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The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
Bringing together forty-two groundbreaking essays--many of them already classics-- The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader provides a much-needed introduction to the contemporary state of lesbian/gay studies, extensively illustrating the range, scope, diversity, appeal, and power of the work currently being done in the field. Featuring essays by such prominent scholars as Judith Butler, John D'Emilio, Kobena Mercer, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader explores a multitude of sexual, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic experiences.
Ranging across disciplines including history, literature, critical theory, cultural studies, African American studies, ethnic studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, classics, and philosophy, this anthology traces the inscription of sexual meanings in all forms of cultural expression. Representing the best and most significant English language work in the field, The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader addresses topics such as butch-fem roles, the cultural construction of gender, lesbian separatism, feminist theory, AIDS, safe-sex education, colonialism, S/M, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, children's books, black nationalism, popular films, Susan Sontag, the closet, homophobia, Freud, Sappho, the media, the hijras of India, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the politics of representation. It also contains an extensive bibliographical essay which will provide readers with an invaluable guide to further reading.
Henry Abelove, Tomas Almaguer, Ana Maria Alonso, Michele Barale, Judith Butler, Sue-Ellen Case, Danae Clark, Douglas Crimp, Teresa de Lauretis, John D'Emilio, Jonathan Dollimore, Lee Edelman, Marilyn Frye, Charlotte Furth, Marjorie Garber, Stuart Hall, David Halperin, Phillip Brian Harper, Gloria T. Hull, Maria Teresa Koreck, Audre Lorde, Biddy Martin, Deborah E. McDowell, Kobena Mercer, Richard Meyer, D. A. Miller, Serena Nanda, Esther Newton, Cindy Patton, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Joan W. Scott, Daniel L. Selden, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Barbara Smith, Catharine R. Stimpson, Sasha Torres, Martha Vicinus, Simon Watney, Harriet Whitehead, John J. Winkler, Monique Wittig, and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano
Ranging across disciplines including history, literature, critical theory, cultural studies, African American studies, ethnic studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, classics, and philosophy, this anthology traces the inscription of sexual meanings in all forms of cultural expression. Representing the best and most significant English language work in the field, The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader addresses topics such as butch-fem roles, the cultural construction of gender, lesbian separatism, feminist theory, AIDS, safe-sex education, colonialism, S/M, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, children's books, black nationalism, popular films, Susan Sontag, the closet, homophobia, Freud, Sappho, the media, the hijras of India, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the politics of representation. It also contains an extensive bibliographical essay which will provide readers with an invaluable guide to further reading.
Henry Abelove, Tomas Almaguer, Ana Maria Alonso, Michele Barale, Judith Butler, Sue-Ellen Case, Danae Clark, Douglas Crimp, Teresa de Lauretis, John D'Emilio, Jonathan Dollimore, Lee Edelman, Marilyn Frye, Charlotte Furth, Marjorie Garber, Stuart Hall, David Halperin, Phillip Brian Harper, Gloria T. Hull, Maria Teresa Koreck, Audre Lorde, Biddy Martin, Deborah E. McDowell, Kobena Mercer, Richard Meyer, D. A. Miller, Serena Nanda, Esther Newton, Cindy Patton, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Joan W. Scott, Daniel L. Selden, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Barbara Smith, Catharine R. Stimpson, Sasha Torres, Martha Vicinus, Simon Watney, Harriet Whitehead, John J. Winkler, Monique Wittig, and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano
688 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 16, 2020
This book might be the best starting point for everybody interested in queer theory or gender and sexuality studies. I have not read every essay in this collection yet, but the ones I have read have profoundly changed the way I see the world.
August 26, 2023
I actually only read John D'Emilio's Capitalism and Gay Identity essay. It is well worth reading; short and sweet.
Basically D'Emilio's argument is that gay identity (as in subculture like gay bars, communal living like gay villages and open homosexual couples, common experiences like coming out, etc) only took shape (at least in the US) as capitalism dissolved more and more the conditions that gave the patriarchal family such a primordial place in early/pre capitalist societies.
The argument is directed against the idea that "gays always existed". While it is true on the individual level, that idea merely seeks to argue for more *acceptance* of gays because "well, you see, they've always existed everywhere, so there's nothing we can do, we might as well accept it". It is often the case that when fighting against oppression of minorities on the ideological sphere, the rhetoric that promotes oppression is merely reversed with little regard to correctness. For example, "gays have always existed" to answer "homosexuality is unnatural". This approach has its uses but it can be quite limiting, as it is in this case.
D'Emilio argues that the case that should be made (and the correct perspective) is that gender/sexual expression has evolved with the material conditions and that they will keep evolving. Understanding that point of view leads to making the case not only for gay liberation, but more broadly to free every individual's gender/sexual/etc expression.
Capitalism has encroached more and more on what was once more of less the exclusive affair of the patriarchal family sphere (like child rearing and the production of consumer goods), but it still relies on the family unit for processes as crucial as the reproduction of the next generations of workers. Understanding that aspect gives a better grasp on the roots of homophobia, transphobia and other forms of bigotry today.
This essay could easily be an addendum to Engels' Origins of the Family, but we'd have to rename it Rise and Fall of the Family, Private Property and the State or something like that. I'll get on that once we reach communism.
The rest is probably worth reading as well. Maybe I'll do that someday. Who knows!
Basically D'Emilio's argument is that gay identity (as in subculture like gay bars, communal living like gay villages and open homosexual couples, common experiences like coming out, etc) only took shape (at least in the US) as capitalism dissolved more and more the conditions that gave the patriarchal family such a primordial place in early/pre capitalist societies.
The argument is directed against the idea that "gays always existed". While it is true on the individual level, that idea merely seeks to argue for more *acceptance* of gays because "well, you see, they've always existed everywhere, so there's nothing we can do, we might as well accept it". It is often the case that when fighting against oppression of minorities on the ideological sphere, the rhetoric that promotes oppression is merely reversed with little regard to correctness. For example, "gays have always existed" to answer "homosexuality is unnatural". This approach has its uses but it can be quite limiting, as it is in this case.
D'Emilio argues that the case that should be made (and the correct perspective) is that gender/sexual expression has evolved with the material conditions and that they will keep evolving. Understanding that point of view leads to making the case not only for gay liberation, but more broadly to free every individual's gender/sexual/etc expression.
Capitalism has encroached more and more on what was once more of less the exclusive affair of the patriarchal family sphere (like child rearing and the production of consumer goods), but it still relies on the family unit for processes as crucial as the reproduction of the next generations of workers. Understanding that aspect gives a better grasp on the roots of homophobia, transphobia and other forms of bigotry today.
This essay could easily be an addendum to Engels' Origins of the Family, but we'd have to rename it Rise and Fall of the Family, Private Property and the State or something like that. I'll get on that once we reach communism.
The rest is probably worth reading as well. Maybe I'll do that someday. Who knows!
August 11, 2025
> reads the first essay
> "Like communists and homosexuals in the 1950s, boy-lovers are so stigmatized that it is difficult to find defenders for their civil liberties, let alone for their erotic orientation[...] Local police, the FBI, and watchdog postal inspectors have joined to build a huge apparatus whose sole aim is to wipe out the community of men who love underaged youth. In twenty years or so, when some of the smoke is cleared, it will be much easier to show that these men have been the victims of a savage and undeserved witch hunt. A lot of people will be embarrassed by their collaboration with this persecution..."
> finds out Gayle King "never thought" people would think she's defending pedophiles
Check her hard drive.
> "Like communists and homosexuals in the 1950s, boy-lovers are so stigmatized that it is difficult to find defenders for their civil liberties, let alone for their erotic orientation[...] Local police, the FBI, and watchdog postal inspectors have joined to build a huge apparatus whose sole aim is to wipe out the community of men who love underaged youth. In twenty years or so, when some of the smoke is cleared, it will be much easier to show that these men have been the victims of a savage and undeserved witch hunt. A lot of people will be embarrassed by their collaboration with this persecution..."
> finds out Gayle King "never thought" people would think she's defending pedophiles
Check her hard drive.
December 13, 2007
A must-have on contemporary queer theory. Even those well-seasoned in queer theory and postmodern language may have a hard time reading some of the texts, but still this collection is valuable.
Read
August 27, 2023some of these essays are better than others. nearly split my sides laughing at the "characteristically Indian ability to tolerate, even embrace, contradictions and variation". authors from this whose essays i liked: smith, wittig, alonso + koreck, patton, harper, almaguer, butler, lorde, halperin, d'emilio, furth, whitehead
July 28, 2011
I didn't read all of the essays in this collection, only those I felt would contribute to my masters thesis. Overall I think this is a very important foundational collection for queer theory. I mean, this collection was published in 1993, so queer theorists have moved beyond some of the ideas here, but these are still the texts that provide a critical foundation for the theory. Like all anthologies there were some essays that were really good (for me), and some that were not so useful (again, for me), but I do recommend this book for anyone interested in getting into queer theory but not quite sure where to start. As I say that though, I do want to add that it's important to also read more recent theories and articles because, again, this collection is a decade and a half old, which is a significant problem in a rapidly expanding and changing critical field.
November 11, 2020
This is a collection of very thoughtful essays that I read during my first graduate course on LGBTQ+ studies. It is more useful for those in graduate school than those working toward four-year degrees given how it draws heavily on literary criticism. I didn't enjoy it as much as other texts on similar topics; because of its reliance on lit crit, it uses language that gives off an exclusionist vibe I don't care for. That's not to say it isn't useful--its uses are many.
Highlights:
The comprehensive length of it.
The range of perspectives it offers.
Highlights:
The comprehensive length of it.
The range of perspectives it offers.
March 24, 2008
A little outdated but still an invaluable resource.
Read
July 3, 2008Selections - Adrienne Rich: "Compulsory Heterosexuality"
February 13, 2009
Using some essays for a presentation in March but need to finish most of them by the time I graduate! Important text!
July 21, 2009
THE THE THE theory book of the 90's. VERY interesting.
September 7, 2011
have read: Gayle S. Rubin: "Thinking Sex"
October 18, 2014
Had the fortune to read it when it first came out. Seminal
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews