USC professor and trenchant pop culture queer critic, J. Jack Halberstam's four most important books are:
Female Masculinity
(1998). Library Journal says it "makes a compelling argument for a more flexible taxonomy of masculinity, including not only men, who have historically held the power in society, but also women who embody qualities that are usually associated with maleness, such as strength, authority, and independence. Fleshing out her argument by drawing on a variety of sources -- fiction, films, court documents, and diaries -- Halberstam calls for society to acknowledge masculine lesbian women and value them."
In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives
[Kindle] (2005) examines trans representations and influences in fiction, art, music, and movies ranging from Boys Don't Cry to The Full Monty and Austin Powers.
The Queer Art of Failure
[Kindle] (2011). PW calls it, "A lively and thought-provoking examination of how the homogenizing tendencies of modern society might be resisted through the creative application of failure, forgetting, and passivity, actions generally deemed of little value within today's capitalist models of success. . . . [A]s a close reader of popular culture, she is exemplary, and as a valiant attempt to find value in positions and attitudes such as negativity that our modern success-oriented society disdains, this study is never less than thrilling.”
Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal
[Kindle] (2012). Ariel Levy says, "Jack Halberstam—the king of feminism—has managed to make sense of pregnant men, Lady Gaga, gay marriage, and the advent of the bromance in this provocative and pleasurable romp through contemporary gender politics. Gaga Feminism is as fun as it is illuminating."
Halberstam is 51 today and lives in Los Angeles with Marcarena Gomez-Barris.
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