2005 Articles

Queer Theory for Everyone: A Review Essay

Marcus, Sharon

Library shelves tell interesting stories. Thirty or forty years ago, it took almost no time to get from feminism to homosexuality—in the stacks. Neither category took up much space, and few books stood between them, since the Library of Congress system classifies feminism and homosexuality together in Subclass HQ, “The Family. Marriage. Women.” That subclass has filled out rapidly in the past forty years, and in the past two decades much of the growth has been in HQ 74‐77—“Bisexuality. Homosexuality. Lesbianism. Transvestism. Transexualism.” Books that once huddled together for warmth on a few shelves now proudly occupy many linear feet in most major research collections. Paralleling the growth of gay studies has been the even more substantial increase within HQ 1101‐2030.7: “Women. Feminism.”