mason@pneuma.DEC (ANDREA--223-4864--PK03-2/31) (08/27/85)
>I am proposing to teach a course entitled "Politics of Gender >and Sexuality" this fall at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, CA. >I am looking for suggestions of possible readings, films, and >speakers. > Will Doherty > {decvax|ucbvax|???}sun!oscar!wild I went home and checked my bookshelves and came up with the following list, unfortunately, I forgot to get publisher's names, but you can probably call a local gay or women's book store and get that info. _ZAMI: a New Spelling of My Name_ by Audre Lorde This is a "semi" autobiography of a black woman who grew up in the 40's and came out in the 50's. It is beautifully written and describes what it is like to be "other." She spends some time (but I wish she'd spent more) talking about the bar scene in the Village and the problems she got both from fems and butches because she refused to play the roles. This was called being "kiki." Lorde is a writer, poet, and, as she calls herself, a warrior. Any of her books are worth reading. _Lesbian/Woman_ by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon This is a "handbook" for women coming out, and has been for more than 10 years. It has recently been revised and updated. Martin and Lyon were pioneers in the gay/lesbian movement. A lot of the book talks about the 50's, the start of the 'homophile' movement (pre-stonewall consciousness), and the beginnings of the Matachine (sp?) Society and DOB. You read this, and realize that things are a lot easier now than they were back then. DOB isn't so popular these days, but this book really gives a good sense of how important it was in the development of the gay/lesbian culture we know today. _Surpassing the Love of Men_ by Lillian Faderman Faderman examines literature through the ages for hints, signs and indications of lesbian life. She argues that "true" lesbianism requires genital contact. She talks a great deal of "romantic friendship" between women, and illustrates her points from literature (great and unknown). It's a bit scholarly, but well written and interesting to read. _Gay American History_ Johnathan Katz Katz is a gay scholar (not a scholar who happens to be gay). His research in this book and in another (called something like the _Gay Almanac_) is a search through history for our own history, which has often been hidden away. This hiding comes both from use of deceptive language in public documents, and often by physically removing from public access those documents which are more explicit in their meaning. This is not a book you would sit down and read from cover to cover, but it's interesting to pick up once in awhile a learn a new fact or two. _The Celluloid Closet_ by Vito Russo This is a great book for people interested in film, and the image of the gay man and lesbian in films. Russo is, I believe a film critic. He has done a great deal of research on the presentation of the gay theme in the cimema. His findings aren't too surprising: it's almost never a positive presentation. The book has an excellent appendix of all the films he discusses, with a capsule description of the action and the stars, and the public response to the films when they appeared. _Sexual Politics/Sexual Communities_ by John D'Emilo D'Emilo, like Katz, is a gay scholar. I heard him speak a few years ago, just around the time that the book came out. I believe it was either his master's or doctorial thesis. He spoke briefly about what it was like to come out in his department, and the difficulities he faced in wanting to do his research which was "explicity" gay. D'Emilo's thesis is that as the country became more urbanized, gays were able to find each other more easily, and we began to form communities. He traces the changes, and especially focuses on WWII as the "coming out of America." At the end of the war, gay men and lesbians did not go back to their little home towns, but stayed in the bigger cities (like S.F. and NYC), and began to make their influence felt. This is a good book, well written, a bit on the academic side, but it gives a good sense of our history and the implications of that history. _Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology_ edited by E. Beck This book helped me a great deal when I was coming out. Gayness is something the Jewish community would like to believe does not exist within it's ranks. The book is made up of short essays by Jewish Lesbians (as if you couldn't tell by the title!) and focuses on their lives, growing up, coming to terms with being who they are. It also includes at least one essay by a Jewish woman of color. _Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence_ edited by Rosemary Curb & Nancy Manahan A lot has been written about this book; it caused quite a stir when it first came out a few months ago. A number of lesbians who I know have recently "come out" as former nuns since the appearance of this book. Each essay is brief, and allows each woman to talk about her life, her struggles, and her decisions around being a nun and a lesbian. An excellent book, which is touching, very real, and not at all what a lot of the straight media has made it out to be--there is nothing "sexy" or voyeuristic about it. _The Coming Out Stories_ edited by Julia Penelope Stanely & Susuan J. Wolfe Another anthology of lesbian "coming out" stories. These three books follow the philosophy of "the personal is the political". _The Politics of Homosexuality_ by Toby Marotta This one's been sitting on my shelf, but I haven't read it yet, so no insights on the contents. I hope this helps Will, and anyone else looking for good books to read about our history and our community. ****andrea**** UUCP: decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pneuma!mason ARPA: mason%pneuma.DEC@decwrl.ARPA