The Counter in Counterpublic.

If you are reading this, you belong to this article’s public. The term public is widely used in the sense of addressing “people in general”, but let’s focus on the part of society that challenges such publics called counter-public. As Nancy Fraser states, Counterpublics are parallel discursive arenas where members of social groups invent or circulate counter disclosures to express oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests, and needs. One example of such groups exists, Queer groups, the illustration of the obstacles faced by these counter publics are seen in Marlon T. Riggs ‘ Tongues Untied’. The movie is a poetic look at the identity of black gay men. These men are denied admission in the gay community ruled by white men but are seen as mere objects of pleasure by the same gay white men. For example
The movie emphasizes how the counter-public(black gay men) marks itself against not only a general or wider public but also a prevailing one (white gay men).
Counterpublics are salient to consciousness as opposed to the poetic and expressive quality of Publics since they carry interests and needs that might not match with that of the public. For example, Riggs tells us about a time when a group of gay black men was denied entry into a club dominated by white gay men simply because they were seen as a counter-public. The counter-publics, in such a situation, need to be conscious of their actions and outcomes since the majority of the public might view perceive it differently. Members of counter-publics need to be aware of conflicts between the two social groups in terms of ideas, genres of speech and modes of address. Another feature of counter-publics seen in Michael Warner’s article and the movie is that the phrase “being in the closet” exists only for heterosexuals; This circulatory space is free of heteronormative speech but is also marked by this suspension.
What amazes me about counter-publics is that even though it is a type of public, it is seen as a conflicting group with society. The members of such a public are said to challenge the so-called “normal” ideologies. These judgements are made by the people who in some way or the other belong to a counter-public as well.
The idea of this article is to be aware of counter publics and their perception of the world. Take a moment to think which kind of counter-public do you belong to?