Getting Specific: Postmodern Lesbian Politics

by Shane Phelan

The only book to debate lesbian political theory.

Whereas feminist theory divides between two strategies, one based on equality (or sameness) and the other on difference, this book proposes a new approach-specificity. We are neither simply "the same as" or "different from" one another, Shane Phelan observes, and any theory that assumes as much is mistaken and dangerous. Here Phelan offers an alternative, a "democratic identity...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816621101
• ISBN13: 9780816621101
• Release Date: December 1994
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A must read for feminists, political activists, and students of all stripes.

Phelan's book is still cutting edge. She asks and answers important questions about how to identify political battles and mobilize for change. Should women fight for 'women's issues'? Does the entire GLBT community have a responsibility to each other to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to fight for marriage rights? Phelan's book offers an interesting insight into questions such as these and challenges many "party lines" about unity and political accomplishment. The book is brief and easy to read. A perfect text for a women's studies course or for anyone interested in political activism in the postmodern world.