Gender/Queer Studies / Multicultural Studies / Law / Social Issues
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Gender
Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality
The chapters
in this book address such questions from social science perspectives
and then examine personal stories of reinvention and transformation,
including discussions of the lives of dancers Isadora Duncan
and Bill T. Jones, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and surrealist
artist Claude Cahun.Writers from fields as diverse as history,
art, psychology, law, literature, sociology, and the activist
community look at gender nonconformity from conceptual, theoretical,
and empirical perspectives. They emphasize that gender nonconformists
can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anyone else who
does not fit a model of Caucasian heterosexual behavior characterized
by binary masculine and feminine roles. "This collection is an insightful,
interdisciplinary contribution to race, sexuality, and gender
scholarship. The contributors brilliantly chart the connections,
and collectively they provide a critical intervention in the
theorization of the complex and overlapping character of oppression." "Thought provoking and insightful,
this book brings to life connections among race, gender, and
sexuality in the realms of law, psychology, arts, and politics.
The use of compelling case histories and personal narratives
makes this collection uniquely engaging, powerful, and accessible.
Anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the ways in which race,
gender, and sexuality are inextricably intertwined should read
this book." The first wave of queer-studies texts focused
primarily on how apart lesbians and gays were from the norms
of the "known" world, as defined by mostly white, straight,
and male academics. This separatist thinking was reasonable -
a new intellectual discipline was forming, with new language
to express it and new truths to be argued. But a community more
confident of its identity acknowledges that no sexual being is
an island - and Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality,
containing essays often dauntingly theoretical and sometimes
engagingly personal, is a confident collection. Lester's thesis
is that gender, race, and sexuality inevitably - though not always
apparently - intersect to inform an assured sense of self. The
book's first section, "Defining and Policing the Boundaries
of Gender," is likely heavy sledding for nonacademics, though
perfect for the thoughtful classroom. For the casual reader,
the second section is more rewarding, with accessible reflections
on real life - for example, how such disparate dancers as Isadora
Duncan and Bill T. Jones incorporated their gender, their color,
and their lusts into their art. If you would like to view a full size image of the cover of Toni Lester's book, click on this link.This is part of a press kit, which can be accessed by clicking on Lester press kit. |
February 2003 240 pp. 5 b/w photos 6 x 9 ISBN 0-299-18140-5 Cloth $50.00 s ISBN 0-299-18144-8 Paper $24.95 s To order click on one of the bulleted items below For
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E-mail: kdmurray@wisc.edu or by phone at 608-263-0733.
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