Gender Stories: Negotiating Identity in a Binary World

by Sonja K. Foss, Mary E. Domenico, Karen A. Foss

Essential for anyone who seeks to understand the contemporary gender landscape, Gender Stories defines gender as the socially constructed meanings that are assigned to bodies. The book helps readers navigate issues of gender by introducing them to the ubiquitous gender binary, the problems with much of the research on gender differences, and the variety of gender stories in popular culture. At the heart of the book is a description of the process of becoming a gendered person through crafting and performing gender stories. Because each gender performance is unique, a virtually unlimited number of genders exists—not just two, as the gender binary would have us believe. The same multiplicity that characterizes the gender landscape characterizes the individual, who typically changes gender multiple times a day and across the lifespan. In Gender Stories, personal gender performances are framed within a philosophy of choice. Readers are encouraged to become more conscious of the choices they have in constructing their gender identities and to allow others the same choice by respecting their gender performances. Readers will easily find a place for themselves in the book, regardless of their views on gender, because one perspective on gender is not presented as the right one. Gender Stories affirms and legitimizes diverse perspectives as providing more comprehensive knowledge about gender for everyone.

Genres: LGBT

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Rowan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and repetitive. Had some potential in the beginning but I think it really falls off the rails in the "pop culture" section. Makes grandiose claims about mediums that the authors clearly don't have a full understanding of, especially when discussing anime. I especially hated when the authors claimed that snowboarding culture require that women fit into a masculine sphere because it requires they be physically tough. Like, yea? Its a physically difficult sport? They also falsey say that asexuality is a choice! I'm not kidding. "For asexual individuals, their orientation is a choice." After that infuriating section, it just goes right back to being boring and repetitive for 100 pages.

[William Hawthorne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very very out of date, I’m sure it was novel at its time of release but reading it now feels like it’s just talking in circles and saying everything about a person is their gender which I’m just not sure I agree with. It’s just an ideology that we have have built upon quite significantly in the past decade or so

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for Engendering Rhetorical Power. As an undergraduate introduction into gender studies, this book has a lot of problems, particularly in the condescending tone created through the use of the 2nd person.