Queer by Choice: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Politics of Identity

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking but not terrific
Review: Whisman does a credible job in presenting the results of her dissertation and she doesn't claim more than is reasonable based on the somewhat limited size of her sample (about 35 gay men and about 35 lesbians). The interview excerpts are interesting, and they got me thinking about how or why women or men choose to be gay. My book group (about 10 lesbians) didn't like the book as much as I did, but I know what it means to write a dissertation and how limited the scope of it usually is (Whisman's research was not funded by a large institution). We would have been more interested in a psychological rather than a political analysis of the data on choice. This is not to discount the importance of the notion of choice from a political perspective . . . but most of us are experienced enough to know that we have to negotiate our way between heterosexual feminists and male homosexuals. On the other hand, the book did stimulate a good discussion of the issues that Whisman raises.