Virtual Gender: Fantasies of Subjectivity and Embodiment

O'Farrell, Mary Ann

ISBN 10: 0472067087 / ISBN 13: 9780472067084

Published by University of Michigan Press, 1999

About this Item

Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. An apparently unread copy in perfect condition. Dust cover is intact with no nicks or tears. Spine has no signs of creasing. Pages are clean and not marred by notes or folds of any kind.

Seller Inventory # wbs5912019964

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Virtual Gender: Fantasies of Subjectivity and Embodiment
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472067087
• ISBN 13: 9780472067084
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Like New
• Weight: 435.5 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This collection breaks new ground in the area of gender studies both because it creates a name for gender fantasy--virtual gender--that introduces a new understanding of the concept, and in expanding the idea of virtuality to include people and events in history. The essays in Virtual Gender help identify and name the persistent cultural desire for an imaginative space in which to "put on" alternative gender identities, while examining as well the equally persistent and consequent critique of that desire.The sweep of the volume's coverage is impressive, ranging across historical periods and academic disciplines, as contributors consider the place of the body in gender fantasy and the consequences of gender fantasy for real people and real bodies. The essays investigate figures and topics including Amelia Earhart, soap-opera chat groups, Elizabeth I, mesmerism, lesbianism in the early modern period, cybergames, women in the federalist period, the transgendered body, and performance art. Also examined are the status of embodiment, the origins of gender, gender politics, the pains of subjectivity, the uses of utopian fantasy, technological advances and information technology, the experience of gendered communities, and the role of gender in global politics. Contributors include Harriette Andreadis, Seyla Benhabib, Charlotte Canning, Bernice Hausman, Janel Mueller, Mary Ann O'Farrell, Kay Schaffer, Sidonie Smith, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Helen F. Thompson, Lynne Vallone, and Robyn Warhol. The book will appeal to an interdisciplinary audience of scholars, critics, and students with interests in gender, identity, and cyberculture.

About the Author

Mary Ann O'Farrell is Associate Professor of English, Texas A&M University.Lynne Vallone is Associate Professor of English, Texas A&M University.