Review: Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation by Jim Downs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Stonewall Uprising was the cathartic moment that began the gay liberation movement in 1969. During the 70s activism for the LGBTQ community continued in the decade before the AIDS epidemic came to the forefront. Jim Downs provides 7 essays in Stand by Me that discuss various aspects of the gay liberation movement in the 70s. He begins by detailing a deadly fire the broke out in a gay bar in New Orleans in 1973. The fire resulted in the deaths of thirty-two people and is considered one of, if not the largest massacres of gays in American history. The discussion then turns to religion, specifically discussing the Metropolitan Community Church, founded by and for gays people. The MCC offered solace and understanding to a community shunned by most other religious organizations. Downs also discusses the usage of bookstores, print media, and poetry as resources for advocacy in the gay community. The book concludes with a discussion of the image of gay men in the 70s as many worked to shatter the stereotype of an effeminate man, proudly showing the world that you can be macho and be gay.

This was an engaging read that pulled the reader in from the beginning and tugged on your heartstrings reading about the fire at the Up Stairs Lounge in New Orleans. Such a tragic event eclipses more recent events that we have seen in the news, such as the Pulse shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016. Advocacy for the LGBTQ community really took off in the 1970s and Stand by Me shares the beginning of the story for a subset of the community. Their work is far from done.

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Review: Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction

Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction by Thomas J. Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is for the updated version 2017 edition:

I used this book this year for a Cyber Criminology class I teach. It is a good text for an overview/introduction class. The first 10 chapters cover different types of cybercrime such as hacking, cyber terror, digital piracy, and cyberstalking / bullying. Cybersex crimes are also covered and in this 2017 edition, child pornography and sex crimes have been separated out from the adult versions of these crimes. There is one chapter on old school criminology theories / the scientific method and how they apply to the cyber world today. The last chapters cover digital forensics, touching on subjects like spoliation and collecting forensics in the cloud.

This is my second year teaching with this text and I will likely use it again. As with any text, it is going to be quickly outdated, so I hope the authors continue to update the text. It is well laid out with a nice progression between subjects, interspersing historical information as well. Real-world examples are used, but I would have liked more examples that are more in-depth. Another plus is that the book uses technical terms, while clearly explaining terms and concepts for beginners to understand.

I also liked the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. These are thought-provoking questions that have the students thinking beyond what is discussed in that chapter. They made great essay questions for tests. If you are an instructor, the publisher has a website with extra material that can be used in the classroom, such as Powerpoint presentations and test questions.

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Review: Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays

Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays by Camille Paglia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can a woman be both a feminist and be sexual? There is a feminist thought that women suffer from oppression by men and that all feminists hate men. Camille Paglia challenges the stereotypical identity of feminism in her book. Her main thesis answers the question that women can be feminists and embrace sexuality. Women can be strong and independent and be sexual. The images of these women are found in many forms of art from literature, print, and music. According to Paglia, the identity of a feminist as taught by academia has it all wrong.

Paglia is not your typical feminist scholar. She is brash, and she is loud. She does not conform to many streams of feminist thought. She has her ideas and opinions, and she is not afraid to share them and go against the grain. Paglia has roots in academia, having studied at Binghamton and Yale universities and makes her living as a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Despite being grounded in academia Paglia is often critical of traditional study and calls for broad changes in learning constructs at the university level. Her unique view of academia and many other topics are tackled in Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays.

Two major themes come to the forefront in Paglia’s essays. The first is Paglia’s views on women, feminism, and sexuality. Her belief that sex one should embrace sex in all its forms and portray all forms of art. The second theme is her strong views on psychological theory. Paglia is a follower of Freudian thought and is appalled at those that follow the tenets of Foucault, Lacan, and Derrida.

Paglia’s book is comprised of twenty-one essays on her views of feminist thought as they apply to sex and art. Many of these articles are published in magazines and journals. Paglia’s main discourse throughout her book does not conform to mainstream feminism. Paglia feels that sex should not be shunned. She boasts that she is pro pornography and prostitution. Sex is beautiful. Women are beautiful. She feels that feminists should not shun commercial ads that use women to exude a sexual theme to sell a product but to see the ad as a sensual work of art that portrays women as a beautiful, sexual being. Paglia uses examples of Madonna and Elizabeth Taylor to support her thesis that women can be beautiful, and they can be sexual, they can be sensual and also be strong independent women who embrace their identity and sexuality. These images are also seen in music and art, and Paglia goes as far as challenging a fellow professor who offered a lecture on the negative aspects of women’s sexuality depicted in art. To Paglia, these were works of art that showed the power women have as sexual beings. Art should be looked at for its positive messages on sexuality, not on its negative messages of oppression.

Paglia seems to contradict herself, though, when speaking on the subject of date rape. Paglia lays much blame on women for most cases of date rape, especially in regards to collegiate women who attend fraternity parties and follows a young man to their room. Paglia views this as a signal that the woman is open to sexual liaisons, and therefore there is no date rape but consensual sex. Many people would consider Paglia’s views as victim-blaming, but Paglia states her case unequivocally.

Paglia is not your typical feminist. She has ideas on women and sex that goes against the norm. She is radical and appears to go off in left field. However, her views should be considered. These views allow one to see feminism from a different lens. Her views challenge the current ideology on the role of art and sex in feminist thought. It is discourse, like Paglia’s, that allows people to expand their worldview and consider a different side of sexuality.

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Review: Intersectionality

Intersectionality by Patricia Hill Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Collins and Bilge present the topic of Intersectionality, which is the interconnectedness of race, class, and gender as it applies to individuals and groups. It is a person's holistic multi-faceted identity. The term is attributed to Kimberle Crenshaw who first coined the term in 1989; however, it was not a new concept at that time. Collins and Bilge utilize several examples of using intersectionality as a tool to explore and understand social inequality through inquiry and praxis. The authors also give voice to those that contest the concept. To put the concept into practicable terms, consider an African-American lesbian woman. Through the lens of intersectionality, they would identify as the collective person rather than as just an African-American, or just as a lesbian, or just as a woman.

The authors also explore feminist movements, such as the Combahee River Collective through the lens of intersectionality and its effects on modern movements like Hip Hop and our digital world.

This is a good, comprehensive book that can be dry and dense at times and engaging at other moments. Worth reading and discussing.

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Review: Reshaping Women's History: Voices of Nontraditional Women Historians

Reshaping Women's History: Voices of Nontraditional Women Historians by Julie A. Gallagher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not everyone has the chance to have a traditional college experience or forge a traditional path in their professional career. In today’s society more and more young adults finish high school and matriculate to a college campus to begin a four-year Bachelor’s program. A portion of those students who complete their undergraduate studies goes on to obtain a Master’s degree in their chosen field. Far fewer complete their educational journey by receiving their Doctorate. The percentage of women who complete the entire curriculum is likely low compared to men, as personal challenges present themselves throughout their adulthood. The low percentage includes women pursuing a Doctoral degree in History. Women who take a non-traditional route to higher education and professional careers are the subject of Julie A. Gallagher’s Reshaping Women’s History: Voices of Nontraditional Women Historians. Gallagher’s work is a compilation of 18 autobiographical essays by women who have persevered through incredible odds to obtain a post-baccalaureate degree in History. They are women who have received the Catherine Prelinger Award

The Catherine Prelinger award is given yearly to a woman who has shown evidence of a non-traditional professional career and has worked on a project to develop women’s role in history. Many of the recipients have interrupted their studies to devote time to family and personal matters. Finances are usually an issue as these women struggle to maintain a home with daunting bills and lack of income. Some have started on a different trajectory in their studies, never expecting to find themselves in the field of history, but by chance have found a passion uncovering the stories of past generations. The Prelinger award is given out by the Coordinating Council for Women in History (CCWH), and the monies received by the recipients have no specific earmark for usage. Some women utilize the money to help pay bills that will relieve them of a financial burden. These financial burdens hinder them from time-consuming research needed to complete a project of turning their dissertation into a published book. Some utilize the money to purchase equipment for recording oral histories, and some spend their money on travel to foreign countries to complete on-site research. However the monies are used these women are relieved of a financial strain so that they may achieve a goal that they believe they could not make. It has allowed them to join the ranks of fellow female historians contributing to an expanding body of scholarly women’s historiography.

Gallagher’s request of the eighteen women who form the body of Reshaping Women’s History is to write their story. They are autobiographical and each woman brings her voice and style to their essay. Some write in a scholarly voice, likely reminiscent of their academic voices, while others write more in a creative stream of consciousness form. These stories evoke passion and heartache for their projects and the hurdles they faced. They are at times raw and open as they lay out the details of their lives and journey toward completing scholarly works supporting women in history. The culminating result is a body of work that encourages other women to persevere through what may seem like insurmountable odds to complete their academic and professional goals. They are a group of women who have stories that need to be told and who can tell the story of other women overlooked in history.

Reshaping Women’s History should be required reading for all women pursuing a degree in history or comparable studies. Some of these women did not start out looking toward a profession in history, but their paths led them there. Reshaping Women’s History is a book that highlights the lack of scholarly work in women’s history and the voices that are still unheard waiting to be uncovered to be written and read by those that follow in their footsteps.

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