Transgressing Feminist Theory and Discourse: Advancing Conversations across Disciplines

Despite decades of activism, resistance, and education, both feminists and gender rebels continue to experience personal, political, institutional, and cultural resistance to rights, recognition, and respect. In the face of these inequalities and disparities, Transgressing Feminist Theory and Discourse seeks to engage with, and disrupt the long-standing debates, unquestioned conceptual formations, and taboo topics in contemporary feminist studies.

The first half of the book challenges key concepts and theories related to feminist scholarship by advocating new approaches for theorizing interdisciplinarity, intersectionality, critical race theory, trans studies, and genetics. The second half of the book offers feminist critiques or explorations of timely topics such as the 2017 Women’s March and Donald Trump’s election as well as non-Western perspectives of family and the absence of women’s perspectives in healthcare. Contributors comprise of leading scholars and activists from disciplines including gender and sexuality studies, African American studies, communication studies, sociology, political science, and media.

Transgressing Feminist Theory and Discourse is a compelling examination of some of the most high-profile feminist issues today. It hopes to infuse future and current debates and conversations around feminism and feminist theory with intersectional, imaginative, provocative, and evocative ideas, inspiring bold cross-fertilizations of concepts, principles, and practices.

Jennifer C. Dunn is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture at Dominican University, USA. Her research explores how media and popular culture represent gender and intersecting issues of identity. Her most recent publications include the journal article, "Going to Work at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch: Potentials of Rhetorical and Ethnographic Methods for Cultural Studies" (Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 2016) and her co-authored textbook, Pursuing Popular Culture: Methods for Researching the Everyday.

Jimmie Manning is an Associate Professor of Communication Theory and Sexuality Studies at Northern Illinois University, USA. His research focuses on meaning-making in relationships. This research spans multiple contexts to understand how individuals, couples, families, organizations, and other cultural institutions attempt to define, support, control, limit, encourage, or otherwise negotiate relationships. He has accrued over 90 publications in outlets including Communication Monographs, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.