Arlene Stein is a sociologist and author who writes about gender, sexuality, and American culture. At Rutgers University she directs the Institute for Research on Women. Her work looks at the intersection of personal and political change, the stories we tell about our lives, the things that can’t be said, and how groups mobilize to narrate their experiences. She tweets frequently and blogs occasionally.
Follows four transmasculine individuals as they modify their bodies and their lives, exploring shifting understandings of gender in contemporary culture.
"Stein’s project was motivated by a desire to learn 'how, collectively, transmasculine people are challenging popular understandings of gender.' As it happens, what she also ended up exploring — and what gives this book its real heat — is more personal; it’s the challenge posed to her own cherished beliefs." New York Times
Reviewed by Harper's, The New Yorker, Kirkus, Bookmarks, Washington Post, Men and Masculinities. Excerpted in Lit Hub, Daily Beast.
Author interviews: Wisconsin Public Radio, WNYC, Doing Decimal, CSPAN, Bay Area Reporter, Nursing Clio.
Previous books include The Stranger Next Door, about the rise of religious conservatism in a small town (winner, Ruth Benedict Prize). Sex and Sensibility looks at how feminists redefined the meaning of lesbianism.
Reluctant Witnesses traces the rise of Holocaust consciousness in the United States.