Gender and Sexuality in the Midwest

This book is a collection of eleven essays, an introduction, and a conclusion that discuss issues of gender and sexuality in the twelve states of the Midwest. The book covers 200 years of midwestern history-from the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century-and includes the experiences of midwesterners of diverse races, religions, and sexualities. The essays are arranged according to three topical categories. Essays in the first section of the book deal with some aspect of Memory and Methodology, those in the second section engage matters of Community and Belief, and the chapters in the final third of the manuscript address intersections of Biography and Politics. The authors of all eleven essays firmly ground their analyses within the categories of gender and/or sexuality. Essayists include discussion of men and masculinity as well as women and femininity. In addition, several of the essays address situations outside the realm of heterosexual monogamy: plural marriage, celibacy, LGBTQ relationships. In other words, the book engages with developments in subject matter and methodology that have changed the gender studies field over the past 15-30 years.Authors have written their essays with an eye toward a broad audience. The book is appropriate reading for historians of women, gender, and sexuality; scholars of midwestern history and midwestern studies; undergraduate and graduate students in women’s and gender history courses; undergraduate and graduate students in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies courses; and non-academic readers with a particular interest in the Midwest or gender history.ContributorsKristin Mapel BloombergNikki Berg BurinStewart DavenportKara M. FrenchBarbara Handy-MarchelloBirgit HansDean J. KotlowskiDavid MislinCynthia C. PrescottAshley RattnerJordan Zdinak