The Science Underground
Patricia Kaishian, Hasmik Djoulakian
Abstract
This article explores the science of mycology through a queer theory framework with the intention of situating the state of the field in a historical and social context. Our scientific understanding of mushrooms and other fungi have been shaped and indeed impeded by mycophobia, a condition of fear and revulsion that we compare here to queerphobia. In this work, we argue that mycology relies upon queer methodologies for knowledge acquisition given both the nonbinary, cryptic, and subversive biological nature of fungi as well as society’s determination that fungi are perverse and unworthy of formal investigation. We further argue that the queer methodologies of mycology that developed in response to these conditions have enhanced rather than hindered our knowledge of fungi. Because our ultimate quest as scientists is the pursuit of “truth,” as best as can determine, we suggest that Science as a culture would do well to meaningfully reconcile with the inescapable and oftentimes queer reality of bias and subjectivity.