Visual Genders, Visual Histories: A Special Issue of Gender & History (Paperback)

"Visual Genders, Visual Histories" breaks new ground in visual studies by exploring the visual dimensions of gender. Comprising a series of contributions from different continents, the book helps readers to move beyond consideration of gender as a social construct, towards an understanding of the visual constructions of gender. Chapters examine the ways in which the visual shapes meaning, with material ranging from documentary film footage of liberated concentration camps after World War II, contemporary fashion photography in Tehran, to a queer art exhibition with overtones of a nineteenth-century archive. The book is organised thematically under the headings of documenting, trafficking and experimenting. It focuses mainly on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, covering not only Europe and North America but also Argentina, Iran and southern Africa. A diverse selection of exceptional and provocative images accompanies the text.