Gender Ironies of Nationalism: Sexing the Nation

by Tamar Mayer (Editor)

Overview

This book provides a unique social science reading on the construction of nation, gender and sexuality and on the interactions among them. It includes international case studies from Indonesia, Ireland, former Yugoslavia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Australia, the USA, Turkey, China, India and the Caribbean.
The contributors offer both the masculine and feminine perspective, exposing how nations are comprised of sexed bodies, and exploring the gender ironies of nationalism and how sexuality plays a key role in nation building and in sustaining national identity.
The contributors conclude that control over access to the benefits of belonging to the nation is invariably gendered; nationalism becomes the language through which sexual control and repression is justified masculine prowess is expressed and exercised. Whilst it is men who claim the prerogatives of nation and nation building it is, for the most part, women who actually accept the obligation of nation and nation building.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415162548
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/07/1999
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tamar Mayer is Professor of Geography at Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. USA.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Gender ironies of nationalism, Tamar Mayer; Chapter 2 Spectacular sexuality, Leslie K. Dwyer; Chapter 3 Death of a nation, Angela K. Martin; Chapter 4 Sexing the nation/desexing the body, Julie Mostov; Chapter 5 Uneasy images, Mary H. Moran; Chapter 6 “Am I a woman in these matters?”, Jeanne Marecek; Chapter 7 Native sex, Elizabeth A. Povinelli; Chapter 8 Kurdish nationalism in Turkey and the role of peasant Kurdish women, Cihan Ahmetbeyzade; Chapter 9 Calligraphy, gender and Chinese nationalism, Tamara Hamlish; Chapter 10 Men’s sexuality and women’s subordination in Indian nationalisms, Steve Derné; Chapter 11 Nationalism and Caribbean masculinity, Linden Lewis; Chapter 12 From zero to hero, Tamar Mayer; Chapter 13 Gender, sexuality and the military model of U.S. national community, Holly Allen; Chapter 14 Angry white men, Andrew Light, William Chaloupka;

Editorial Reviews

'It is, to my knowledge, the first book of it's kind by a geographer.' - Cultural Geographies

'Mayer, in her thought-provoking and well organized introduction, sets the tone for the volume as she argues that nation, gender and sexuality are all social constructions, and are profoundly embedded in each other.' - Cultural Geographies

'This volume is a useful addition to understanding the intersection between nationalism, state, gender and sexuality in the context of specific national environments ... an important contribution and useful addition to the field of gender studies in nationalism.' - Zlatko Skrbis, University of Queensland

'Mayer, in her thought-provoking and well organized introduction, sets the tone for the volume as she argues that nation, gender and sexuality are all social constructions, and are profoundly embedded in each other.' - Cultural Geographies

'This volume is a useful addition to understanding the intersection between nationalism, state, gender and sexuality in the context of specific national environments ... an important contribution and useful addition to the field of gender studies in nationalism.' - Zlatko Skrbis, University of Queensland

From the Publisher

Social scientists explore the many complex intimacies between gender, nation, and sexuality in 14 essays. They find that control over access to the benefits of belonging to the nation is virtually always gendered and that through control over reproduction, sexuality, and the means of representation, the authority to define the nation lies mainly with men. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews