Body Talk: Philosophical Reflections on Sex and Gender

An exploration of the body as a physical, psychological and cultural construct, the essays in this text explore the tension between the physical body and the constructed psyche. The text includes a revised version of the essay The Male Lesbian by the author. Other essays in the text deal with issues such as Magic Johnson's body and the way in which a celebrity can transcend his HIV-positive status and maintain his masculine image in the face of overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward people with the gay disease. Queer hatred and heterosexual society's antipathy toward homosexuality is also considered. The essay Prozac Feminism is a discussion of whether the culture of Prozac sustains the construct of the superwoman preferred by male-dominated society.