Queer

Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker, illustrated by Julia Scheele, 175 pages

In this beautifully illustrated primer, Barker presents an excellent introduction to queer theory, covering everything from its roots and its seminal thinkers to its criticisms of other humanities-based theories and the criticism that have been lobbed at queer theory. This is a big topic to take on, and a confusing one (even for those who are quite familiar with it). Through this book Barker and Scheele want the readers to think more queerly; that is, be more open-minded about definitions of people (by gender, sexual orientation, and a myriad of other "identities" discussed in the book) and stop using arbitrary binaries!

I'll admit that this is a topic of which I was aware before reading, though by no means could I define exactly what "queer" meant. After reading the book, I still can't, but as I learned through reading, the definition is constantly evolving and may mean something different to many different people. What this book has done, however, is create a great, visually stimulating jumping-off point, should I be interested in further research on this subject, and that, I think was the point. Excellently done.