Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBTQ Studies

by Deborah T. Meem, Jonathan F. Alexander, Key Beck, Michelle A. Gibson

Overview

Finding Out, Fourth Edition introduces readers to lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer (LGBTQ) studies. By combining accessible introductory and explanatory material with primary texts and artifacts, this text/reader explores the development and growth of LGBTQ identities and the interdisciplinary nature of sexuality studies. Now available in a digital ebook format, the fourth edition has been thoroughly updated to include a new chapter on "Trans Lives and Theories ", and new readings. Authors Deborah T. Meem, Jonathan Alexander, Key Beck, and Michelle A. Gibson provide more discussions of important and current issues in LGBTQ studies such as the emergence of non-binary identities, and issues of race and class, making Finding Out, Fourth Edition an even more comprehensive introduction to the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071848036
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Deborah T. Meem is Professor Emerita of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Her academic specialties are Victorian literature, LGBTQ Studies, and the 19th-century woman’s novel. She earned a Ph D from Stony Brook University in 1985. Her work has appeared in Journal of the History of Sexuality, Feminist Teacher, Studies in Popular Culture, and elsewhere. She has edited four works by Victorian novelist and journalist Eliza Lynn Linton: The Rebel of the Family (Broadview, 2002), Realities (Valancourt, 2010), The Autobiography of Christopher Kirkland (Victorian Secrets, 2011), and Sowing the Wind (Victorian Secrets, 2015). With Michelle Gibson she coedited Femme/Butch: New Considerations of the Way We Want to Go (2002) and Lesbian Academic Couples (2005), both published by Routledge Press. With Jonathan Alexander she wrote “Dorian Gray, Tom Ripley, and the Queer Closet” (CLCWeb, 2003)

Jonathan Alexander is Chancellor’s Professor of English and Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is author, co-author, or editor of twenty-one books, including several works of queer creative nonfiction, including Stroke Book: The Diary of a Blind Spot (Fordham, 2021) and the “Creep” Trilogy, consisting of Creep: A Life, a Theory, an Apology (punctum, 2017), Bullied: The Story of an Abuse (punctum, 2021), and Dear Queer Self: An Experiment in Memoir (Acre Books, 2022). He is also published extensively in LGBT and sexuality studies, including the books: The Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetorics (co-edited with Jacqueline Rhodes, 2021), Sexual Rhetorics: Methods, Identities, Publics (co-edited with Jacqueline Rhodes, Routledge, 2015); Techne: Queer Meditations on Writing the Self (co-authored with Jacqueline Rhodes, Computers and Composition Digital Press, 2015); Bisexuality and Queer Theory: Intersections, Connections and Challenges (co-edited with Serena Anderlini D’Onofrio, Routledge, 2012); Literacy, Sexuality, Pedagogy: Theory and Practice (Utah State, 2008); and Bisexuality and Transgenderism: Inter SEXions of the Others (co-edited with Karen Yescavage, Routledge, 2004).

Key Beck is a community activist and independent scholar. Their areas of interest are racial equity, gender and sexuality, and empathy-based intersectionality. They earned their MA from the University of Cincinnati in 2013. They have partnered with non-profits, educational institutions, and governmental and social service agencies. They are a member of Storefronts, a resident-led social practice group that uses art to examine the inequalities that exist in their neighborhood and the greater Cincinnati area. They were recently featured in Cincinnati Magazine (2020) and were honored with a 2020 LGBTQ+ Leadership award presented by the Ohio Diversity Council. Key currently works as a Outreach Prevention Specialist and Racial and Gender Equity Consultant.

Michelle A. Gibson is Professor Emerita of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Her scholarship focuses on Sexuality Studies and pedagogy. Her most recent writing applies queer and postmodern identity theories to pedagogical practice and popular culture. With Jonathan Alexander she edited QP: Queer Poetry, an online poetry journal, and she and Alexander also edited a strain of JAC: Journal of Advanced Composition titled “Queer Composition(s).” With Deborah Meem she coedited Femme/Butch: New Considerations of the Way We Want to Go (2002) and Lesbian Academic Couples (2005).

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Works Cited xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: To the Reader xix

Some Theoretical Starting Places xx

About This Book xxiv

Works Cited xxvi

Section I Histories and Politics 1

Chapter 1 Before Identity 3

Earliest Documents of Human Sexuality and Gender Varient Identities 3

Gender Variance Globally 7

Same-Sex Relationships and Desires in Judeo-Christian Cultures 9

Desires for Identity 11

Romantic Friendships and Boston Marriages 13

Molly Houses: Early Homoerotic Subculture in England 15

Questions for Discussion 16

Chapter 2 Sexology in the 19th Century 27

Victorian Sex: Some Background 28

Sexology: Defining a Field of Study 29

Havelock Ellis 33

Paving the Way for Freud 35

Sexology's Legacy 36

Questions for Discussion 36

Chapter 3 Sexology, Activism, and Science 41

Sexology and Early Sexual Rights Movements 42

Alfred Kinsey 44

Medical Models of Homosexuality 46

Science Amok? The Quest for the Gay Gene 52

Sexology Now: What's at Stake? 55

Questions for Discussion 56

Chapter 4 Imagining Liberation 67

Urban Life and Sexual Expression 69

World War II and Homosexuality 70

McCarthy and the Purge of the "Perverts" 72

The Homophile Movement 74

Emerging Visibility and Activism 75

The Politics of Liberation 78

Questions for Discussion 80

Section II Theories and Interventions 101

Chapter 5 Queer Normalization and Beyond 103

AIDS: Epidemic and Activism 103

Antigay Backlash and Hate-Crimes Legislation 106

The Attractions and Effects of Normalization 109

Inclusion Versus Assimilation: Two Approaches to Securing Rights 111

Trans¹ Becoming Visible 113

LGBTQ Rights in a Global Context 115

Questions for Discussion 118

Chapter 6 Queer Diversities 131

L … G … T …: A Story of Push and Pull 134

Bisexual Erasure in the LGBTQ Community 136

Intersexuality 138

Q: Beyond Sexual Identity 139

A for Allies 142

Diverse Controversies 143

Questions for Discussion 146

Chapter 7 Trans Lives and Theories 153

Introduction 153

Trans Histories 154

Theorizing Trans and the Emergence of Nonbinary identity 157

Trans Challenges 160

Questions for Discussion 163

Chapter 8 Intersectionalities 167

The "Down Low" and Applied Intersectional Theory 170

Women, Class, and Internationally 172

Tools for intersectional Analysis 175

Questions for Discussion 177

Section III Representations 191

Chapter 9 Queer and Trans Literatures 193

Whitman and his Descendants 193

Oscar Wilde 196

Radclyffe Hall 199

Lesbian Pulp Novels 202

Gay Male Pulp Novels 207

Transgender Novels 210

Emerging Queer Literary Voices 211

Queering Books for Young People 215

Queer Literature: Global Disruptions 217

Questions for Discussion 218

Chapter 10 Visual and Performing Arts 233

Visualizing The Homoerotic 235

The Expatriates 238

Physique Magazines 241

Fine Art: From The Beautiful to the Political 245

Backlash Against Queer Art 247

Performing Queer: Theater 250

Art and Consumerism 256

Questions for Discussion 257

Chapter 11 Film and Television 259

Visibility and Representation 261

Varieties of Queerness in Contemporary Film 263

Fire and Carol 265

Small-Screen and Streaming Queers 267

Questions for Discussion 272

Chapter 12 Digitally Queer and Trans 275

Queer Social Networking 276

Internet Censorship and Corporatization 279

Internet Activism 281

Questions for Discussion 286

Chapter 13 Conclusion. Queer and Trans Cultures: The Search for Queer Space 287

Documentary Films 289

Film and Music Festivals 292

Queer Music 294

LGBTQ Journalism: Magazines, Newspapers, and Comics 297

Many Journeys, Many Homes 300

Questions for Discussion 302

Glossary 315

References and Further Reading 319

Index 369

About the Authors 375

Editorial Reviews

"Well written and comprehensive. I don't know of any other text that is as comprehensive for introductory queer studies."

Andy Wible

"The best, most comprehensive, most accessible /introduction/ to LGBTQ studies available on the market today."

Justin A. Martin