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New Texts at the Sex & Gender Library
Just in are these exciting additions. Is there a text that you would like to see in the Sex & Gender library? Maybe one that always seems to be checked-out it at the Main Library, just when you need it? Let us know. Haven't been to the Sex and Gender Library? It's in the LGBTQ Center (CC235). Stop by and check it out. It's home to hundreds of titles, across dozens of subjects.
Porn: How to Think With Kink (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Dave Monroe
Love it or loathe it, pornography is as old as human civilization itself. Ancient humans were drawing porn on their cave walls long before it flourished under the Greeks and Romans. With the age of the Internet, it has now reached epic proportions. This anthology takes the ever-controversial discussion of pornography out of solely academic circles; it expands the questions about porn that academics might tackle and opens the conversation to those who know it best – the creators and users of porn. Together, they address issues such as: Is a porn actor’s life “worse off” by virtue of his or her profession? Why are men more willing to accept the authenticity of “porngasms”? What is the voyeuristic appeal of watching celebrity sex tapes? And, what is wrong with pornography? Entertaining and scholarly, Porn – Philosophy for Everyone offers a titillating, tantalizing glimpse into the world of porn.
The Slave Journals and Other Tales of the Old Guard
Thom Magister
Thom Magister’s memoir of being trained as a leather Master in the 1950s, “One Among Many,” was published in Mark Thompson’s groundbreaking 1991 "Leatherfolk" anthology. Ever since then it has been widely cited as one of the few firsthand accounts we have about the fabled “Old Guard,” though the men at the time never thought of themselves in those terms. Now, based on his decades of experience, Magister offers a novella, “The Slave Journals,” that depicts an ideal community of Masters and slaves, and 17 erotic stories written from the perspectives of different Old Guard Masters from the 1950s to 1980. He has fictionalized his adventures and those of his friends and partners, but the genuine Old Guard values of responsibility, humility, respect, and gratitude are evident throughout.
Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality: Charting the Connections
Toni Lester
How are culturally constructed stereotypes about appropriate sex-based behavior formed? If a person who is biologically female behaves in a stereotypically masculine manner, what are the social, political, and cultural forces that may police her behavior? And how will she manage her gendered image in response to that policing? Finally, how do race, ethnicity, or sexuality inform the way that sex-based roles are constructed, policed, or managed? The chapters in this book address such questions from social science perspectives and then examine personal stories of reinvention and transformation, including discussions of the lives of dancers Isadora Duncan and Bill T. Jones, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and surrealist artist Claude Cahun. Writers from fields as diverse as history, art, psychology, law, literature, sociology, and the activist community look at gender nonconformity from conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. They emphasize that gender nonconformists can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anyone else who does not fit a model of Caucasian heterosexual behavior characterized by binary masculine and feminine roles.
Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery
Jeanette Winterson
One suspects that the title of this essay collection is not meant to be a noun. What, then, does Winterson think art objects to? The answer surfaces readily in her first essay, a probing piece about learning to look, to really look, at paintings. Art objects, she imagines, to our propensity for doomsaying, for seeing the glass as half-empty rather than half-full. Winterson continues to develop this notion as she shifts her focus from the visual arts to various aspects of literature, her true metier. In the course of invigorating discussions on Woolf, Lawrence, and others, Winterson offers a thoroughly convincing argument for keeping writer's lives (especially their sexuality) separate from their work, but then she executes one of her adept pirouettes and grants us a glimpse of her past. In a flash, we understand just how profound her involvement with art is, and our appreciation for her superb essays deepens.
Mr. Benson (A Novel)
John Preston
A classic of modern gay S/M fiction, Mr. Benson is the compelling story of a young man's quest for the perfect master. In a West Village leather bar, he finds wealthy, sophisticated, exacting Aristotle Benson, who leads him down the path of erotic enlightenment, teaching him to accept cruelty as love, anguish as affection, and ultimately, Mr. Benson as his master. If John Preston, the masterly, handsome author of more than 30 books, was himself a gay icon, his character Mr. Benson defined the culture of gay sex for an entire generation. When Mr. Benson first appeared in the pre-AIDS early 1980s, its unabashed celebration of male sexuality made it a cult favorite among gay men, many of whom wore T-shirts declaring that they were "looking for Mr. Benson." The novel's fresh voice and insights into identity, desire, power, and love influenced a generation of writers and editors, including Anne Rice, Samuel Delany, Michael Lowenthal, Laura Antoniou, and Joan Nestle
College Sex: Philosophers With Benefits (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Michael Bruce
Philosophy has a history of expanding wisdom to include more worldly affairs. Continuing this tradition, College Sex – Philosophy for Everyone investigates a broad array of philosophical and moral issues relating to the sexual practices of students. Within the unique social setting of college comes a varied assortment of sexual relations and experiments, ranging from the mutually respectful, to the inebriated, meaningless, and the degrading. So lay back and ponder: Do students’ sexual acts need to involve love in order to have value? Should college students avoid a “friends with benefits” relationship? Should we condone relationships between students and teachers? Why is college a socially acceptable space for experimentation? Written with insight and humor, the essays shed light on sexual relations in college and examine a range of ethical issues, including: dating, cheating, courtship, homosexual experimentation, and drug and alcohol use, within the college setting.
1001 Beds: Performances, Essays, and TravelsTim Miller
For a quarter century, Tim Miller has worked at the intersection of performance, politics, and identity, using his personal experiences to create entertaining but pointed explorations of life as a gay American man—from the perils and joys of sex and relationships to the struggles of political disenfranchisement and artistic censorship. This intimate autobiographical collage of Miller's professional and personal life reveals one of the celebrated creators of a crucial contemporary art form and a tireless advocate for the American dream of political equality for all citizens. Here we have the most complete Miller yet—a raucous collection of his performance scripts, essays, interviews, journal entries, and photographs, as well as his most recent stage piece Us. This volume brings together the personal, communal, and national political strands that interweave through his work from its beginnings and ultimately define Miller's place as a contemporary artist, activist, and gay man
Porn: How to Think With Kink (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Dave Monroe
Love it or loathe it, pornography is as old as human civilization itself. Ancient humans were drawing porn on their cave walls long before it flourished under the Greeks and Romans. With the age of the Internet, it has now reached epic proportions. This anthology takes the ever-controversial discussion of pornography out of solely academic circles; it expands the questions about porn that academics might tackle and opens the conversation to those who know it best – the creators and users of porn. Together, they address issues such as: Is a porn actor’s life “worse off” by virtue of his or her profession? Why are men more willing to accept the authenticity of “porngasms”? What is the voyeuristic appeal of watching celebrity sex tapes? And, what is wrong with pornography? Entertaining and scholarly, Porn – Philosophy for Everyone offers a titillating, tantalizing glimpse into the world of porn.
The Slave Journals and Other Tales of the Old Guard
Thom Magister
Thom Magister’s memoir of being trained as a leather Master in the 1950s, “One Among Many,” was published in Mark Thompson’s groundbreaking 1991 "Leatherfolk" anthology. Ever since then it has been widely cited as one of the few firsthand accounts we have about the fabled “Old Guard,” though the men at the time never thought of themselves in those terms. Now, based on his decades of experience, Magister offers a novella, “The Slave Journals,” that depicts an ideal community of Masters and slaves, and 17 erotic stories written from the perspectives of different Old Guard Masters from the 1950s to 1980. He has fictionalized his adventures and those of his friends and partners, but the genuine Old Guard values of responsibility, humility, respect, and gratitude are evident throughout.
Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality: Charting the Connections
Toni Lester
How are culturally constructed stereotypes about appropriate sex-based behavior formed? If a person who is biologically female behaves in a stereotypically masculine manner, what are the social, political, and cultural forces that may police her behavior? And how will she manage her gendered image in response to that policing? Finally, how do race, ethnicity, or sexuality inform the way that sex-based roles are constructed, policed, or managed? The chapters in this book address such questions from social science perspectives and then examine personal stories of reinvention and transformation, including discussions of the lives of dancers Isadora Duncan and Bill T. Jones, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and surrealist artist Claude Cahun. Writers from fields as diverse as history, art, psychology, law, literature, sociology, and the activist community look at gender nonconformity from conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. They emphasize that gender nonconformists can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anyone else who does not fit a model of Caucasian heterosexual behavior characterized by binary masculine and feminine roles.
Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery
Jeanette Winterson
One suspects that the title of this essay collection is not meant to be a noun. What, then, does Winterson think art objects to? The answer surfaces readily in her first essay, a probing piece about learning to look, to really look, at paintings. Art objects, she imagines, to our propensity for doomsaying, for seeing the glass as half-empty rather than half-full. Winterson continues to develop this notion as she shifts her focus from the visual arts to various aspects of literature, her true metier. In the course of invigorating discussions on Woolf, Lawrence, and others, Winterson offers a thoroughly convincing argument for keeping writer's lives (especially their sexuality) separate from their work, but then she executes one of her adept pirouettes and grants us a glimpse of her past. In a flash, we understand just how profound her involvement with art is, and our appreciation for her superb essays deepens.
Mr. Benson (A Novel)
John Preston
A classic of modern gay S/M fiction, Mr. Benson is the compelling story of a young man's quest for the perfect master. In a West Village leather bar, he finds wealthy, sophisticated, exacting Aristotle Benson, who leads him down the path of erotic enlightenment, teaching him to accept cruelty as love, anguish as affection, and ultimately, Mr. Benson as his master. If John Preston, the masterly, handsome author of more than 30 books, was himself a gay icon, his character Mr. Benson defined the culture of gay sex for an entire generation. When Mr. Benson first appeared in the pre-AIDS early 1980s, its unabashed celebration of male sexuality made it a cult favorite among gay men, many of whom wore T-shirts declaring that they were "looking for Mr. Benson." The novel's fresh voice and insights into identity, desire, power, and love influenced a generation of writers and editors, including Anne Rice, Samuel Delany, Michael Lowenthal, Laura Antoniou, and Joan Nestle
College Sex: Philosophers With Benefits (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Michael Bruce
Philosophy has a history of expanding wisdom to include more worldly affairs. Continuing this tradition, College Sex – Philosophy for Everyone investigates a broad array of philosophical and moral issues relating to the sexual practices of students. Within the unique social setting of college comes a varied assortment of sexual relations and experiments, ranging from the mutually respectful, to the inebriated, meaningless, and the degrading. So lay back and ponder: Do students’ sexual acts need to involve love in order to have value? Should college students avoid a “friends with benefits” relationship? Should we condone relationships between students and teachers? Why is college a socially acceptable space for experimentation? Written with insight and humor, the essays shed light on sexual relations in college and examine a range of ethical issues, including: dating, cheating, courtship, homosexual experimentation, and drug and alcohol use, within the college setting.
1001 Beds: Performances, Essays, and TravelsTim Miller
For a quarter century, Tim Miller has worked at the intersection of performance, politics, and identity, using his personal experiences to create entertaining but pointed explorations of life as a gay American man—from the perils and joys of sex and relationships to the struggles of political disenfranchisement and artistic censorship. This intimate autobiographical collage of Miller's professional and personal life reveals one of the celebrated creators of a crucial contemporary art form and a tireless advocate for the American dream of political equality for all citizens. Here we have the most complete Miller yet—a raucous collection of his performance scripts, essays, interviews, journal entries, and photographs, as well as his most recent stage piece Us. This volume brings together the personal, communal, and national political strands that interweave through his work from its beginnings and ultimately define Miller's place as a contemporary artist, activist, and gay man
Big Gay Night @ the LehmanLoeb
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Join BGHV as we spend a night “out” at the recently renovated and reopened Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on the campus of Vassar College from 5pm to 10pm on Thursday, April 14th.
The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center has a permanent collection that spans antiquity to the present, including works by O’Keeffe, Dürer, Cole, Church, Rembrandt, Pollock, Warhol, Calder, Matisse, Rothko, Steiglitz, Munch, Inness and many more well known artists – both gay and straight! Vassar students will be providing the entertainment through a variety of their campus a capella groups.
In addition to enjoying the art, we’ll be signing up walkers for the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk on Saturday, May 7th. You’ll also be able to pick up your fundraising kits right there on site.
Following the event, join the party at Babycakes starting at 9:30pm where Gay Night will be making a One-Night-Only move from Wednesday to Thursday! Ryan and Josh will be serving up the beats, and Gary will be mixing-up the cocktails – so come on out and have a drink with your friends!
"Laramie Project" Performance
Saturday, April 16, 1 PM & 5 PM
Sunday, April 17, 3 PM
Streep Studio, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film
Reservations can be made at the Info Desk, located in the College Center. Seating for each performance is limited.
The production is an Independent Project, in association with Campus Life LGBTQ Programs, the Drama Department and ActOut.
About the Laramie Project
About the Laramie Project
In October 1998 Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Five weeks later, Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. The play draws these interviews, company members' own journal entries and published news reports. It is divided into three acts, and eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is one of the most performed plays in America today.
New LGBTQ Publication
Send your submissions to curious@vassar.edu by April 22nd.
For more information contact Steve Lavoie, Assistant Director of Campus Life at stlavoie@vassar.edu
Coming Home
Wednesday, April 13
5:30pm, Villard Room
Reception to follow in the Gold Parlor
"For many lesbians and some gay men, Vassar was a lovely home that would not accept our difference. Fortunately times change. WOLF GIRLS AT VASSAR: LESBIAN AND GAY EXPERIENCES, 1930-1990 (1992) and our Lesbian & Gay conference for LAGAVC that same year provided a first, and wonderful homecoming." In addition to WOLF GIRLS AT VASSAR, Anne MacKay has edited SHE WENT A-WHALING: THE JOURNAL OF MARTHA SMITH BREWER BROWN (1993) and written several books of poetry, including FIELD NOTES OF A LESBIAN NATURALIST (2009). She will speak on Vassar's rich lesbian and gay history.
Carl and Libbie and Bert and Ida: Re-defining Family
Robert Pounder, Professor Emeritus of ClassicsThursday, March 31
5:30 Villard Room
Reception to follow in the Gold Parlor
Long before the current national discussion over gay marriage, Vassar faculty and alumnae were redefining marriage, partnership, and the family in unexpectedly rich and radical ways. In a world where gay and lesbian history has often been lost or even consciously erased, it is especially important to recover LGBTQI narratives and personal histories; and Vassar College as a leading progressive institution in the early 20th century often provided an origin or home to lesbian academics, both faculty and students. One of these narratives continues to have a presence on campus even today – in the Blegen House, up until recently the home for the LGBTQ Center, and in the Blegen Fellow, housed yearly in the Greek and Roman Studies Department.
Drawing on deeply engaging personal letters and journals, Robert Pounder, Emeritus Professor of Classics, will speak on his fascinating research into the lives of four of the most important Americans working in Greek Archaeology in the early 20th century. The two women were Vassar alumnae: Ida Thallon Hill (VC 1897) and Elizabeth Pierce Blegen (VC 1910). Their marriages to Bert Hodge Hill and Carl Blegen, respectively, created a menage that solved difficult personal problems even as it affirmed an abiding love. The marriages brought into being an unconventional yet strong family that endured for the rest of their lives.
Professor Pounder's talk is part of a series in honor of the Sesquicentennial celebrating Vassar's LGBTQI history, sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, the Department of English, the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, and the Department of History, with support from the C. Mildred Thompson Fund, Campus Life LGBTQ Programs, Act Out!, QCVC, TransMission, and the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.
Unhitched: Love, Marriage, and Family from West Hollywood to Western China
Wednesday March 23rd, 5:00pm, Taylor Hall 203
A leading expert on the family, Judith Stacey is known for her provocative research on mainstream issues. Finding herself impatient with increasingly calcified positions taken in the interminable wars over same-sex marriage, divorce, fatherlessness, marital fidelity, and the like, she struck out to profile unfamiliar cultures of contemporary love, marriage, and family values from around the world. Built on over a decade of bracing original research that spans gay men’s intimacies and parenting in this country to plural and non-marital forms of family in South Africa and China, Unhitched decouples the taken for granted relationships between love, marriage, and parenthood. Countering the one-size-fits-all vision of family values, Stacey offers readers a lively, in-person introduction to these less familiar varieties of intimacy and family and to the social, political, and economic conditions that buttress and batter them.
Judith Stacey, is Professor of Sociology, and Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University
Sponsored by Campus Life LGBTQ Programs, the departments of Anthropology and Sociology, and the Women’s Studies program
Campus LGBTQ Culture Complicated by Outreach Efforts
"Between published material, traveling shows and the general celebration surrounding the celebration of Vassar's 150th birthday, offices that used to exist on the outskirts of student life are taking a more prominent role in the campus consciousness..."Vassar considers image, The Miscellany News
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