Vested Interests
Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety
Marjorie Garber(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 7. May 1992
Book
Hardback
500 pages
978-0-415-90072-0 (ISBN)
Description
"Vested Interests" focuses on the relationship between the aesthetic and the existential, from Shakespeare to Peter Pan and "M. Butterfly", from transsexual surgery and societies for transvestites and transsexuals, to Madonna, Michael Jackson, and even Elvis. Garber establishes that transvestism, far from being a marginal and socially deviant practice, in fact makes culture possible by marking the entrance to the symbolic. Citing the recurrence of transvestite theatre throughout different eras and cultures, Garber views the transvestite as a reiteration of the theatre's underlying problem of representation, because the transvestite acknowledges that every figure on stage is an "impersonator". By examining transvestism's varied social manifestations, the book addresses issues of gender, sexuality, race and class. The argument is illustrated with compelling examples: the sumptuary laws of medieval and early modern Europe, the little-known "transvestite tales" of Mark Twain and the public furor over an art student's portrayal of late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington wearing women's lingerie. This book should be of interest to undergraduates and academics.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
illustrations, 150 colour and b&w photographs, notes
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Weight
1330 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-90072-0 (9780415900720)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€53.99
Available for download

E-Book
10/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€53.99
Available for download

Book
11/1997
1st Edition
Routledge
€54.50
Available immediately
Content
Introduction List of Plates Part One: Transvestite Logics 1. Dress Codes or the Theatricality of Difference 2. Cross-Dress for Success 3. The Transvestite's Progress 4. Spare Parts: The Surgical Construction of Gender 5. Fetish Envy 6. Breaking the Code: Transvestitism and Gay Identity Part Two: Transvestite Effects 7. Fear of Flying or Why is Peter Pan a Woman 8. Cherchez la Femme: Cross-Dressing in Detective Fiction 9. Religious Habits 10. Phantoms of the Opera: Actor, Diplomat, Transvestite, Spy 11. Black and White TV: Cross-Dressing the Colour Line 12. The Chic of Araby: Transvestitism and the Erotics of Cultural Appropriation 13.The Transvestite Continuum: Liberace-Valentino-Elvis Conclusion a tergo : Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in Bed.