bwaber reviewed Queer Career by Margot Canaday
A Whirlwind Tour through Queer Careers in the US
4 stars
Margot Canaday provides a compelling look at the last ~100 years of sexuality and work in America, documenting with archival evidence and interviews the evolution of how sexual minorities navigated their careers and drove changes to organizations and society as a whole. The heartbreaking choices people had to make in the past (and many transgender people still have to choose today) between taking low paying, precarious jobs where they could be themselves vs. careers almost necessarily capped by social norms that were nearly impossible to navigate, was sobering.
This book shines when connecting different time periods as well as Canaday's stunning, rich examination of the "Lavender Scare" period's bureaucratic machinery and counter-activism. The end of the book engages in a lot of speculation about the roots of current corporate support of the LGBTQ+ community without much evidence, and probably would be stronger without those sections. Still, even the sections covering …
Margot Canaday provides a compelling look at the last ~100 years of sexuality and work in America, documenting with archival evidence and interviews the evolution of how sexual minorities navigated their careers and drove changes to organizations and society as a whole. The heartbreaking choices people had to make in the past (and many transgender people still have to choose today) between taking low paying, precarious jobs where they could be themselves vs. careers almost necessarily capped by social norms that were nearly impossible to navigate, was sobering.
This book shines when connecting different time periods as well as Canaday's stunning, rich examination of the "Lavender Scare" period's bureaucratic machinery and counter-activism. The end of the book engages in a lot of speculation about the roots of current corporate support of the LGBTQ+ community without much evidence, and probably would be stronger without those sections. Still, even the sections covering the last few decades provided fascinating insight into how the tech sector, starting with Lotus and Bell Labs, in a limited way pushed the societal conversation around equal rights forward.
Overall this book is necessary reading for those hoping to understand work today and in the past, and the power (and limits) of organizations and individuals to create a more just society.