Pedagogy Jan 2025

The Bottom Line

Thomas Blake

Abstract

Abstract Considering the recent erasure of LGBTQ+ representation in school curricula in states like Texas, this article explores the benefits of pairing medieval flytings (verbal battles with homophobic insults) in “Loki's Quarrel” from The Poetic Edda with recent homophobic discourse over rapper Lil Nas X's controversial music video “Montero.” It suggests that teaching such pairings of past and present queer texts and utilizing a range of inclusive practices and activities in the college classroom can highlight queer experiences and foster inclusion through representation. Through comparing insults that the trickster god Loki is ergi (a bottom) with Lil Nas X's Twitter defense reclaiming his agency as a “power bottom,” the article shows as well how homophobia and misogyny intersect in practices of medieval and modern bottom shaming. Moreover, it demonstrates how queer figures, whether in Viking culture or American pop culture, have always drawn power from queerness to challenge heteronormative masculinity.

Journal
Pedagogy
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
10.1215/15314200-11462975
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality social media gender and writing multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 13 works outside this index ↓
  1. Anderson (2011)
    Inventing a Gay Agenda: Students’ Perceptions of Lesbian and Gay Professors
    Journal of Applied Social Psychology  ↗
  2. Attar (2014)
    Teaching Medieval and Early Modern Cross-Cultural Encounters
     ↗
  3. Cayanus (2016)
    Teacher Self-Disclosure
     ↗
  4. Cerbone (2019)
    Real Men of the Viking Age
     ↗
  5. Cohen (2000)
    The Postcolonial Middle Ages
     ↗
  6. Cooper (2016)
    Coming Out in Class: Challenges and Benefits of Active Learning in a Biology Classroom fo…
    CBE—Life Sciences Education  ↗
  7. Davies (2021)
    Heteroprofessionalism in the Academy: The Surveillance and Regulation of Queer Faculty in…
    Journal of Homosexuality  ↗
  8. Eliason Michele J. 2023. “Queer Faculty in the Academy: Is It…
     ↗
  9. Evans (2019)
    Men and Masculinities in the Sagas of Icelanders
     ↗
  10. Larrington (2014)
    The Poetic Edda
     ↗
  11. Pascoe (2011)
    Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School
     ↗
  12. Ravenhill (2018)
    ‘It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom’: Gay Men's Experiences of Masculinity and Anal I…
    Journal of Sex Research  ↗
  13. Wade Erik . 2022. “Erik Wade on Scholarly Erasure of Queer and Trans The…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Written Communication Apr 2025
    Translanguaging Space Construction in Five Chinese EFL Learners’ Collaborative English-Language Culture-Introduction Videos: Patterns and Influential Factors ↗
    Xuehua Fu; Lawrence Jun Zhang
    multimodality social media translingualism multilingual writers
  2. Poroi Dec 2024
    Viral Denial: Pandemics, Chiropractic, and the Persuasive Power of Invisibility ↗
    Julie A Homchick Crowe
    multimodality social media race and writing multilingual writers
  3. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Jun 2024
    Queer Rhetorical Leadership: “Ethical Sluts” in Modern U.S.-American Polyamory as Exemplar ↗
    Thomas R. Dunn
    multimodality gender and writing multilingual writers revision
  4. Literacy in Composition Studies Feb 2024
    Theorycrafting Algorithms: Teaching Algorithmic Literacy ↗
    Shultz Colby, Rebekah
    multimodality social media multilingual writers
  5. College Composition and Communication Sep 2023
    Engaging Assessment Counterstories through a Cultural Rhetorics Framework ↗
    Stephanie West-Puckett; Nicole I. Caswell; William P. Banks
    writing pedagogy writing program administration assessment multimodality gender and writing multilingual writers affect and writing