USB Journals (Univ. Köln)
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Review: Soto, Christopher, editor. Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color.
No full textIn lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:
The Nahuatl word nepantla, as defined by Gloria Anzaldúa in This Bridge We Call Home, means tierre entre medio or “middle ground/land between” loosely rendered (Soto I). Borrowing this word from Anzaldúa’s usage, Christopher Soto founded the literary journal Nepantla in association with Lambda Literary in 2013. Soto’s interest with this journal project was in increasing visibility of the diversity in queer poetry; the Nightboat Anthology Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color has the same aim and is largely an extension of the journal (I). Poets in the 200-page anthology validate the queer of color experience in all its polyvalence; there are, however, some things lacking in Nepantla. In Soto’s same spirit of “constructive criticism” (II), because this anthology’s poet-base is an essential, vibrant, and canonically underrepresented group, some critiques of this important anthology project should be made
Review: Robertson, Mary. Growing Up Queer. Kids and the Remaking of LGBTQ Identity.
No full textIn lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:
When conducting research about LGBTQ people, it is easy to fall into the trap of taking individuals’ sexualities for granted. Feminist scholars have discussed the social construction of gender at length. However, while we often pay lip service to the idea that sexuality, too, is socially and historically contingent, research rarely takes this idea as a central point of departure. Professor Mary Robertson’s recent book, Growing Up Queer: Kids and the Remaking of LGBTQ Identity (2019) is one rare example of research looks at how one becomes sexual. Growing Up Queer provides an ethnographic analysis of Spectrum, an LGBTQ youth center in an urban center in western United States in 2012-2013, to explore how the youth at this center become sexual and gendered through the social contexts they occupy
Why Kali Won’t Rage: A Critique of Indian Feminism.
No full textTwo unique factors distinguish Indian feminism from the feminism in the west. One, it rejects the notion of a deep-rooted, tradition-fed, gender hierarchy in India, defined, dominated and exploited by men. Secondly – it does not ascribe the abysmal state of women in India to longstanding patriarchal oppression, and hence sees no reason to rage against it. While to western feminists, these factors might seem oddly perplexing, there is within Indian feminism a rationalization of these outlooks. Their argument is that what may seem to be a gender hierarchy to westerners, is simply regarded as cultural observances by Indians. They further argue that because of the tradition of goddess worship, Indian men are more attuned to the idea of women in power, and that unlike the west, in India, men too have historically participated in the women’s rights movement. This paper argues that the ground reality of the state of women in India today, or indeed even historically, does not support this perspective. It also asks the question why this perspective might have evolved in the Indian women’s movement, and takes a historical, sociological and psychological view of possible explanations. Finally, the paper asserts that the Indian feminist movement has a responsibility to gravely introspect on its position and approach so far, and urgently contemplate a new approach and plan of action on challenging India into becoming a more gender-just and humane nation. It also makes a few suggestions on some of the issues that specifically need to be focused on
