Abstract
This chapter introduces the key arguments and theoretical frameworks of the book. It first discusses the state of sexuality and gender politics in contemporary Australia to provide the socio-political context from which the book’s case studies have emerged as sites of intervention and subversion. It then traces the recent history of feminist and queer performance in Australia, suggesting that their trajectories were somewhat divergent before aligning in the mid-2000s. The historical divide between theories of sexuality and gender is explored and a case is made for the productive intersectionality of feminism and queer in contemporary theory and theatre. An examination of Judith Butler’s theories on performativity and drag provides a key framework for the book’s analysis of sexuality and gender in contemporary Australian independent performance.
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French, S. (2017). Introduction: Staging Queer Feminisms. In: Staging Queer Feminisms. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46543-6_1
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