One of your assignments for this class is to write an introduction to a manifesto relevant to our course. Below is a list of manifestos to choose from. They have been written between 1970 and 2006 and many of them are classic references in sexuality studies, the history of radical American thought, and Third World feminism. Your introduction – written for a general educated audience – has to be in and around 300 words and must include the following elements:
- Brief description of people and events behind the manifesto, as well as information about the ways its first version was distributed. If you notice inconsistencies in accounts on this, make sure to address them.
- A summary of issues raised in the manifesto.
- An overview of the manifesto’s style. Bullet points or essay-like structure? Make sure to discuss the relevance of style to the overall message of the manifesto.
- The relevance of brought up issues for our contemporary moment.
- Integrated citations from at least two scholarly sources discussing the manifesto. Make sure you use one consistent citation system.
- Hard copy in class due Feb 19. Double-spaced, written in your best English. Best to avoid jargon.
Extra credit points for review and presentation of your introduction for the campus exhibition “Queer Territory: UR-Rochester-US.”
The list of manifestos to choose from:
- Carl Wittman, “The Gay Manifesto” 1970 Carl Wittman Gay Manifesto
- Radicalesbians, “The Woman Identified Woman” (1970) Woman Identified Woman
- Gay Liberation Front, “Manifesto” (1971 & 1978)
- Third World Gay Revolution, “What We Want, What We Believe” (1971) What we want when do we want it third world gay manifesto
- The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977)
- People with AIDS, “Denver Principles” (1983)
- Sandy Stone, “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto” (1987)
- Queers, “Queers Read this” (1990)
- Leslie Feinberg, “Trans Gender Liberation. A Movement Whose Time Has Come” (1992) Trans-Liberation-Pamphlet-Feinberg
- Cherrie Moraga, “Queer Aztla’n: The Re-Formation of Chicano Tribe” (1992). Reprinted in Deborah Carlin and Jennifer DiGrazia, eds. Queer Cultures (New York: Prentice Hall, 2003), 224-235. Cherrie Moraga
- Lesbian Avengers, “Dyke Manifesto” (1993)LESBIAN AVENGERS manifesto
- Cheryl Clarke, “Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance” (1981), reprinted in Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (Latham, NY: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983), 128-137. Clarke, Lesbianism as Resistance 1981
- Horizontal Alliance of Very (or Vaguely or Voraciously) Organized Queers, “Undoing Borders. A Queer Manifesto” (2005) undoing-borders-queer manifesto
- Audre Lorde Project, “For All the Ways They Say We Are, No One Is Illegal” (2006)
