What Is Gender Nihilism? A Reader

by Various

A collection gathering readings for discussions on an end to gender: not the proliferation or liberation of gender, but its catastrophic cancellation. The reader brings together writings as old as 1883 and as recent as 2015, juxtaposing nihilist, radical feminist, queer, trans, anticolonial, communizing and insurrectionary approaches with other unclassifiable textual/existential disruptions. Many of the readings are out of print or have only appeared online or in zine form, and include: Adrienne Rich, Monique Wittig, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, A.R. Stone, Paul B. Preciado, the entities known as Radicalesbians, Gender Mutiny, Baedan, Ehn Nothing, Laboria Cuboniks and, as always, Anonymous. Also includes "My Preferred Gender Pronoun is Negation", "Gender Nihilism" by Aidan Rowe, and the gender nihilism anti-manifesto that inspired the collection.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gender, Feminism, Philosophy, Queer, Theory, LGBT

356 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2016

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice collection of texts around gender negation from both historical and contemporary settings.

The perfect compilation for internet-era queer folks looking to discover more of where to direct their anger.

[Spenser Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

*extreme "What's In My Bag?" Amoeba Music voice*

Picked this up in an old record store nearby a church, I think, and was intrigued by its surprising title. There's a lot here from JSTOR which, by the way, shout out to JSTOR for being the only balanced website. There are a lot of experiences and stories and propaganda in this book but all of it is critical analysis which I do love. Also there's an amazing piece regarding Frankenstein, so quality is measured at a new level now.

I'd say overall it's pretty integral to these ongoing culture wars we've been observing for some time. Perspective is always been a key; it's a good read.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The term "gender nihilism" got passed around a bit by my cohort of queer teens on Tumblr around 15 years ago. It never caught on in academia, as far as I'm aware, but the theoretical tradition it belongs to starts with Feinberg and Butler and Foucault, then continues via Stryker and Serrano and the rest. Nowadays, people are a lot more likely to talk about "gender abolition," which, having brushed up on the fine print, I can assure you is a different (although closely related) concept.
That doesn't mean this isn't a damn fine collection of groundbreaking essays, conveniently collected in an attractive matte black volume with which you can quickly revisit all the hits (to be clear, they are mostly available in pdf form on the anarchist library or something, but you're not going to get around to reading a PDF, trust me).
There are essays in here with the power to literally mutilate YOUR beautiful children, put millions of men in YOUR bathroom, and -- horror of horrors -- to build a world where transgender teenagers can participate in recreational sports. In other words, it's awesome. These writers gave voice to an experience of the world that's so marginal as to be illegible to polite society, who I don't expect to ever take interest in this -- but we did, and we remember when these texts made everything fit together.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book worth flipping through, though make no mistake it is a radical collection of texts. Many sections within the book are informative, fascinating, and even humorous. Other sections seem out of place and off topic. The best part this collection offers is perspective and reference. Depending on your disposition you will virulently agree or disagree with what is found within. Regardless, check it out!

[Swarm Feral · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if instead of proliferating ever more particular discourses and taxonomies of gender we brought the project crashing down?

[El cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection but of course some essays were better than others.

[Jordan Hadlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best and most self realizing piece of nonfiction or queer literature I've ever read.