Sep 242012
 

This Friday, September 28th on Sex Out Loud radio, USC Professor and Cultural Critic J. Jack Halberstam joins me for a discussion as part of my “Live in Los Angeles” series, recorded in studio in LA. We’ll talk about Halberstam’s new book Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Queer Ideas Book) and how the well-renowned academic Halberstam brings sex and gender theory to a mass audience. Hear Halberstam riff on the lesbian baby boom, the divide between academics and activists, and gender representations in pop culture from Lady Gaga to Bridesmaids. Plus, Halberstam will confess how the Occupy Movement informed and inspired this book, how reproductive technologies have shifted the landscape of the family, and what “gaga feminism” is.

Jack Halberstam is Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Gender Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. Halberstam is the author of five books including: Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (Duke UP, 1995), Female Masculinity (Duke UP, 1998), In A Queer Time and Place (NYU Press, 2005), The Queer Art of Failure (a John Hope Franklin Center Book)(Duke UP, 2011) and Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Queer Ideas Book) (Beacon Press, 2012) and has written articles that have appeared in numerous journals, magazines and collections. Halberstam is currently working on several projects including a book on Fascism and (homo)sexuality.

Halberstam has co-edited a number of anthologies including Posthuman Bodies (Unnatural Acts: Theorizing the Performative) (Indiana University Press, 1995) and a special issue of Social Text with Jose Munoz and David Eng titled “What’s Queer About Queer Studies Now?” Jack is a popular speaker and gives lectures around the country and internationally every year. Lecture topics include: queer failure, sex and media, subcultures, visual culture, gender variance, popular film, and animation.

CONTEST TO WIN a copy of Jack Halberstam’s new book GAGA FEMINISM:

It’s simple: listen to Friday’s episode of Sex Out Loud. Listen either live at 5 pm PST/8 pm EST or on demand as a podcast. Then post your FAVORITE quote from the episode on Facebook or Twitter.

For Facebook: post on your public page in a public post. Tag my public page, Tristan Taormino, in your post so I can find it AND include this link to the show: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2096/sex-out-loud. (Note: you cannot use a shortened URL or FB will block it.)

For Twitter: include @SexOutLoudRadio and the link http://tiny.cc/SOLoud

You can enter a maximum of 5 times. Each quote posted during the live show will be entered twice, giving you up to ten chances to win! All posts must appear before this Sunday (Sept. 30) at midnight Pacific Time. Winner will be announced on Monday at 12 noon Pacific Time.