Queer Theory

https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/gsc/students/ally/queertheory/

Queer Theory (condensed)

There are a lot of parts of queer culture that can seem intimidating to an outsider, not the least of them being various dialogues that have been going on within the community an also in academia. But having just a basic background on a few of these dialogues can help give you a grounding that will be useful in discussions about gender and sexuality you find yourself in. Queer Theory is essentially the intellectualization of sexual orientation and some of the issues that surround sexuality and its origins.

Anne Fausto-Sterling’s “The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough” and Michael S. Kimmel’s “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender and Identity” in Women, Culture and Society: A Reader, Barbara J. Balliet, ed.

Judith Butler’s “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” and Marjorie Garber’s “Spare Parts: The Surgical Construction of Gender” in The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, Abelove et al. ed.

Chapter Two, “The Invention of Sex”, in Jeffrey Weeks’ book Sexuality.

Janice M. Irvine’s “Toward a ‘Value-Free’ Science of Sex: The Kinsey Reports” in Sexualities in History: A Reader, Kim M. Phillips, ed.

“Kinsey’s Seven-Point Scale of Sexual Identity” in Sexuality, Robert A. Nye ed.