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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.76601
EAN: 9780814742341
ISBN: 0814742343
Label: NYU Press
Manufacturer: NYU Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 156
Publication Date: 1997-02-20
Publisher: NYU Press
Product Release Date: 1997-02-20
Studio: NYU Press

"Annamarie Jagose knows that queer theory did not spring full-blown from the head of any contemporary theorist. It is the outcome of many different influences and sources, including the homophile movement, gay liberation, and lesbian feminism. In pointing to the history of queer theory—a history that all too often is ignored or elided—Jagose performs a valuable service."
—Henry Abelove, co-editor of The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader

The political and academic appropriation of the term queer over the last several years has marked a shift in the study of sexuality from a focus on supposedly essential categories as gay and lesbian to more fluid or queer notions of sexual identity. Yet queer is a category still in the process of formation. In Queer Theory, Annamarie Jagose provides a clear and concise explanation of queer theory, tracing it as part of an intriguing history of same-sex love over the last century.

Blending insights from prominent theorists such as Judith Butler and David Halperin, Jagose argues that queer theory's challenge is to create new ways of thinking, not only about fixed sexual identities such as heterosexual and homosexual, but also about other supposedly essential notions such as sexuality and gender and even man and woman.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Decent Intro to a less-decent theory
Review: I found this book to be a quick and interesting read. Jagose laid out the social history of homosexuality very clearly, providing a good background to understand the context of queer theory. The explanation of queer theory was pretty clear, considering the difficulty involved in defining a term that resists being defined.

The author also included a chapter featuring criticisms of queer theory, though I felt the author was somewhat dismissive of much of the critiques (many criticisms that I agreed with your simply dismissed as "misinterpreting the theory").

The theory itself, is much less satisfactory. While its basic premise makes sense (questioning the self-evidence of many categories of identity such as gender and sexual orientation). However, some implications of this theory seem to fly in the face of common sense and established knowledge. For example, one scholar quoted in the book questions the "self-evidence" of sex (male vs. female). While it is certainly valid to question the social roles/obligations attached to sex (though I would think this falls under the category of gender, not sex), but I think the self-evidence of sex itself is well established by biology and genetics. Transexualism might contradict the traditional concept of sex as a biological/genetic category, but most experts regard transexualism as a birth defect, so using it as an example to destablize traditional views of male vs. female is problematic. However, my background is in physical anthropology/human evolution, so my perspective is probably more biologically based where as queer theory appears more purely philosophical.

Regardless of disagreements with the theory itself, this book provides a thorough and interesting introduction.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Pretty Good Introduction
Review: This is a well-written, concise introduction to the ever-growing, booming field of queer theory. As more and more people are coming out of the closet due to an increasing acceptance of homosexuality, queer theory and gay and lesbian studies will absolutely thrive. There are so many gay people in America alone, and it seems like more and more people are coming out every day. Heterosexuality is boring and Establishment. Without gays and lesbians this country would be extremely dull and intellectually starved. Jagose's book is a real wake-up call.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: There is Something Queer Going on Here!
Review: Author Annamarie Jagose does a good job of highlighting the top scholars in the queer studies field and putting them together in one, concise volume. As a media communications scholar with an emphasis in queer studies I found this book immensly helpful. Jagose does a good job of chronicling history as well, so that the reader gets an insight of what was going on historically in the gay rights movement. I applauded the chapter also on lesbian feminism since that is often left out of many queer studies books. Highly recommended for scholar new to this field. While the definition(s) of "queer" are hard to define, I can at least appreciate someone who can make some sense of an often confusing and muddy subject.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Dry but interesting
Review: This is an interesting reader, though quite dry and offering very little in the arena of diverse opinions. Very "orthodox" far left queer politics. It would be nicer to hear from some of the more moderate voices in the world of queer theory. And it would be better if it was more readable by non-academics.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An excellent, concise introduction..mostly
Review: Jagose's slim book is a historical/genealogical account of queer theory, placing it in a historical context of growing gay and lesbian liberation movements, from the homophile movement of the Mattachine Society to lesbian feminism, gay liberation, and the appropriation of the term queer as a strategic term. The essence of modern queer theory as proposed here is to move beyond "identity politics" in gay and lesbian studies. The proposal of any sexual orientation as normative, whether straight or gay, is counter to the deconstructive tendencies of queer theory, which problematizes the whole notion of "orientation" or "gender" or "sexuality." Some have called queer theory the "deconstruction" of gay and lesbian studies, where shifting and unstable sexual identities are destablized in favor of open-ended and multiple readings of cultural phenomena.

This points to the stormy reception queer theory has recieved. Some have argued that this deconstruction of sexual orientation and gender serves the political interests of the right-wing, preserving male and heterosexist hegemony while undermining women's voices and progressive politics. Queer theory, like bisexuals, poses a "crisis of meaning" for many who wish to carve out a safe and protective space for gays and lesbians. As gay and lesbian studies have often relied on sexual orientation/sexual identity as a fundamental category, queer theory attempts to destablize this "bedrock," revealing the power structures and discursive limits within.

The main qualm I have with this book is its relative lack of literary and artistic culture and the role different authors and figures played in the shifts within queer culture. The book would be all the stronger for the inclusion of such material.

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