Conflict and Counterpoint in Lesbian, Gay, and Feminist Studies

Interrogating a broad array of lesbian, gay, and feminist theories, this book considers instances of unnecessarily divisive turf-battling, yet focuses primarily on the productive debates that define and vitalize the field. Moving beyond the classic opposition that pits the sex-positive leftist academy against abstract “sexism” and “homophobia,” Foertsch’s text isolates oppositions within gender and sexuality studies, considering homophobic feminist theories, sexist (or anti-feminist) gay theories, and the field’s tendency to triangulate itself in two-against-one fashion or in contests between two camps for the allegiance of the third.

Praise

"Recommended." --CHOICE

About the Author(s)

Jacqueline Foertsch

Jacqueline Foertsch is Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Texas and the current editor of Studies in the Novel.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Open Books, Private Lives * The Trials of Trialoguing in Lesbian, Gay, and Feminist Studies * What's in a Name:  Semantic Slips and Slides in Gender/Sexuality Studies' Key Terms * The Critical Impasse:  Inverse Relations among Lesbian, Gay, and Feminist Approaches * How We Read:  Lesbian, Gay, and Feminist Approaches to Fiction * Why We Watch:  Lesbian, Gay, and Feminist Approaches to Film * Conclusion--Some Categorical Conclusions