Sexual Strangers: Gays, Lesbians, and Dilemmas of Citizenship (Queer Politics Queer Theories) [Paperback]

Shane Phelan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566398282 | ISBN-13: 978-1566398282 | Publication Date: January 15, 2001

Is the United States a heterosexual regime? If it is, how may we understand the political position of those who cannot or will not align themselves with heterosexuality? With these provocative questions, Shane Phelan raises the issue of whether lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people can be seen as citizens at all. Can citizenship be made queer? Or does citizenship require the exclusion of those who are regarded as queer to preserve the i??equalityi??' that it promises? In i??Sexual Strangersi??, Shane Phelan argues that, in the United States, queers are strangers - not exactly the enemy, since they are not excluded from all rights of citizenship, but not quite members. Rather, they are ambiguous figures who trouble the border between i??usi??' and i??themi??', a border just as central to liberal regimes as to other states. Life on this border structures both the exclusion of sexual minorities and their ambivalence about becoming part of the i??mainstreami??'. i??Sexual Strangersi?? addresses questions of long-standing importance to minority group politics: the meaning and terms of inclusion, respect, and resistance. Phelan looks at citizenship as including not only equal protection and equal rights to such institutions as marriage and military service, but also political and cultural visibility, as inclusion in the national imaginary. She discusses the continuing stigmatization of bisexuals and transgendered people within lesbian and gay communities as a result of the attempt to flee from strangeness, a flight that inevitably produces new strangers. Her goal is to convince students of politics, both academic and activist, to embrace the rewards of strangeness as a means of achieving inclusive citizenship, rather than a citizenship that defines itself by what it will not accept. Author note: Shane Phelan is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico. She is the author or editor of several books on lesbian and gay politics, most recently i??Playing with Fire: Queer Politics, Queer Theoriesi??. She is the chair of the American Political Science Association's Committee on the Status of Lesbians and Gays in the Profession.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Sexual Strangers, Shane Phelan addresses long-standing tensions between inclusion and exclusion both in queer politics and in the theory and practice of democratic citizenship. In the process, she offers a compelling case both for 'queering' citizenship and for broadening and deepening our understandings of the possibilities of a truly queer politics." --Martha Ackelsberg, Professor of Government and Women's Studies, Smith College "Shane Phelan's ambitious and highly original new book explores the tensions between citizenship and sexuality. Feminist theory has contributed significantly to the critique of the patriarchal underpinnings of conceptualizations of citizenship. Yet, Phelan rightly observes, 'the connection between heterosexism as a regime and modern citizenship is a new terrain [only] beginning to be explored.' Sexual Strangers is a landmark contribution to this emergent literature." --Kathleen B. Jones, Professor of Women's Studies, San Diego State University "Sexual Strangers is a powerful book that probes contradictory tendencies within the movement of queer citizens for full equality. Shane Phelan brings the work of activists and journalists into productive conjunction with democratic theory, addressing major concerns in political science, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered studies, feminsim, and cultural studies." --Morris B. Kaplan, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Purchase College, State University of New York, and author of Sexual Justice: Democratic Citizenship and the Politics of Desire "Sexual Strangers explores what membership in the American polity might really mean for queers. Informed by recent work in feminist theory and democratic politics, Phelan offers a clear, original, and compassionate argument that addresses issues of longstanding import to minority group politics: the meaning and terms of inclusion, respect, and resistance." --Jodi Dean, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges "Phelan's treatise is a lucid and thoughtful contribution to the literature of gay civil rights." --Q SYNDICATE

From the Publisher

One of the field's most innovative thinkers reconsiders the status of non-heterosexuals as citizens of the U.S. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566398282
• ISBN-13: 978-1566398282
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, June 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Sexual Strangers: Gays, Lesbians, and Dilemmas of Citizenship (Queer Politics Queer Theories) (Paperback)

This is an excellent book. Gay and lesbian issues are always best understood from a cool, level-headed social science approach. The question of whether or not gay people are citizens is very compelling. Clearly in America, gays cannot be considered real or full citizens because this is a country dominated ideologically by heterosexuals who demand that all people be heterosexual (or else!). Gays have the least amount of civil rights than any other group in America. What's more, if you are gay and black, you have to deal with racism and homophobia. If you are a woman, too; then you have sexism to also worry about. That's why it's silly to say that gay rights are not civil rights or that gay rights somehow dishonors the civil rights movement. First of all, there are gay black people, so how can gay rights dishonor the civil rights movement? It doesn't make sense. To say that calling gay rights civil rights dishonors the civil rights movement would, in effect, be saying that all black people are straight, which is simply not true. Gay people (of all races and ethnicities) have the least amount of rights in this country, and that should be enough to make us all seriously question just how free America really is.