The View from My Penthouse Window: A Queer Map of my Positionality and Queerness

Abstract

My queer map, titled: “The View from My Penthouse Window: A Queer Map of my Positionality and Queerness,” is the project I am most proud of making during my four years of undergrad. I am a science student and rarely prioritize creativity, so making something tactile and meaningful to me felt incredible. A queer map can be any type of spatial representation to examine how you navigate space. I created my queer map for Onyx Sloan’s Queer Geographies course (which I highly recommend!) to showcase my privilege and positionality by analyzing the place I live in and the surrounding area: a lakeview penthouse in downtown Kelowna. I recreated my bedroom window because I wanted viewers to view my positionality and understand my fluid identity, self-expression, and privilege in relation to the homeless people I encounter during my walk to the bus stop. The boats in the water merge into each other and are not grouped into specific categories, showcasing queer maps as experiences that flow like the Okanagan Lake I see outside of my window, always in flux and fragmented into overlapping and merging understandings of one’s positionality.