Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch

Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality is a book by Dwight A. McBride on ethno-relational mores in contemporary gay African America with a nod to black, feminist and queer cultural contexts "dedicated to integrating sexuality and race into black and queer studies."[1]

Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality
AuthorDwight A. McBride
LanguageEnglish
Subjectgay and black feminist and queer cultural commentary on race and sexuality
PublisherNYU Press
Publication date
2005
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages267
ISBN978-0-8147-5686-7
OCLC55947980
305.896/073/00722 22
LC ClassE184.7 .M348 2004

Publication history

edit

McBride published the book while serving as dean of the Graduate School at Northwestern University, where he was Chair of the Department of African American Studies from 2002 to 2007. The book was published by New York University Press.

Content

edit

The book is divided into three main sections: "Queer Black Thought", "Race and Sexuality on Occasion" and "Straight Black Talk", all exploring facets of the intersections of race, sexuality, class and gender issues. The often personal essays speak to the "ghettoization of black men in gay male porn"[2] to broader subjects including the book's namesake Abercrombie & Fitch and how the clothing retailer influences the gay African-American male. McBride has been recognized as a specialist in bridging LGBT and racial issues illuminating both.[3]

Reception

edit

The book has been used in queer studies[4][5][6] as well as related college courses in universities[7][8][9] McBride was a guest speaker at several universities speaking about the essay's subjects of race and sexuality in America.[10][11][12]

In his review for GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies, Rinaldo Walcott said, "McBride's multidisciplinary essays cross-pollinate black studies and queer theory to challenge both fields to account for their blind spots, their key debates, and their claims to authority."[13]

In her review for Women's Studies Quarterly, Khary Polk said the book's combination of "polemic and erotic memoir" created "a lithe intellectual portrait of a black gay Christian man's journey into academe."[14]

Awards

edit

The collection of essays "offering contemporary cultural criticism" was a 2006 Lambda Literary Award and 2006 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominee[15] as well as the Passing The Torch winner from the New York University Press.[16]

Selected reviews

edit
  • Bradway, Tyler. College Literature, Fall 2006, Vol. 33 Issue 4, pgs. 223–225.

References

edit
  1. ^ Bradway, Tyler (September 22, 2006). "Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality.(Book review)". West Chester University. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  2. ^ Johnson, Ramone (2007). "Top 10 Gay Books You Should Already Own (Non Fiction)". About.com: Gay Life. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  3. ^ Davis, Andrew (July 18, 2007). "Dwight McBride: Dean and Heard". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  4. ^ Currah, Professor P.; Professor A. Mukherjea (May 3, 2006). "Introduction to LBGTQ Studies" (PDF). Brooklyn College. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  5. ^ Banks, Dr. Ingrid (Fall 2005). "Gender and Sexuality, BLST 133" (PDF). University of California, Santa Barbara. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  6. ^ Gutierrez, Javier; Stachia Ullmann; Kristen Falde (Fall 2006). "Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender People in Literature and Film". Hamline University. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  7. ^ Raimondo, Dr. Meredith (Spring 2007). "Oberlin College, Dr. Meredith Raimondo, CAST 412". Oberlin College. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  8. ^ Balay, Professor Anne (Spring 2007). "Gender, Sexuality, and Literature, English 117". University of Illinois at Chicago. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  9. ^ Woo, Deborah (Spring 2006). "CMMU STU 156 Corporate Culture, Structure, and Race". UC Santa Cruz. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  10. ^ "2005-2006 Speakers Series: Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies". Washington State University. February 6, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  11. ^ ""Race, Faith, and Sexuality" co-presented by Program in Africana Studies and the Department of Religious Studies". University of Miami Department of English. February 6, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  12. ^ "Rethinking Secularism in an Age of Belief". The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  13. ^ Walcott, Rinaldo (2006-05-10). "The New African American Studies: Blackening Queer Studies and Sexing Black Studies". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 12 (3): 510–513. doi:10.1215/10642684-2005-010. ISSN 1527-9375. S2CID 143876388.
  14. ^ Polk, Khary (2007). "Review of Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality in America". Women's Studies Quarterly. 35 (1/2): 310–314. JSTOR 27649678.
  15. ^ Tanner, R. Michael (2007). "Search – Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences". University of Illinois Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  16. ^ "Passing The Torch". City University of New York The Graduate Center. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
edit