HISTSEX ARCHIVES: September 2000
© Lesley Hall and list contributors
From: "Rictor Norton" <norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Introduction: Queering the Medieval Apocalypse
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 09:23:32 +0100
To Noreen Giffney,
You might find it worthwhile to subscribe to the Medieval Gay Discussion
Group. Postings to it are not very frequent, but quite good when they occur.
It's part of an American medieval gay organization, who I think are
currently attending a medieval gay conference, so their reports and comments
will be flowing soon.
Send the message
SUBSCRIBE MEDGAY-L My Name [i.e. your name, upper & lower case]
to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU
--
Rictor Norton, London
mailto:norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk
http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 10:24:17 +0100 (BST)
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Noreen=20Giffney?= <stheno_gorgon@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: RE Medieval Gay Discussion
Dear Rictor Norton,
Thanks for the information - I shall subscribe to the
list now.
Noreen Giffney
University College Dublin
E-mail: stheno_gorgon@yahoo.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________From: "Rictor Norton" <norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Anne Fausto-Sterling's Sexing the Body
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 09:57:52 +0100
Michael Murphy in an earlier posting mentioned the work of Anne
Fausto-Sterling. I attach a favourable review of her latest book _Sexing the
Body_. The reviewer is Marc Breedlove, noted for his work on lesbian
finger-length ratios.
--
Rictor Norton, London
mailto:norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk
http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk
http://www.nejm.org/content/2000/0343/0009/0668.asp
The New England Journal of Medicine -- Vol. 343, No. 9
August 31, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality
By Anne Fausto-Sterling. 485 pp., illustrated. New York, Basic Books,
2000. $35. ISBN 0-465-07713-7
Reviewed by S. Marc Breedlove, Ph.D.
Poised to cast the deciding vote in a Salisbury, Connecticut, election in
1843, "Levi S." was charged with being a woman and therefore ineligible. A
doctor found that Levi had a penis and therefore a vote. But later it was
revealed that Levi also had a vagina and menstruated regularly. What to
do? Today we may be amused at 19th century conundrums concerning an
intersexual person in a society in which only men held the right to vote.
But modern America still requires citizens to be either male or female,
and the institution that enforces this dichotomy with respect to babies is
medicine, with the use of scalpels, sutures, and until very recently,
sublime confidence. Physicians measure the intersexual newborn's phallus,
and unless it is longer than 3 cm, shorten it to a more demure, clitoral
length and perform whatever additional surgeries are needed to declare
"it's a girl."
The primary attack on these decisions has come from intersexual adults who
express dissatisfaction with the surgeries that were performed on them as
children and who ask whether children's welfare is truly the goal of this
sex policing. Physicians, on the other hand, may well feel that society
demands that children be either boys or girls and that the schoolyard will
brutally punish any deviance from these categories.
In this fascinating new book, Anne Fausto-Sterling describes these and
many other troublesome issues that face our society when people refuse to
fit the category of heterosexual man or heterosexual woman. A scholarly
book with more than 120 pages of notes, its 255 pages of text nevertheless
read like a bestseller. Fausto-Sterling reviews the history of ideas about
sex and sex roles in the 20th century with authority and balance. She
relates Johns Hopkins urologist Hugh Young's 1937 descriptions of
intersexual people who grew up before the advent of corrective surgery.
Young found these people, even the person working as a sideshow freak
("male and female in one"), to be well-adjusted and reasonably happy
adults, many with active sex lives. Fausto-Sterling also reviews the case
of John/Joan, a child who gravitated later to Johns Hopkins with widely
reported, disastrous results. She points out that intersexual newborns are
not rare (they may account for 1.7 percent of live births), so a review of
our attitudes about these children is overdue, and her book provides an
excellent framework for the ongoing debates.
Fausto-Sterling digs deeper than current medical practice to investigate
the basic sciences that guide and inform medicine. The scientists
searching for steroid hormones had such abiding faith that male and female
are antithetical conditions that they stumbled repeatedly. First, they
refused to see that each steroid hormone naturally occurs and functions in
both sexes. Next, they insisted that "male" hormones (androgens) must act
antagonistically to "female" hormones (estrogens), when in fact they often
work in a coordinated fashion.
The author also scrutinizes the work of early behavioral endocrinologists.
How much of the famous 1959 report from William C. Young's laboratory,
declaring that androgens "organize" the developing brain into a masculine
configuration, was shaped by prevailing attitudes that men and women have
fundamentally different roles in society? Even if the report itself was
untainted by such attitudes, what about the audience that accepted this
idea so enthusiastically? Why did the founder of behavioral endocrinology,
Frank Beach, who performed many similar experiments before the 1959 report
appeared, never formulate this principle explicitly, despite its
apparently tremendous explanatory power? For Fausto-Sterling, Beach was a
hero, untempted by the simple formulation because he was so familiar with
the data, which were replete with the exceptions that investigators still
grapple with today. She sees Beach as open to the idea of sexual behavior
as a continuum in which normal males might occasionally behave like
females, and vice versa. For her, Beach had the independent, clear vision
to see diversity when society sought dichotomy.
Fausto-Sterling is not a radical social constructionist. She repeatedly
insists that nature has a say in the outcome of experiments -- as one
might expect of a geneticist and professor of biology. But she is
persuasive in showing how scientists' social background often affects
their conceptualization of results, their naming of discoveries, and their
decisions about which experiments to perform. Fausto-Sterling is not above
rhetoric. It is plain that she disagrees with certain writers, and she
unabashedly declares her hopes for our political future. In discussing sex
differences in relation to the human brain, she picks on the bedraggled
corpus callosum. In 1982, the corpus callosum was reported to differ
between men and women, but a flurry of subsequent studies convinced
investigators in the field that there is either no sex-based difference in
this brain structure or only a very subtle, hard-to-pinpoint difference.
What for Fausto-Sterling is matter for condemnation of research in human
sex differences could as easily be seen as a validation of the scientific
process.
However, Fausto-Sterling also takes pains to present at least two sides of
every story, and she never fails to credit the intelligence and good
intentions of others, even if, in hindsight, they have made dreadful
mistakes. As physicians, scientists, and other citizens continue to take
stock of ideas about men and women, and boys and girls, in this new
century, Fausto-Sterling's careful and insightful book offers us the
chance to question past assumptions and to dream of new formulations
nearly as radical as allowing women to vote.
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: A couple of reviews of interest
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 16:28:46 +0100
Diana O'Hara. Courtship and Constraint: Rethinking the Making of =
Marriage in Tudor England. Politics and Culture in Early Modern Britain. =
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. 300 pages. . $79.95 =
(cloth), ISBN 0-7190-5074-X. Reviewed by Retha M. Warnicke, Department =
of History, Arizona State University.=20
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D25978966636454
David Cressy. Travesties and Transgressions in Tudor and Stuart England. =
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. xii + 351 pp. Notes and Index. =
$35.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-19-820781-6. Reviewed by Susan D. Amussen=20
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D25744966982724
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
__________________________________________________________________
Subject: CFP: Zap! Pow! Out!: Queer Cultures, Queering Comics
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 09:34:36 -0500
From: "Michael J. Murphy" <mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu>
**Please print and post/crosspost as needed**
Call For Manuscripts
Zap! Pow! Out!: Queer Cultures, Queering Comics
edited by
Anne N. Thalheimer and Michael J. Murphy
**Deadline for abstracts: 1 December 2000**
Submit a 1-2 page abstract and a short CV to each editor. Electronic or
hardcopy submissions accepted. No email attachments please.
**Deadline for manuscripts: 1 June 2001**
MLA citation style; one electronic or hardcopy to each editor- Word or
WordPerfect versions; please limit text to 25 pages; author responsible
for securing image copyright permissions.
To redress the paucity and disparate state of existing scholarship on
queer comics the editors of this scholarly anthology invite submissions
of original art, interviews, and critical essays on the cultures of gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer comics and related media. The
editors aim to unite the best classic artwork and essays with innovative
and exciting imagery and investigations into queer comic strips, comic
books, graphic novels, zines, manga, film or television anime/ation, and
other related graphic media. Essays which address trans/international
comics, race and hybridity, or queer spectator/readership are especially
encouraged.
Paper topics might include:
-queer (or queered) comics or artists
-gay or dyke comix
-queer comics readers, conventions or fans
-gay and lesbian super heroes: Wonder Woman and other Amazons
-original interviews with notable creators, readers, publishers
-HIV/AIDS or safer sex educative comics
-(anti)homophobia and/or heterosexism in comics
-graphic sex (literally) and pornographic comics
-relationship of queer comics to underground or wimmin¹s comix
-queers in straight comics (Doonesbury, For Better For Worse, The
Simpsons, etc.)
-sexual ambiguity and anonymity in comics
-transnational queer comix -gay liberation and comics
-queer creators, straight comics; vice versa
-race, class, gender, sexuality hybridities in comics
-comparative essays with television, film, art, advertising etc.
Que(e)ries?
Anne N. Thalheimer
Dept. English
212 Memorial Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
Fax: (302) 831 1586
motes@udel.edu
Michael J. Murphy
Dept. Art History/Archaeology
Steinberg Hall
Campus Box 1189
Washington University
St. Louis MO 63130
mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 17:55:57 +0100
From: Diane Mason <d.mason@bathspa.ac.uk>
Subject: Auto-Erotic Asphyxia
Although a few well publicised fatalities (Micheal Hutchence etc.)
brought the practice of auto-eroytic asphyxia to public attention in the
twentieth century, I wondered whether the practice was recognised by
physicians, sexologists etc. in the nineteenth century? Or, indeed, is
there any nineteenth-century source on record to suggest that the
feeling of strangulation brings on or enhances sexual excitement?
Krafft-Ebing lists a case of someone who gets a sexual kick out of
throttling people but that is something different entirely. Also, has
anyone got any ideas on how old the practice actually is? I read in
something called The Encyclopaedia of Unusual Sex Practices that it is
thought to be of 'ancient origin' but I wonder how reliable this
information is and what is meant by 'ancient' (Greeks, Romans Cavemen)?
Any thoughts on this would be very much appreciated.
All the best,
Diane
___________________________________________________________________
Date: 10 Sep 2000 11:43:38 -0000
From: "Histsex:For historians of sexuality" <histsex-owner@listbot.com>
Subject: Introductions, etc
Now that list-members are returning from summer breaks (and I hope
resubscribing if they have unsubscribed for the duration...) I post the
usual occasional request for new members to introduce themselves and their
research interests to the list, or indeed for old members to refresh our
collective memory about them and their work.
Also a reminder about the History of Sexuality Research Register - if you
would like to be entered on this, please e-mail me at
lesleyah@primex.co.uk with your name, affiliation, contact details and
description of research (using, if possible, terms which searchers are
likely to search on). I think I now have the site search engine tweaked so
that it should _only_ search the register and not any extraneous pages on
my site.
Also, if anyone has any information which could usefully be added to the
pages on The Clitoris: Historical Myths and Facts or Literary Abortion,
please do let me know.
Thanks
Lesley
histsex-owner@listbot.com
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: FYI: E-Directory of Lesbigay Scholars
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 12:34:19 +0100
Public website for this is at=20
http://newark.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/lbg_edir.html
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: Reviews of interest
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 12:32:56 +0100
Originally posted to the H-Law list (and found when I was trying to =
locate 2 reviews of books on the history of divorce in the US x-posted =
to H-Women which don't seem to be on the H-Net Reviews website yet):
Jeffrey Toobin. A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal =
That Nearly Brought Down a President. New York: Random House, 1999. 422 =
pp. Index. $25.95 (cloth), ISBN 0-375-50295-5.=20
Richard A. Posner. An Affair of State: The Investigation, =
Impeachment,and Trial of President Clinton. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard =
University Press, 1999. xii + 276 pp. Dramatis Personae, Chronology, =
Index. $25.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-674-000080-3.=20
Reviewed by R. B. Bernstein, New York Law School.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D3266959107705
and=20
Stephen J. Schulhofer. Unwanted Sex: The Culture of Intimidation and the =
Failure of Law. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998. xii + =
318 pp. Notes, index. $27.95 (cloth), ISBN 0-674-57648-9.=20
Reviewed by Cynthia Harrison, Department of History, The George =
Washington University.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D1531947257732
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
___________________________________________________________________From: "Rictor Norton" <norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Auto-Erotic Asphyxia
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 22:07:12 +0100
Diane Mason asks:
>Although a few well publicised fatalities (Micheal Hutchence etc.)
>brought the practice of auto-eroytic asphyxia to public attention in the
>twentieth century, I wondered whether the practice was recognised by
>physicians, sexologists etc. in the nineteenth century? Or, indeed, is
>there any nineteenth-century source on record to suggest that the
>feeling of strangulation brings on or enhances sexual excitement?
I think this has been familiar to both to prostitutes and to the general
public at least since the early eighteenth century. For example, the
following newspaper report from The Grub-street Journal for 22 October 1730:
"Thursday, Oct. 15. Thursday . . . the master of a night-house without
Temple-bar, went to a lewd house in Parkhurst-lane, and there hanged himself
dead in his garters. Our unfortunate brother The Weekly Register has here
corrupted the original, instead of *lewd house* inserting *Nanny-house*; and
abused a great ornament of our society, the late learned Mr Motteaux, with
the opprobrious appellation of a hanging-cull. A moral Mahometan would have
forborn such a vile reflection upon the dead."
I believe that Ned Ward in The London Spy circa 1709 also talks about
"hanging-culls", men who practice strangulation to achieve erection (which
unfortunately comes to public attention if the experiment is unduly
prolonged).
--
Rictor Norton, London
mailto:norton@rictor.freeserve.co.uk
http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 09:10:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: Auto-erotic Asphyxia
Diane Mason asks:
>Although a few well publicised fatalities (Micheal
Hutchence etc.)
>brought the practice of auto-eroytic asphyxia to
public attention in
the
>twentieth century, I wondered whether the practice
was recognised by
>physicians, sexologists etc. in the nineteenth
century? Or, indeed,
is
>there any nineteenth-century source on record to
suggest that the
>feeling of strangulation brings on or enhances sexual
excitement?
There is the Eighteenth century trial surrounding the
death of the mildly successful composer Franz
Kotzwara. See "Modern Propensities; or, an Esssay on
the Art of Strangling" (London c.1792). Kotzwara's
case is discussed by Peter Wagner in his _Eros
Revived_ and there's an article in _Studies on
Voltaire_ circa 1992.
Michael O'Rourke
PhD student
University College Dublin.
___________________________________________________________________
From: "Ian Pitchford" <Ian.Pitchford@scientist.com>
Subject: On the Evolutionary Psychology mailing list, dangerous ideas thrive
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 15:44:26 +0100
I hope you will find this article on my evolutionary psychology group to be of
interest and that you will regard this email as an invitation to subscribe. The
group's archives are located at:
http://www.egroups.com/messages/evolutionary-psychology
I am particularly keen to encourage critics of evolutionary psychology to
subscribe to the group.
______
Salon.com
Flameproof racism
On the Evolutionary Psychology mailing list, dangerous ideas thrive -- without
the usual online rancor and hatred.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Andrew Brown
Aug. 30, 2000 | Are blacks programmed by their genes to be promiscuous? Can we
read any morality off our genes at all? Is religion pernicious nonsense? The
field of evolutionary psychology attempts to illuminate such inquiries into
human nature with the insights of modern Darwinism. It raises questions that
have a prickly, intense and scary quality. To get inside them is like putting
on a hair shirt with explosives strapped to it. Even in sober academic
journals, the discussion can rapidly become a screaming match. On the Internet,
home of the flame, any attempt at a reasonable discussion seems completely
futile.
Even respectable academic online mailing lists often melt down into reciprocal
accusations of Nazism and censorship, as did the mailing list of the Human
Biology and Evolution Society, the trade body for evolutionary psychologists,
five years ago.
And if the Nazis don't get you, the nutters will. I once watched a list on
Darwinism disintegrate into a series of arguments about Karl Popper's
philosophy of science, a subject that can make otherwise civilized people argue
like fundamentalists who think they have identified the antichrist.
Given the volatility of online debate, the existence, then, of the Evolutionary
Psychology mailing list seems like a miracle. All these unspeakable things and
more are debated there, yet it is actually possible to learn new things -- and
the arguments, however ruthless, are always polite. The list has nearly 2,000
subscribers, among them some of the most distinguished names in the field.
Richard Dawkins was on for a while; Dan Dennett lurks there; and so does
anthropologist Dan Sperber.
Full text:
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/08/30/evpsych/index.html
Ian Pitchford <Ian.Pitchford@scientist.com>
Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/
School of Health and Related Research
University of Sheffield, S10 2TA, UK
http://www.human-nature.com/darwin/index.html
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: Voyeurism/scoptophilia (?sp)
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 21:36:52 +0100
Does anyone on the list have any idea when the above appeared as a =
definite sexual perversion? (i.e. that people were noticed spying on =
others in sexual or quasi sexual situations, or that there were =
provisions for paying customers to do this in brothels). I would =
surmise, but may be wrong, that it would either only exist (as something =
which some individuals would specifically seek out) or at least only =
become noticeable, in a society in which privacy had become more =
emphasised and sexual scenes would be less likely to be casually =
encountered. But I'm open to being persuaded otherwise.
Many thanks
Lesley
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
___________________________________________________________________From: JNKATZ1@aol.com
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 10:21:11 EDT
Subject: Plenary Session: Future Queer Past
Since I was not able to attend the Plenary Session of the Future of the Queer
Past, I'm interested in any reports people might be interested in making to
these lists.
I'm especially interested in what people feel were repeated themes stressed
by the Plenary speakers.
And I'm especially interested in insights about the problems of getting
inside the historical, social, and mental structures of past constructions of
sexuality and affection.
By the way, does anyone know if the conference or any individual made a tape
of the Plenary that they'd be willing to lend me?
Thanks, Jonathan Ned Katz
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: Some recent reviews of interest
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 20:59:42 +0100
Norma Basch. Framing American Divorce: From the Revolutionary Generation =
to the Victorians. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California =
Press, 1999. xii + 192 pages. Notes, index. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN =
0-520-21490-0.=20
Hendrik Hartog. Man and Wife in America: A History. Cambridge, Mass: =
Harvard University Press, 2000. vi + 312 pages, 2000. Notes, index. =
$29.95 (cloth), ISBN 0-674-00262-8.=20
Reviewed by Felice Batlan, Department of History, New York University .
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D31143969034759
Lauraine Leblanc. Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' =
Subculture. New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press, =
1999. xii + 288 pp. Illustrations, appendices, bibliographical =
references, index. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-8135-2651-5.=20
Reviewed by D. Robert DeChaine, Department of Cultural Studies, The =
Claremont Graduate University .
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D31364969035066
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
___________________________________________________________________Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 18:29:32 -0700
From: Frank Nobiletti <fnobilet@ucsd.edu>
Subject: Re: Plenary Session: Future Queer Past
Hi Jonathan, I didn't tape the plenary.
Great seeing you.
Frank N.
___________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 12:23:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: "A. G. McLaren" <amclaren@UVic.CA>
Subject: job ads (fwd)
Here are ads regarding posts at the University of Victoria which members
of the list might be interested in.
Angus McLaren
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 21:55:51 -0700
From: Lynne Marks <lsmarks@uvvm.uvic.ca>
To: amclaren@uvic.ca
Subject: job ads
Hi Angus:
Here are the job ads. If you can send them to your history of sexuality
list that would be great. Thanks and all the best, Lynne
Early Modern Europe Appointment
The Department of History at the University of Victoria invites
applications for a tenure-track position in early modern continental
European history at the rank of assistant professor beginning July 1, 2001.
Area of specialization is open. Teaching responsibilities include an
introductory survey on Europe since the Renaissance and senior courses
preferably in the sixteenth and/or seventeenth centuries. Participation in
the Department's M.A. and Ph.D. programs will also be expected. Applicants
should have a completed Ph.D., teaching experience, and demonstrated
research qualifications. The salary floor for assistant professors is
$45,000. Application, curriculum vitae, and at least three letters of
reference should be sent by October 16, 2000 to Dr. Eric W. Sager, Chair,
Department of History, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3045, Victoria, BC,
Canada V8W 3P4. The History Department's web-site is
http://web.uvic.ca/history/ and the Department's email address is
hist@uvvm.uvic.ca. In accordance with Canadian Immigration requirements,
this advertisement is directed in the first instance to Canadian citizens
and permanent residents. Others are encouraged to apply, but are not
eligible for appointment until a Canadian search is completed and no
appointment made. The University of Victoria is an employment equity
employer and encourages applications from women, persons with disabilities,
visible minorities, and aboriginal peoples.
July 12, 2000
History/Slavonics Appointment
The Departments of History and Slavonics at the University of Victoria
invite applications for a tenure-track position in Russian history and
culture at the rank of assistant professor, beginning July 1, 2001. Area
of specialization is open. Teaching responsibilities include undergraduate
and graduate instruction in Russian and Soviet history and in Russian
culture. Applicants should have a completed Ph.D. and demonstrated
research qualifications. The salary floor for assistant professors is
$45,000. Letters of application, curriculum vitae (including all
university transcripts), and letters from at least three referees should be
sent by October 31, 2000, to Dr. Andrew Rippin, Dean of Humanities,
University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3045, Victoria, BC V8W 3P4. Dr. Rippin's
email is arippin@uvic.ca, and the Humanities web-site is
http://web.uvic.ca/humanities/. In accordance with Canadian Immigration
requirements, this advertisement is directed to Canadian citizens and
permanent residents in the first instance. Others are encouraged to apply,
but are not eligible for appointment until a Canadian search is completed
and no appointment made. The University of Victoria is an employment
equity employer and encourages applications from women, persons with
disabilities, visible minorities, and aboriginal peoples.
___________________________________________________________________Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 09:55:43 +0200
From: Jens =?iso-8859-1?Q?Rydstr=F6m?= <jens.rydstrom@historia.su.se>
Subject: Re: Plenary Session: Future Queer Past
Here is a very incomplete account of the discussion in the final plenary of
the conference "The Future of the Queer Past" (University of Chicago 15-18
September 2000) taken from my confused notes. I just came back to Stockholm
and did not get too much sleep on the plane, so excuse me if my memory
fails me sometimes. Perhaps someone else who was at the plenary wishes to
fill in where I have missed or forgot or misunderstood something?
Jens
George Chauncey opened the discussion by pointing out that there was much
less post war community history than he had expected. There was a much
wider variety of topics in the papers. He talked about the necessity to
take in account the historicity of our subject. Transgender history has
opened up understanding for the historicity of the categories. There seems
to be a shift of focus from social history to political history and he
stressed the need for cultural history, international and regional
comparative studies. He talked about what is queer history, queer opening
up a broader understanding of the categories, but we must historicise
"queer" and for instance study the difference and similarities with other
concepts such as "alien". The fact how we all have come together at this
conference shows how we need to study the changes of sexuality in the late
modern era, or something like that.
I have no notes of what Joanne Meyerowitz said, and I only remember that
she said that George had already brought up much of what she was going to
say. Sorry.
Nayan Shah talked about that we must reflect on how we can write history
without falling in a normative trap, and how we can avoid that concepts
like state, period, genre and identity become obstacles for a true
understanding, or something like that.
Alejandra Sarda stressed that she was not a historian but an activist, and,
speaking from the margin, urged a better dialogue between center and
margin, and the necessity of making research which is related to political
cultural and economical factors.
Valerie Traub pointed out how history has moved away from the question of
the birth of the modern homosexual and the divorce or not between sexuality
and gender. Now most papers seemed to concentrate on Modernity, and she
advised people to look further back than to the 19th century to perhaps see
developments that took place much earlier than modern historians tend to
believe.
Ramón Gutierrez talked about how historians still use very conventional
sources, like court records etc, and fail to make use of oral history for
example. They (we) also fail to politicise the archives, be critical of our
own reading practices etc, and we do not use visual or material evidence.
There is also insufficient problematisation of race.
Lisa Duggan made three points. 1. She was happy that so many papers were
written in an interdisciplinary way. She thinks we have to do away with
the traditional disciplinary boundaries, and we have to become aware of how
the institutional structure of US departments of history moulds research in
obsolete categories. 2. The terrorism in US hist depts must end! Mark Stein
has made a survey which shows that people who write dissertations on g/l
history must either leave the country or find other occupations. She
encouraged the creation of a committee of tenured historians (she just got
tenure) to discuss what can be done, and encouraged tenured historians to
e-mail her. 3. We must think about being more visible in the mainstream
media, and not let the right wing monopolise it.
David Halperin talked of the dissolution of the sexual in history research.
We need to explore things such as kinship and its efects on domesticity and
intimacy. Citizenship and other categories such as emotion, affection, or
as Henning Bech has proposed, taste. We need to study economics and not be
afraid of marxist theory.
In the discussion afterwards different points came up, such as the
necessity to produce texts that are readable for undergraduates, so that
they learn their/our history and don't give up when reading theory. When a
man asked a question about the influence of quantum physics on queerness, I
left the room. People told me that much of the discussion after that
evolved around US hist depts and how to do something about the difficulties
of getting jobs for queer scholars.
Jens Rydström tel: +46-8-84 50 60 (h)
Dept of History tel: +46-8-674 71 05 (w)
Stockholm University fax: +46-8-16 75 48 (w)
S-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
jens.rydstrom@historia.su.se
http://www.historia.su.se/safari/artiklar/rydstrom.htm
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 04:54:37 -0500
From: Dar Weyenberg <dweyenbe@students.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: Plenary Session: Future Queer Past
Hello Jens
Thank you very much for taking the time to write up the summary.
It would be helpful if you (or anyone) would explain what is meant by taking
into account the "historicity of our subject" and "the historicity of the
categories".
Thank you
dar
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 21:38:47 +0200
From: Jens =?iso-8859-1?Q?Rydstr=F6m?= <jens.rydstrom@historia.su.se>
Subject: Historicised subjects and categories
Hello Dar,
I think he just meant that we need to be aware of that categories,
especially sexual and gender categories, are historically changing and not
the same at all times, and that the way in which people experience
themselves and define themselves also is depending on the historic
situation in which they live.
Jens
Jens Rydström tel: +46-8-84 50 60 (h)
Dept of History tel: +46-8-674 71 05 (w)
Stockholm University fax: +46-8-16 75 48 (w)
S-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
jens.rydstrom@historia.su.se
http://www.historia.su.se/safari/artiklar/rydstrom.htm
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 18:24:36 -0500
From: Dar Weyenberg <dweyenbe@students.wisc.edu>
Subject: [histsex] historicity of the term gender
HI Jens et all
Thank you for your response-it was helpful.
I have a another question for you all. Last night someone said in a group
discussion that the term gender was not used until fairly recently. Can
anyone enlighten me on this? Was it used in the 1800's?
Thanks in advance
dar
___________________________________________________________________
From: Kazetnik@aol.com
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 04:37:35 EDT
Subject: {Histsex} Re: Introduction
Hi folks
Can I make a smallish request? Could people leave/include the group ident in
their subject lines when they post? There are some nasty viruses, worms and
trojanhorses doing the rounds at the moment coming in e-mails and it helps to
be sure that an e-mail has come from a reliable or known source. Otherwise,
having just restored the PC to some working order after the havoc of a
trojanhorse I'm just deleting mail if I'm in any doubt as to where it came
from. And that's a shame because I don't know what I'm missing!
Chris White
___________________________________________________________________Date: 21 Sep 2000 08:43:55 -0000
From: "Histsex:For historians of sexuality" <histsex-owner@listbot.com>
Subject: [histsex] Introduction/Identifying list messages
I have - I hope - managed to change the list properties so that all
messages include [histsex] in the subject line, following Chris White's
reminder of the dangers of unknown e-mail.
Welcome to the recent influx of new list members. Please do introduce
yourselves and your interests in the history of sexuality.
Lesley Hall
histsex-owner@listbot.com
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 12:45:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Rups <markin@patriot.net>
Subject: Re: [histsex] {Histsex} Re: Introduction
On Thu, 21 Sep 2000 Kazetnik@aol.com wrote:
> their subject lines when they post? There are some nasty viruses, worms and
> trojanhorses doing the rounds at the moment coming in e-mails and it helps to
> be sure that an e-mail has come from a reliable or known source. Otherwise,
Just because you know the source of a message doesn't mean the message is
safe. Viruses come via lists, as well as via messages from good friends,
when said viruses automatically attach themselves to outgoing e-mail
without the sender's being aware of it. Otherwise, about the only way
you'd get one is if the creator of a virus sends it to you directly, which
is not really likely unless you have some nasty enemies out there in
Netland.
Just avoid any e-mail with an attachment, set your mailer NOT to open /
execute attachments automatically, and keep your anti-virus up to date.
Since most viruses appear to be aimed at Microsoft, using its well-known
weaknesses, avoiding anything Microsoftish is a desideratum if you can
manage it. And NEVER run an executable sent to you even by a good friend
unless you are absolutely certain that friend meant to send it to you AND
knows what (s)he's doing AND (s)he and you have both run an antivirus
check on it.
You'll never be 100% safe, but being sensible re: e-mail (and not booting
your computer with a floppy in the drive) will keep you safe enough.
Having the listname in the subject line IS helpful for sorting and
skimming purposes, though, so I thank the listowner for setting the
option.
Mario Rups
markin@patriot.net
___________________________________________________________________From: Kazetnik@aol.com
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 13:32:13 EDT
Subject: Re: [histsex] {Histsex} Re: Introduction
Thanks Mario for the advice which is all good and sensible stuff. There are
some real headcase spammers out there on lists at the moment (not this one,
as far as I can tell!!) and a couple of the lists I'm on have had big probs.
Knowing the source doesn't stop the danger, tis true, but it helps to cut off
one wildcard route.
Paranoia rules ok.
Kaz
___________________________________________________________________Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 07:14:26 -0400
From: Ellen Moody <Ellen2@JimandEllen.org>
Subject: [histsex] historicity of the term gender
I don't know how accurate this is, but it is said that the
term "gender" first came into use when Ruth Bader-Ginsburg
preferred it to "sex". It is said she justified this take-over
from a hitherto linguistic use to a social-legislative one
on the grounds that she wanted to distinguish social,
economic and political roles allowed to women or enforced
on them from their biological lives. It is also said that
she "really" preferred the term because it felt "less
embarrassing". I know that in 18th century literature
it is common to find women and girls referred to as
"the sex", which feels derisory.
Again I have no evidence that the above start of the
term's use is accurate. I have only read this in
newspapers.
Ellen Moody
___________________________________________________________________Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 12:35:27 +0100
From: Cristina Santos <cristina@sonata.fe.uc.pt>
Subject: [histsex] homossexuality and capitalism
Hi.
I'm a Portuguese, 25-year old sociologist, whose graduation thesis was on
homosexual identities in contemporary Portuguese society. There aren't many
academic works on gay issues in Portugal, and as the gay movement is very,
very recent (only in arly 90's was the first homo organization officially
recognised) this is really a fascinating subject to me. I am now doing my
MA in Sociology and Globalisation, and I'll be addressing the connections
between human rights and homo rights as a way of empowering the Portuguese
gay movement.
I am also working on an international Project called "Reinventing Social
Emancipation", which tries to reflect upon some emancipatory alternatives
to hegemonic globalization in 5 different fields: participatory democracy,
alternative production systems, multiculturalism, biodiversity and the new
labor internationalism. For futher informations, take a look at our web
site on http://www.ces.fe.uc.pt/emancipa/
And I would like to hear a few voices on this: bearing in mind the
capitalist background on which the gay movement has found the conditions to
flourish, do you consider it emancipatory or does the gay movement, in a
very general way, depend to much on the hegemonic economic system in order
to be a convincing emancipatory alternative? I'd be happy to discuss this
with any (or all!!) of you, since this is precisely the argument used by
most of my friendly detractors... ;-)
All the best,
Cris
Ana Cristina Santos
Centre for Social Studies
Apartado 3087
3001-401 Coimbra - Portugal
Phone 00 351 239855583
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 08:30:14 -0400
From: Barbara Marshall <bmarshall@trentu.ca>
Subject: Re: [histsex] historicity of the term gender
Hello all -- I did some research into this while working on my most recent book
(Configuring Gender). I found (and this is also suggested by Bernice Hausman in
her book Changing Sex) that it seems to have had its earliest incarnation in the
the work of John Money and his colleagues in the 1950's. (As Hausman suggests, it
was only when biomedicine was able to transform physical 'sex' that a different
term was needed to mark the psychological and cultural dimensions that had
previously been signified by 'sex') Nellie Oudshoorn (in Beyond the Natural Body)
suggests 'gender' was used as early as the 1930's by psychologists to describe
psychological characteristics as distinct from physiological characteristics.
Money himself takes credit for it though: in his 1995 book Gendermaps, he
suggests its genesis in his doctoral dissertation on hermaphroditism, where he
struggled with finding a term to express 'libidinal orientation, sexual outlook
and sexual behaviour as masculine and feminine in both its general and its
specifically erotic aspects'. He says: 'After several burnings of the midnight
oil I arrived at the term, gender role, conceptualized jointly as private in
imagery and ideation, and public in manifestation and expression'. Money,
however, is very critical of how 'his' concept was taken up in academic
discourse, which on his account 'neutered' it. The key figure in canonizing the
sex/gender distinction as a biological/social distinction was Robert Stoller
whose 1968 book Sex and Gender became the standard reference point for definition
as the distinction travelled into the social sciences. In sociology, Anne
Oakley's Sex, Gender and Society (1973) was a key text.
In any case, the history of 'gender' as a concept is a complex and very
interesting one, and I'd be happy to suggest other references or continue
discussion off-list with anyone who's interested.
Barb Marshall
___________________________________________________________________From: "docx2" <docx2@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [histsex] historicity of the term gender
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 23:25:48 -0700
Dear folks,
I do not have the reference handy, but I thought John Money coined or
popularized the term gender to refer to masculine and feminine traits and
identity. Prior to him, it was primarily used in linguistics to refer to
masculine and feminine nouns, pronouns, and articles.
Take care,
Charles Moser
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 21:41:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gregory {Greg} Downing <gd2@is2.nyu.edu>
Subject: Re: [histsex] historicity of the term gender
At 06:24 PM 9/21/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Histsex:For historians of sexuality - http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
>Last night someone said in a group
>discussion that the term gender was not used until fairly recently. Can
>anyone enlighten me on this? Was it used in the 1800's?
>Thanks in advance
>dar
>
I'm sure the Oxford English Dictionary 3rd ed., currently in preparation,
will have more and improved inoformation, but for what it's worth here is
the information (including dated citations) given by OED2 at "gender
(noun)," meaning 3b. Note that the earliest citation that OED2's editors
found for this sense is dated 1963:
"In mod[ern] (esp. feminist) use, a euphemism for the sex of a human being,
often intended to emphasize the social and cultural, as opposed to the
biological, distinctions between the sexes. Freq. attrib."
1963 A. Comfort Sex in Society ii. 42 The gender role learned by the age of
two years is for most individuals almost irreversible, even if it runs
counter to the physical sex of the subject.
1969 Erickson Educ. Found. Newslet. Spring 1/1 The Erickson Educational
Foundation has been called upon to function in gender identity areas needing
service not otherwise supplied.
1972 A. Oakley Sex, Gender & Society viii. 189 Sex differences may be
`natural', but gender differences have their source in culture.
1981 Heresies xii. 67/3 Our ideology and practice of sex roles
construct...two mutually exclusive categories, that is, genders.
1985 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Apr. 378/4 Without threatening gender models, she
produced poetry good enough to praise.
1985 Times 2 Sept. 12/5 It is the tradition...that Christ is present and
acts through all the sacraments, and is present and active also in various
other ministrations of the church.... There is nothing gender-specific to those.
1986 Financial Times 15 Apr. 8/4 It was most important...that schools could
intervene in and modify the education of a child regardless of race, gender
or class background.
**************************
Greg Downing, at greg.downing@nyu.edu or gd2@is2.nyu.edu
___________________________________________________________________Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 00:03:27 -0400
From: Ellen Moody <Ellen2@JimandEllen.org>
Subject: Introduction
As the mailing information I received when I
subscribed to this list asked me to introduce
myself, I write this to do so.
I am a literary scholar and college teacher:
I have taught in various senior colleges in
the US as a part-time lecturer for some 17
years; my research interests are wide
and varied and include Arthurian literature,
the European Renaissance, 18th century
French and English literature, the
Romantic and Victorian period in England.
I am also interested in and have translated
poetry. My publications include a book
on Anthony Trollope, essays on 16th, 17th
and 18th century women poets, and review-
essays on 18th century women novelists.
I have a website which is endlessly
under construction: it has translations
from Italian Renaissance women's
poetry, material for a scholarly edition of
an 18th century woman poet, a section
on epistolary literature. If anyone is
interested, the address is:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~emoody
I come onto the list because I am interested
in what were the realities of sexual life
in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Cheers to all,
Ellen Moody
___________________________________________________________________
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 11:42:26 -0400
From: Esther Katz <esther.katz@nyu.edu>
Subject: [histsex] Conference Announcement
National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization
Announcing the Ninth International Conference, October 25-28, 2001
Topic: "Healing the Sexual Victimization of Boys and Men"
Location: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
Call for Papers, Workshop Proposals, and Scientific Abstracts
Healing, Training, Prevention, and Research Tracks
Guidelines can be found on www.malesurvivor.org or by calling 800-738-4181
Dr. Esther Katz
Editor/Director
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
Department of History
New York University
53 Washington Square South, #501
New York, NY 10012-1098
esther.katz@nyu.edu
(212) 998-8620
(212) 995-4017 (fax)
Visit our web site at: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger
___________________________________________________________________From: "Marcus Collins" <Marcus.Collins@ncl.ac.uk>
Subject: [histsex] The Permissive Society and Its Enemies - Call for Papers
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 07:48:21 +0100
Dear All,
May I possibly draw your attention to the Call for Papers below (also
available on-line at http://www.icbh.ac.uk/icbh/summer.html) for next
summer's Institute of Contemporary History Conference on 'The Permissive
Society and Its Enemies'. All proposals gratefully received.
Best,
Marcus Collins
Sir James Knott Fellow in History
University of Newcastle
205 Camden Road
London, NW1 9AA
Tel. (020) 7482-1351
E-mail: Marcus.Collins@ncl.ac.uk
Web: http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/marcus.collins
____
Call for Papers:
The Permissive Society and Its Enemies
15th Summer Conference of the Institute of Contemporary British History
at the IHR, University of London, 9-11 July 2001
The conference aims to bring together contemporary historians as well as
researchers in related fields to consider the impact of the 1960s on British
society, culture, politics and intellectual debate. Although we are happy to
consider papers on any related aspect of this theme, there are several areas
that we are especially concerned to explore. These include the liberalising
legislation of the 1960s, youth subculture and music, literature, film and
media history, drug culture, attitudes towards consumption, attitudes
towards 'race' and gender, and notions of class and status. Papers on the
earlier origins of and subsequent reaction against permissiveness are also
welcome, as well as more general proposals concerning the idea of
permissiveness in a contemporary British context. Although the conference
will focus on Britain, comparative papers will also be considered. It should
be stressed that we shall only accept papers which present the findings of
new research.
The conference will include a mixture of plenary speakers, panels and
parallel seminars. We would like to welcome as many young researchers and
postgraduates as possible, in addition to well-established specialists.
The deadline is 31 December 2000. Please send short proposals (no more than
300 words) to the Director, ICBH, Institute of Historical Research, Senate
House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Email: icbh@icbh.ac.uk URL:
http://www.icbh.ac.uk/icbh
___________________________________________________________________
Subject: [histsex] Nayland Blake and Micha Ramakers
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 16:26:38 -0500
From: "Michael J. Murphy" <mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu>
Can anyone help me with contact information for Nayland Blake (USA) and
Micha Ramakers (Brussels).
Thanks,
Michael J. Murphy, M.A.
Doctoral Student, Dept. of Art History and Archaeology
Washington University, St. Louis
mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu
"In episode #228, who or what is 'Foucauldian'? We have enclosed a
self-addressed stamped envelope for your convenience."
-Letter to Alison Bechdel, cartoonist of Dykes To Watch Out For
___________________________________________________________________From: "Lesley Hall" <lesleyah@primex.co.uk>
Subject: [histsex] CP Conference on Marriage, Florence, June 2001
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:42:43 +0100
[NB please contact Bruno Wanrooij, who is organising the conference, not =
me, with offers of papers and for further details - thanks.]
IL TERZO (IN)COMODO
(The Third Partner)
Mediation in Marriages in Italy and in Europe=20
(19th and 20th Centuries)
A Conference at Villa le Balze=20
Fiesole (Florence), Italy
19-20 June 2001
Call for papers
The intervention of third parties in the formation and preservation of =
marriages is a well known fact in historical studies, but has been =
little studied for the contemporary period. This conference about =
mediation in marriages aims at bringing together scholars who have =
studied marriage from various disciplinary points of view. Object of our =
investigations are the attempts made during the last two centuries by =
both public powers and private mediators to discipline - or to =
facilitate - the encounter of marriage partners and to guarantee the =
survival of their relationship. For the purposes of the conference, we =
will define marriage as a formally recognized intimate relationship =
between two persons based on the precarious balance between individual =
desires and social pressure (not necessarily in conflict). The =
contributions to the conference should focus on the creation of a =
=91science of marriage=92 which was added to the religious discourse but =
never fully replaced it. =20
The different religious settings of marriage mediation are another =
aspect that should be taken into consideration. Different denominations =
have a different way of drawing the borderline between the private and =
the public sphere, and thus determine different reactions to public =
intervention.
Possible paper topics are the attempts to assist men and/or women in =
their search for a partner - from marriage brokers to marriage agencies, =
and from arranged marriages to internet sites with lists of possible =
partners; the attempts to train partners for their role in marriage, as =
in the case of courses for housewives, or transmit the information =
deemed necessary for the success of their marriage, as in the case of =
courses for the betrothed. Limits and prohibitions regarding the choice =
of a partner, motivated by legislation and by medical, religious or =
social arguments, are of interest as well. =20
After marriage, the interventions by third parties often increased. =
Legislation regulating the relations between spouses is a clear example. =
Papers may focus on the attempts by civil and/or religious authorities =
to reconcile partners. Of special interest are the activities of =
marriage counseling by public or private organizations, and the sections =
of magazines dedicated to the discussion of marriage problems
Papers are expected to take into consideration the different =
consequences for men and women of third party mediation in marriages.=20
The Conference will be organized by the Center for the Study of Italian =
History and Culture Georgetown University Villa le Balze, possibly in =
collaboration with other scientific institutions. The conference will =
take place on June 19-20, 2001. Ca 12 papers will be presented.
Please send abstracts to=20
Prof. Bruno P.F. Wanrooij=20
Center for the Study of Italian History and Culture=20
Georgetown University=20
Villa le Balze=20
Via Vecchia Fiesolana 26=20
Fiesole (FI)=20
Italia=20
or by E-mail to=20
wanrooij@dada.it=20
=20
The deadline for abstracts (300-500 words) is December 1, 2000. =
Acceptance of papers will be notified around February 1, 2001. The =
Center is planning to publish the conference papers.
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
___________________________________________________________________Date: Mon,
25 Sep 2000 10:12:00 +0200
Reply-To: Marc Stein <mrstein@yorku.ca>
Message to CLAGS Gender and Sexuality Studies List:
===================================================================
Thanks to the generous provision of space by Walter Williams and ONE/IGLA,
and to the hard work of designer Randy Riddle and manager Todd White, I'm
pleased to announce the inauguration of the Committee on Lesbian and Gay
History website, which is located at:
www.oneinstitute.org
The site includes information on CLGH activities, CLGH membership, the
CLGH email announcements list, the 2001 American Historical
Association/CLGH program, CLGH prizes, the CLGH newsletter, the CLGH
directory, and lgbtq history syllabi, dissertations, and internet links.
Some of the pages are under construction and some await future decisions
by CLGH, but the site is up and running, and it looks great.
Marc Stein
CLGH Chair
mrstein@yorku.ca
___________________________________________________________________Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 14:38:40 -0700
From: julian carter <jcarter@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: QU: [histsex] racial perversity
Dear histsexers,
I need a little perspective on the state of scholarship addressing the
intersection of racial and sexual perversity in the early 20th c. U.S. I'm
trying to decide whether I want to revise and update an essay I wrote in
'95, or whether the subject's been beaten into the ground since then.
The article in question uses some familiar sources (Margaret Otis on
lesbian delinquents, Havelock Ellis, etc) to examine the intersection of
race and sex in representations of lesbianism. So far, so old. Yet I saw
something in those sources that might still be worth talking about--the
extent to which the connection between race and sex was made via a
narrative logic of sexual development, so that developmental arrest was not
only about a (Lombroso-esque) kind of physical immaturity or primitivism,
but also about a failure to read and write, to imagine and to live, in an
appropriately linear and plot-driven fashion. I like this vision of
perversion as an "aberration in narrative," but I'm not sure whether it's
important enough to keep working on, given that scholars like Jenny Terry
have made the larger point about the intersection of race and sex so very
plain. Would you be so kind as to let me know what you think?
It would also be very helpful if you could send me any secondary references
(esp. those published since 1997) that you think might be relevant to this
project. If folks are interested, I'd be happy to compile a bibliography of
them to post to the list.
Thanks ever so,
Julian Carter
Fellow in the Humanities
Stanford University
___________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: QU: [histsex] racial perversity
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 09:06:29 -0500
From: "Michael J. Murphy" <mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu>
Julian,
You should be aware of Siobhan Somerville's recent book Queering the
Color Line (Duke UP, 2000) which has a chapter on race and the homsexual
body.
Michael J. Murphy, M.A.
Doctoral Student, Dept. of Art History and Archaeology
Washington University, St. Louis
mjmurphy@artsci.wustl.edu
"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." -Blanche Dubois
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