Customer Reviews

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

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Beemyn has edited an anthology of works from emerging academics who are studying gay life outside of the white, vanilla, male mode. This anthology has great articles on gay black men, Asian lesbians, biracial female sadomasochists, etc. It is a very welcome edition to my gay studies collection. I find myself citing articles from this anthology all the time. I truly recommend this book. I think gay men and lesbians of color will truly appreciate it.

I had to have this book for a class (last min.) it came very fast and is in very good shape.

Brett Beemyn & Mickey Eliason, editors
Queer Studies:
A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Anthology

(New York: New York University Press, 1996) 318 pages
(ISBN: 0-8147-1257-6; hardcover)
(ISBN: 0-8147-1258-4; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ76.25.Q385 1996)

Twenty academics with some variation of sex and/or gender
explore the many dimensions of these variations.
They are all sympathetic to GBLTs.
But none of these essays attempts to explain the phenomena.
Rather, the book is more political, attempting to deal with
social oppression based on variations of sex and gender.

There is deep concern about the best concepts for each variation,
for example how different racial and ethnic groups deal with lesbianism.

There is no discussion of the sexuality
of people who have variations of sex and gender.
That is all left implicit and understood
--perhaps because the authors assume that the only readers
will be people who already understand everything
about their variant sexual feelings and behavior.
If all the readers are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender,
they need no exploration of these phenomena.
Rather, they need to work on their common oppression.

There is some discussion of the disputes
within the collection of all people
who have some variation of sex and/or gender,
for example conflicts between lesbian and bisexual women.
Each sub-group claims to be
more marginalized and erased than the others.

This anthology gives a few glimpses into the minds of
college professors who participate in the various communities
of people who have some variation of sex and/or gender.
But it adds little to the understanding of the phenomena.

If you would like to know about better books on this subject,
search the Internet for these exact words:
"VARIATIONS OF SEX & GENDER BIBLIOGRAPHY".

James Leonard Park, author of
Variations of Sex & Gender:
Six Phenomena Frequently Confused