GenderQueer : voices from beyond the sexual binary

by Joan Nestle

Paper Book, 2002

LCC

HQ76 .G455

Status

Available

Call number

HQ76 .G455

Publication

Los Angeles : Alyson Books, c2002.

Description

Gender identity, an issue that has galvanised the queer community in recent years, goes beyond the nature of male/female to a yet-to-be-traversed region that lies somewhere between and beyond biologically determined gender. In this groundbreaking anthology, three experts in gender studies and politics navigate around rigid, societally imposed concepts of two genders to discover and illuminate the limitless possibilities of identity.

User reviews

LibraryThing member penwing
I'm reading a few books in this subject area at the moment. This one is excellent. Wilchin's closing essay succinctly put forward some beliefs I've been struggling to put down for years.
LibraryThing member Jellyn
This is a collection of essays/stories by people who don't fit into the neat packages of 'male' and 'female'. A number of them defy any labels, while others identify by their gender or sexual orientation, but aren't quite what you'd expect from that label.I did find it all interesting, but there
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was a lot more discussion of sex than I was expecting. It gives the impression that gender is all about (or mostly about) sex. Not a lot of asexual voices in here, for one thing.It's also a little inaccessible (wait, bad term, scratch that term). There are a number of references to people, places, events, and a lot of terms and acronyms that the writers and editors just expect you to know. It seems to be written with the LGB if not even also T community in mind. Now, I'm not ignorant, but there were a number of things that went over my head completely. And it took me a minute to figure out what GB meant.There are some really good ones in here. A few I even half-identified with. But even though I didn't identify with any of them fully, you sort of glean that it's okay that you don't. Because most of these writers are trying to carve their own path amongst all the labels.Weirdly, I kept thinking this was published in the early 90's. But it was 2002, I think. I kept having to remind myself that it really wasn't that old. Still, a lot has changed in even 8 years. Resources and information and community are a lot easier to find on the Internet now.I'd like to see another anthology like this, aimed at teens, maybe. More current. Less sex. More diversity of voices.
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LibraryThing member aulsmith
This book is exactly what the subtitle says "voices from beyond the sexual binary." While some of these pieces are well thought-out essays, a large number are more on the level of diary or blog entries, giving voice to the range of genderqueer experience but not much definition. I personally didn't
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find most of the essays that helpful, but your mileage may vary. There were gems among the voices. I would single out Cheryl Chase's piece on intersex issues, L. Maurer's Story of a Preadolescent Drag King, and Mr. Barb Greve's Courage from Necessity. There are also some real duds, including one piece that reads like a homophobic rant (mostly against lesbians). The seven introductory pieces (one each from editors Joan Nestle and Clare Howell and five from Riki Wilchins really bog down the beginning. I skipped some of this material. Wilchins' Epilogue was very useful.
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LibraryThing member caedocyon
Probably the best gender book I have found. (And I have scoured the HQ sections of multiple academic libraries!) I have to buy this at some point, because I keep finding new ideas in it.

Awards

Lambda Literary Award (Nominee — 2002)

Language

Physical description

297 p.; 23 inches

ISBN

1555837301 / 9781555837303

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