Nonbinary: A Feminist Autotheory

by Stephanie D. Clare

This autotheoretical Element, written in the tense space between feminist and trans theory, argues that movement between 'woman' and 'nonbinary' is possible, affectively and politically. In fact, a nonbinary structure of feeling has been central in the history of feminist thought, such as in Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949). This structure of feeling is not antifeminist but indexical of a desire for a form of embodiment and relationality beyond binary sex and gender. Finally, the Element provides a partial defense of nonbinary gender identity by tracing the development of the term in online spaces of the early 2000s. While it might be tempting to read its development as symptomatic of the forms of selfhood reproduced in (neo)liberal, racialized platform capitalism, this reading is too simplistic because it misses how the term emerged within communities of care.

Genres: Nonfiction, Womens, Feminism

80 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Oren Yirmiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong, emotionally and intellectually moving book. Several times during my reading I found my previous knowledge and disposition toward nonbinary as an identitarian category changing, and I'm grateful for that. As is often the case with good queer theory, the book also helped me to think through my own experience of having a gender and a body. The notion of a nonbinary structure of emotions, as an alternative or at least supplement to the idea of nonbinary as a fixed gender identity, is going to stay with me. Beyond that, the tension Clare is mapping between antinormative queer politics and trans communities of care is really important and well articulated in the book, and even if it doesn't get resolved or exhausted by the author, it offers a rich foundation for readers to develop their own conclusions. The chapter on Simone de Beauvoir was, for me, the most interesting as it made concrete many of the theoretical questions that came before it, and it's definitely the one I'd share with undergrads in the future (while the book as a whole seems better suited for graduate-level classes and above). The book does feel like it ends midway through its own argument, and I wish there were a concluding section to bring it all together. Still, a delightful (though at times challenging) read, and an essential book for any future conversations on the interdisciplinary continuities and ruptures between trans studies, nonbinary politics, and queer theory.