Queer Theory, Gender Theory: An Instant Primer [Paperback]

Riki Wilchins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

A one-stop, no-nonsense introduction to the core of postmodern theory, particularly its impact on queer and gender studies. Nationally known gender activist Riki Wilchins combines straightforward prose with concrete examples from LGBT and feminist politics, as well as her own life, to guide the reader through the ideas that have forever altered our understanding of bodies, sex and desire. This is that rare postmodern theory book that combines accessibility, passion, personal experience and applied politics, noting at every turn why these ideas matter and how they can affect your daily life.

Riki Wilchins is the founding executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. The author of Read My Lips and GenderQueer. She was selected by Time magazine as one of “100 Civic Innovators for the 21st Century.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Riki Wilchins is the founding Executive Director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC), the national gender rights organization. The author of "Read My Lips," "GenderQueer," and "Queer Theory/Gender Theory," Riki was selected by TIME Magazin

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555837980
• ISBN-13: 978-1555837983
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Bisexuality
  • #34 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Transgender

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars great for undergraduates or those new to queer/gender theory September 14, 2005

By Elroi Waszkiewicz

Format:Paperback

I assign this book in a class called Sexual Identity. It offers an introduction to queer/gender/postmodern theory, situated within contexts of social and political movements. It is extremely accessible, and guides readers through difficult concepts that are often complicated and dense in their original works (e.g., Foucault, Derrida, Butler). For people who want to sample some of the central theoretical concepts related to gender and sexuality, this book is a great resource. The students reading this book often comment on the accessible reading and Wilchins' connections to personal stories and experiences. Such comments starkly differ from when I previously assigned the more abstract and antiquated Queer Theory (Jagose).

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Like most everything, good for some, but not for others. March 15, 2007

By JVS

Format:Paperback

In her third book, Queer Theory, Gender Theory: An Instant Primer, Riki Wilchins ventures from writing an autobiography (_Read My Lips_) and editing an anthology (_GenderQueer_) to writing theory explicitly. In particular, she seeks to take theory out of its current limited circulation among "academics and graduate students" (1) and reinvigorate its political center and make it accessible to activists.

Wilchins begins by giving brief histories of civil rights movements (chapters 1-3), follows with discussions of postmodern theory centered around Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault (chapters 4-6) complete with contemporary examples of uses of postmodern theory (chapters 7 & 8), and then proceeds to discuss postmodern theory's weaknesses (chapter 9-11), notably its lack of "any vision of constructive social engagement and political action" (100), and its tendency not to account for the varying perspectives people might encounter due to dimensions of difference, specifically race (chapter 10). Similarly focused on limitations and weaknesses, in chapter 11, Wilchins uses Judith Bulter's work to assert that identity-based politics, while in some ways facilitate political organizing and movement, inevitably and undesirably create margins and practice exclusion. The final chapter chronicling GenderPAC's founding and continue development and growth are offered by Wilchins as an example of theory being put into action.

Wilchins' purpose is to bridge queer theory and human rights activism in order to instill in academics the necessity of putting theory into action, and perhaps more importantly, to offer those unfamiliar with queer theory access to the possibilities such theorizing has opened up and makes available (as evidenced by the book's subtitle "An Instant Primer").

I was really excited when this book came out, so much so that I assigned it to an upper-level feminist theories class I was teaching. The reactions were missed. Some felt it was too abridged, and that its focus on being an "instant" primer sacrificed much needed nuance and complexity. Others really thought the book was accessible and understandable, which appealed to them. One of the biggest problems I found, though, were when students read this book and thought that afterwards then "knew it all."

I can't fault Wilchins for this, but I do think that there are ways in which the book lends itself to exactly this reading of it. A good text for a quick intro, and for folks new to the topic, but definitely only a beginning.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars NOTHING SHORT OF A GREAT BOOK April 1, 2006

By Scott Elliott

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Riki Wilchins has crafted a marvelous primer on the major gender issues facing Americans today, and it's worth reading the book for that purpose alone; but Wilchins manages to provide more than a primer, she gives new life to the long dormant idea that King, Gandhi and Jesus died for, the idea that across the board social constructs must be abandoned, and the fight must be for equal rights for all. Period. No sub-divisions, no special rights, just rights that each and every person is entitled to simply because they are a person.

I doubt Wilchins intended her book to be a theological treatise, but to my way of thinking, her ideas mirror those of Jesus who not only deconstructed social constructs, but taught that each and every person is entitled not only to radical love, but life in a community of radical egalitarianism.

"Queer Theory, Gender Theory" is a great read, a wonderful book, and a breath of fresh air in this age of homophobic rhetoric. In short, buy and read this great book!