Rebellion Behind Glass Walls: The Potential for Queer Resistance in Pet Invertebrates

Abstract:
Many scholars studying non-human animals and, more broadly, non-human subjects, highlight their capacity for resistance to human ordering imposed on them – even if this resistance might not be intentional. This article is dedicated to an analysis of field materials from ethnographic research on global invertebrate keeping practices conducted between 2021 and 2023 in Poland, Thailand, Singapore, and Australia. The analysis reveals various ways in which invertebrates chal-lenge the heteronormative beliefs of their care-takers, as well as the adaptive strategies that their keepers develop for the goal of the incorporation of queer bodies and behaviours of the inverte-brates into contemporary Western norms regard-ing gender, sexuality, and interpersonal relations. Conversely, when the queer characteristics of invertebrates cannot be concealed, the strate-gy for maintaining heteronormativity shifts to alienating these subjects and capitalising on their queer attributes, which are perceived as peculiar, exotic, and intriguing.

Keywords: invertebrate, queer, resistance, more-than-human, ethnography

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2025.16.13