Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Anthology

by Brett Beemyn (Editor), Mickey Eliason (Editor)

A unique introduction to sexual and gender identity and queer studies

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people are becoming more and more visible in all aspects of American culture, from party politics to MTV videos.

Despite the recent queer publishing explosion, few texts cover a broad range of topics around sexual and gender identities. Most existing works are high-level theory books, texts focused upon specific disciplines or topics, or practical guides aimed primarily at a heterosexual audience or people just beginning to come out. There has been to date no general, accessible, and inclusive work suitable for use as an introduction to Queer Studies.

In this collection, contributors assess the conflict between postmodernism and identity, the concept which typically serves as a linchpin for social and political organizing. Others address queer theory, looking specifically at how we define it, how it informs political activism, and how we can theorize such aspects of sexual performance/behaviors as s/m or butch-femme relationships.

The volume contains contributions from both established and newly emerging Queer Studies scholars, including Amber Ault, M. V. Lee Badgett, Warren J. Blumenfeld, Gregory Conerly, Patricia L. Duncan, Ruth Goldman, Lynda Goldstein, Sherrie A. Inness, Christopher James, Amanda Udis-Kessler, JeeYeun Lee, Michele E. Lloyd, Tracy D. Morgan, Ki Namaste, Vernon Rosario II, Paula Rust, and Siobhan Somerville.

Genres: Queer, LGBT, Gender and Sexuality, Sociology, Theory, Nonfiction

326 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a great timepiece, but I don't know that it holds up as an accessible modern text. I read it for a class and my main complaint was that we didn't read it in conjunction with more recent publications. So much of the research is outdated and often uncomfortable to read, especially the sections on gender. If you're looking to get an idea of what the queer academic scene was like 30 years ago, this will be extremely helpful. If you're wanting a feel for the current climate or just basic information, I would look elsewhere, or at the very least compare it to texts from the last couple of years.

*full disclosure, there were about 5-6 essays I didn't read because they weren't required for my class, so I can't speak for the entire volume.

[6655321 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some dated and disinteresting articles in this volume ("History/Hysteria: Parallel Representations of Jews and Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals" by Warren J Blumenfeld does that thing of trying to give taxonomic understandings of how oppression works through rhetoric which I just think is a long list of obvious information at the very best and boring at worst, "Revamping MTV: Passing for Queer Culture in the Video Closet" and "Choices and Chances: Is Coming Out at Work a Rational Choice" i basically skipped because even trying to read them was either too dated or too uninteresting) and there is an almost overwhelming focus on bisexuality (and a weird tendency to view bisexuality as being akin to trans identity on the ground that both are 3rd categories which admit to degrees of variation which is just very 90s [shrug emoji], also for the trans centered article Namaste is present which admittedly is also very 90s). Given these nitpicks, it is *really interesting* to look at how the discourse shifted from Gay and Lesbian studies to Queer Studies and how that was negotiated in the academy and there is an emerging (and obviously uncomfortable for the field) discussion of race that is pretty alright. Finally, there are two articles i wholeheartedly recommend "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body" (Siobhan Somerville) and "Pages of Whiteness: Race, Physique Magazines and the Emergence of Public Gay Culture" (Tracy D. Morgan).

[Avory Faucette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I’m really interested in LGBT issues, I don’t have much academic exposure to queer theory. This book is not strict queer theory, really, but it does have some of it, albeit with specific applications. It was written in 1996, so it does have a bit of an out-of-touch component, especially when discussing transgender issues. There’s a lot on hostility to bisexuality, too, which I gather has changed in the 2000s. I did find the essays on race very interesting, though, as well as some other essays on identity generally. I think it’s interesting for me, as a lesbian, to think about identity, because I know that my identity is at least in part a choice. One of the essays in the book on bisexuality talks a lot about how queer identities have different elements, be they who you’re attracted to, an individual partner, social institutions, etc. It’s interesting to think of it that way, and it helps me understand my chosen identity a little more. Being someone who’s dated men in the past, if I think of my identity as partially shaped by social institutions – whether that be the lesbian community of which I feel a part, or the feminism that leads me to crave woman-only spaces and safety – it makes more sense. I’ll be interested to read some more queer theory, though, that’s a little more updated.