". . . a sinuously argued and carefully measured study of the work of feminist, gay, and Afro-American critics." -- Gillian Beer, Women: A Cultural Review

• Chapter 1 The “Risk” of Essence; Chapter 2 Reading Like a Feminist; Chapter 3 Monique Wittig's Anti-essentialist Materialism; Chapter 4 Luce Irigaray's Language of Essence; Chapter 5 “Race” Under Erasure? Poststructuralist Afro-American Literary Theory; Chapter 6 Lesbian and Gay Theory: The Question of Identity Politics; Chapter 7 Essentialism in the Classroom;