Gender, Sexuality and Museums ─ A Routledge Reader

Gender, Sexuality and Museums provides the only repository of key articles, new essays and case studies for the important area of gender and sexuality in museums. It is the first reader to focus on LGBT issues and museums, and the first reader in nearly 15 years to collect articles which focus on women and museums. At last, students of museum studies, women’s studies, LGBT studies and museum professionals have a single resource.

The book is organised into three thematic parts, each with its own introduction. Sections focus on women in museum work, applications of feminist and LGBT theories to museum exhibitions, exhibitions and collections pertaining to women and individuals who are LGBT. The Case studies in a fourth part provide different perspectives to key topics, such as memorials and memorializing; modernism and museums; and natural history collections. The collection concludes with a bibliographic essay evaluating scholarship to date on gender and sexuality in museums.

Amy K. Levin brings together outstanding articles published in the past as well as new essays. The collection’s scope is international, with articles about US, Canadian, and European institutions. Gender, Sexuality and Museums: A Routledge Reader is an essential resource for those studying gender and sexuality in the museum.

Amy Levin is Acting Associate Dean for Academic Administration in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University. She is also a professor of English at the university and has served both as director of Women’s Studies and coordinator of Museum Studies. She studies and teaches about race, class, and gender in museums in the U.S. and Europe. Her first two books were studies in literary criticism, and her third book, Defining Memory: Local Museums and the Construction of History in America’s Changing Communities, is an edited collection of articles on small museums.

1. Introduction Part 1: Women in Museum Work 2. Women in the Temple: Gender and Leadership in Museums, Marjorie Schwarzer 3. The New Girl in the Old Boy Network: Elizabeth Esteve-Coll in the V&A, Ruth Adams 4. Museums, Women, and Empowerment in the MENA Countries, Carol Malt Part 2: Theories A. Feminist Theory 5. Looking at Museums from a Feminist Perspective, Hilde Hein 6. A Woman’s Audience: A Case Study of Applied Feminist Theories, Barbara Clark Smith B. Queer Theory 7. Why Grapple With Queer When You Can Fondle It? Embracing our Erotic Intelligence, Paul Gabriel 8. Queer is Here? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Histories and Public Culture, Robert Mills Part 3: Collections and Exhibitions A. Women in (and out of) Exhibits 9. Art World Power and Women’s Incognito Work: The Case of Edward and Jo Hopper, Gail Levin 10. Looking for the ‘Total’ Woman in Wartime: A Museological Work in Progress, Laura Brandon 11. Pioneering Women Revisited: Representations of Gender in Some Israeli Settlement Museums, Tamar Katriel 12. ’Thanks, But We’ll Take It from Here’: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women Influencing the Collection of Tangible and Intangible Heritage, Olivia Robinson and Trish Barnard B. LGBTQ Out (and in) Exhibits 13. The Warren Cup: Highlighting Hidden Histories, Stuart Frost 14. Hidden Histories: The Experience of Curating a Male Same Sex Exhibition and the Problems Encountered, Michael Petry 15. Representing Lesbians and Gay Men in British Social History Museums, Angela Vanegas 16. Sister Fire: Representing the Legacies of Leatherwomen, Robert Ridinger Part 4: Case Studies A. The Nature of Gender 17. Gender Representation in the Natural History Galleries in the Manchester Museum, Rebecca Machin 18. Straight Talk: Evolution Exhibits and the Reproduction of Heterosexuality, Amy K. Levin B. Queering Modernity 19. In Pursuit of Spiritual Calling: Katherine S. Dreier, Galka E. Scheyer, and Hilla von Rebay, Isabel Wünsche 20. A Conversation with Artists Carrie Moyer, Sheila Pepe, Stephen Mueller, and Andrew Robinson, Frank Holliday 21. Bodies of Evidence: Queering Disclosure in the Art of Jasper Johns, Gavin Butt C. Memorials and Memorializing: The Heritage we Create 22. Representing Possibility: Mourning, Memorial, and Queer Museology, Anna Conlan 23. House Museums or Walk-In Closets? The (Non) Representation of Gay Men in the Museums They Called Home, Joshua Adair 24. Breeders on a Golf Ball: Normalizing Sex at Ellis Island, Erica Rand Part 5: Bibliographic Essay 25. Museum Studies Texts and Museum Subtexts, Anna Conlan and Amy K. Levin. Index