s course description for “Mental Health, Madness, and Neuroqueerness,” the class will “critically examine how ideas about mental health and wellness are situated in systems of colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy.”

You knew that part was coming. Now queerness is the “fault” of one or “all of the above.”

Here’s a complete course description:

AMST-385 Mental Health, Madness, and Neuroqueerness 

Ideas about mental health, illness, and difference including therapy, self care, and mindfulness; autism, anxiety, and depression; ADHD, BPD, ODC, and PTSD; ASMR, medication, and substance use surround us every day. This course traces the longer histories of mental health discourses and encounters the lived experience of madness and neurodivergence.

Centering the life stories and knowledge of those who have been labeled or claimed the label of mad, neuroqueer, and/or mentally ill, students critically examine how ideas about mental health and wellness are situated in systems of colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy. From the Mad Pride movement to neurodiversity, they learn about alternative ways of understanding different mental states and explore visions for a society that holds space for all of us.

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The University of Wisconsin will offer similar courses, including “Queer Bodies” and “Queering EcoFeminism.” The course description of the latter claims the class will entail “a feminist study of LGBTQ sexualities considering race, nationality, and time.” Humboldt State University’s Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies will offer a “Community Activism” course to teach students “organizational and activist skills,” which will include “hands-on projects.”

Three more examples, via Campus Reform:

The University of Washington is offering a course titled “Queer Desires,” which will “[explore] desire and the politics of sexuality.”

Portland State University is offering a class titled “Queer Feelings,” though the course description offers no details about the topic at the time of publication.

[S]tudents at James Madison University this year will have the opportunity to earn three credits through a “Feminist Blogging” course, in which they will learn to “work in a feminist collective,” writing and publicizing a blog, according to the course description, “as a means of consciousness raising.”

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Moreover? Many of us are no longer shocked. Disgusted, perhaps? You bet — but hardly surprised.

The bottom line:

Public universities, primarily funded by state and local tax revenue, are now “teaching” courses like the above, for which millions of college students will voluntarily incur debt they are contractually obligated to repay, until Joe Biden — and perhaps future Democrat presidents — waves a wealth-redistribution magic wand and “forgives” that debt.

Otherwise known as forcibly transferring debt to hardworking American taxpayers that they did not incur. 

Quite a brilliant scam, isn’t it?

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