Trouble with Normal Sex Politics & the Ethics of Queer Life

In The Trouble with Normal, Warner offers both a sharp-witted defense of 'sexual autonomy' and a prescription for 'sexual ethics' that rests on the real experience of individuals rather than the imagined wisdom of the group...Warner lambastes the current course of gay activism, arguing that the drive to marriage and the illusion of normality are founded on a phony morality that will only further stigmatize the queer community at large. New Republic

To the aspiration to conformity and the domination of the 'normal,' Warner opposes a moral argument based upon an ideal of autonomy and liberty, upon the idea that a democratic culture needs to encourage, not to stifle, innovations and deviations in living, in order to discover the most fruitful ways to realize its ideal of human dignity...Warner is a deft and thoughtful writer who turns his own experience of the margins into a source of genuine understanding about America and its sexual politics...For what Warner's book finally demands of us is...genuine reflection. Martha Nussbaum

Michael Warner, one of our most brilliant social critics, argues that gay marriage and other moves toward normalcy are bad not just for the gays but for everyone. In place of sexual status quo, Warner offers a vision of true sexual autonomy that will forever change the way we think about sex, shame, and identity.

vision of true sexual autonomy that will forever change the way we think about sex, shame, and identity.

Michael Warneris Seymour H. Knox Professor of English and American Studies at <>Yale University. He is the editor of American Sermons: The Pilgrims to Martin Luther Kingand Fear of a Queer Planet. He also writes for The Nation, the Advocate, the Village Voice, and other periodicals.

Preface

Chapter One
The Ethics of Sexual Shame

Chapter Two
What's Wrong with Normal?

Chapter Three
Beyond Gay Marriage

Chapter Four
Zoning Out Sex

Conclusion
The Politics of Shame and HIV Prevention

Notes