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In a fascinating and radical critique of identity and class, Your Place or Mine? examines the modern invention of homosexuality as a social construct that emerged in the 19th century. Examining “fairies” in Victorian England, transmen in early 20th century Manhattan, sexual politics in Soviet Russia as well as Stonewall’s attempt to combine gay self-defence with revolutionary critique, Dauvé turns his keen eye on contemporary political correctness in the United States, and the rise of reactionary discourse.
The utopian vision of
Your Place or Mine? is vital to a just society: the invention of a world where one can be
human without having to be classified by sexual practices or gender expressions. Where one need not find shelter in definition or assimilation. A refreshing reminder that we are not all the same, nor do we need to be.
List of contents
Prelude : WE’ WHA IN WASHINGTON
Chapter 1:
THE INVENTION OF “SEXUALITY”
Chapter 2 :
THE INVENTION OF “HOMOSEXUALITY”
Chapter
3 : WHAT IS “A MAN” ? OF
FAIRIES & MEN IN NEW
YORK
Chapter 4 : SEXUAL ENGINEERING IN MOSCOW
Chapter 5 : SEXUAL REFORM IN BERLIN
Chapter 6 :
BUTCH/FEM, OR : THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE WOMAN WORKER
IMAGE
Chapter 7 : “TO BE WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW
YET”: STONEWALL & AFTERMATH
Chapter 8 :
IMPOSSIBLE IDENTITY
Chapter 9 : GENDER & GENRE : THE
PARADOX OF GAY CULTURE
Chapter 10 : BEING GAY OR LESBIAN IN
THE WORK-PLACE
Chapter 11 : QUEER, OR THE IDENTITY THAT
NEGATES IDENTITIES
Chapter 12 : GAY-FRIENDLY, WITH
LIMITS
Chapter 13 : MEANWHILE, IN THE REST OF THE
WORLD…
Chapter 14 : NEW MORAL (DIS)ORDER
Postlude : POLYSEX
Note on the book
For
further reading
About the author
Gilles Dauvé is a French political theorist. He was participant in the 68 Paris rebellion and a writer for the radical gay magazine Fléau Social. His books Eclipse and Re-emergence of the Communist Movement and From Crisis to Comunisation are published by PM press.
Summary
In a fascinating and radical critique of identity and class, Your Place or Mine? examines the modern invention of homosexuality as a social construct that emerged in the 19th century. Examining “fairies” in Victorian England, transmen in early 20th century Manhattan, sexual politics in Soviet Russia as well as Stonewall’s attempt to combine gay self-defence with revolutionary critique, Dauvé turns his keen eye on contemporary political correctness in the United States, and the rise of reactionary discourse.
The utopian vision of Your Place or Mine? is vital to a just society: the invention of a world where one can be human without having to be classified by sexual practices or gender expressions. Where one need not find shelter in definition or assimilation. A refreshing reminder that we are not all the same, nor do we need to be.
Additional text
“Do you ever ask yourself why there is so little class analysis applied to the assimilation of the ‘gay movement,’ or even of the previously glamorous and revolutionary ‘subcultures’ denoted by the word ‘queer,’ why today’s ‘activists’ are so keen on reformist political strategies, why the current LGBTQQIP2SAA configuration used to describe the ‘gay’ or ‘queer’ community indicates a factionalization of sexual identity that has become so inclusive as to become almost meaningless? I have, and if you have too, Gilles Dauvé’s Your Place or Mine? A 21st Century Essay on (Same)Sex is the right book to be holding in your hands.”
—Bruce LaBruce
