Martin Duberman

i was hyped up to read this, being a queer leftist who agrees with most of the author’s takes on things: i am also disillusioned with mainstream, neoliberal lgbt movements that believe in assimilating into institutions like marriage and the military industrial complex without questioning them, angry about the commercialization of once-radical pride events, and disappointed by the lack of knowledge some queer communities have about lgbtq history. i’m also trans-nonbinary, jewish, show more autistic, and korean-american. i am someone who is often left out of those mainstream communities, which often privilege a certain expression of (cis, white, male, abled, upper or middle-class) homo- or bisexuality. all in all, i’m pretty much the target audience for this book

i guess it just... didn’t meet my expectations? i thought it was going to be either a) an accessible, not-extremely-academic synopsis of the revolutionaryness of a variety of older lgbt movements internationally compared to the moderation of current ones, b) an assortment of the author’s personal critiques of modern lgbt movements and where he’d like the see them progress, and/or c) concrete suggestions for how we can de-commodify pride, start collectively looking deeper at the systems we’ve fought to integrate into, celebrate our radical roots and maintain a Generally Leftist Vibe™️

this book was none of those things. it was kind of all over the place and really repetitive at points?

the author does not give an overview of past and present queer revolutionary vs reformist movements as I thought it would- which is understandable, as this isn’t a history book. however, he zooms in on a specific historical example (the post-Stonewall Gay Liberation Front), spending the entire first chapter (out of 4) on its politics, in-group dynamics, etc. he seems to view GLF as the beginning of queer revolutionary thought/action, which just isn’t true. obviously it’s an extremely important example- but one in a long list.

the book is also very americancentric- exclusively so, in fact. there is no mention of gay/queer politics anywhere else in the world, or if there are similar dynamics of revolution vs moderation elsewhere. (hint: there are.)

he also talks in the first chapter about Radicalesbians and the “woman identified woman” second wave, with barely any mention of the TERFism that ideology resulted in and that continues to be perpetuated today, particularly in the UK (again a situation where a more international perspective would certainly be helpful). the closest he gets to discussing TERFism and why trans people are turned off by radical second wave lesbian feminism is when he hints at lesbian “objection to transvestism”, which he doesn’t explore further and instead jumps right back to narrating about GLF.

i had to abandon this after finishing the first chapter and going halfway into the next. might continue later, but am pretty disappointed. show less

Andrea Dworkin: The Feminist as Revolutionary by Martin Duberman is a well-researched critical biography of an important and often controversial figure of second wave feminism.

I should probably admit upfront to having appreciated Dworkin's work for a long time so I came to this with a positive opinion of her and her ideas. I didn't always agree 100% with her thoughts but she never failed to make me reconsider my position and often shift it or outright change it.

Duberman did know Dworkin so show more his analysis and narrative are not strictly from his access to archives, though mostly so. It is subtly mentioned in the book that they met during the days of the Vietnam protests, but if someone just cherry-picked long quotes rather than read the book they would miss that. But such is what passes for certain types.

Duberman has written a critical biography here, not to be confused with a biography that is critical of Dworkin. He presents her ideas and tries to explain what she was arguing for and what she advocated for. In such a biography it is not necessary to present every counter argument, this is not a book of theory, this is a biography, so an explication of Dworkin's ideas to correct misunderstandings (all intercourse is rape, for example), intentional or not, is part of telling her story. Biography, yes, book of theory, no. The only people who will be upset that counter arguments weren't presented in greater detail will be those who likely disagree with Dworkin. Understandable but disingenuous as well.

This work presents Dworkin as an often difficult person though generally not from being mean or uncaring but from her approach to feminism and life itself. She sometimes saw things as easily distinguishable between right and wrong and gave no harbor to those she believed advocated, even unconsciously, for wrong. Yet reading her with an open mind, trying to understand what she was saying on her terms, was always a rewarding experience, even when she didn't persuade you. And if you're not reading any thinker to understand them on their terms, then you're really just halfway reading, you're looking for little bits that you can counter regardless of the accuracy of those bits to the larger argument. Dworkin did, and still does, make many readers take that approach because her truths are often uncomfortable.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to better understand both the person and her ideas. Whether you're new to her or have read all of her work, this makes many connections that have previously been hidden.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

An in-depth treatment of the gay liberation movement from its early beginnings, when it was internally referred to as the homophile movement by many of the mostly conservative gay men behind it, to the transformative moment in 1969 when violence erupted at a mob-run gay bar in the West Village of NYC known as The Stonewall Inn, bringing on a "generational, organizational and ideological shift". The author profiles six individuals through the 1960s and 1970s, whose "stories were different show more enough to suggest the diversity of gay and lesbian lives, yet interconnected enough to...suggest some of the ...values, perceptions and concerns that centrally characterized the Stonewall generation." This is an important work, obviously painstakingly researched, but I confess I found it slightly weedy reading in parts because of the scrupulous detail included about the multitude of gay rights organizations and publications that came and went, the lack of leadership and the counterproductive in-fighting that made a cohesive national movement so difficult to create for so long. Even after the Stonewall riots seemingly gave moderates and radicals a common goal, consensus as to "message" was as difficult to attain for the LGBTQ "community" as it has proven to be for many other marginalized groups throughout history. The personal stories of the troubled teenager, the African-American jazz club junkie, the buttoned-down wealthy celibate, the Barnard graduate feminist, the transvestite hustler, and the Yippie Vietnam war protestor kept me reading (although I did skim from time to time). Originally published in 1992, my 2019 edition contained a new introduction by the author as well as an epilogue with updates on the lives of his subjects, 4 of whom have died since the book first appeared. show less

Martin Duberman has some very strong opinions (spoiler: he believes the gay rights movement has failed). He has few kind words for modern LGBT organizations. He makes his points aggressively and you may very well disagree with his overarching argument. You may be certain he won't convince. He may not convince you. This book is still well worth reading.

The crux of Duberman's argument is that LGBT rights groups were far more radical in their goals in the days of yore than they have become. show more The focus on marriage equality, Duberman argues, has come at the expense of more radical ideas and the movement has become far more narrow in terms of the rights LGBT people seek to gain.

This book opened my eyes to queer history and to the flaws in out current advocacy system. Even if you find Duberman hard-line in his stance, this book exposes you/me/the reader to unconventional takes on the LGBT rights movement that will ultimately broaden your understanding of it.

(Note: While the title and the scope of the book focus primarily on the gay movement I have opted to refer to "the movement" as LGBT as a nod to the fact that not only gay people exist under this umbrella) show less