Jane Ward is an American scholar, feminist, and author. She is Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She currently holds the position of Vice Chair for the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Program Chair for LGBIT studies at the University of California, Riverside. Ward received her PhD in sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2003. Ward is known for her book Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men, a 2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Ward's research has been featured in New York Magazine, The Guardian, Forbes, Salon, Newsweek, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, and Vice. Her 2008 book Respectably Queer: Diversity Culture in LGBT Activist Organizations was named a favorite book of 2008 by The Progressive magazine. She lives in Altadena, California with her partner Kat Ross. Ward's published work focuses on a broad range of topics, from feminist pornography, queer parenting, and the racial politics of same-sex marriage, to the social construction of heterosexuality and whiteness. She is the blogger for FeministPigs. She is a cofounder, along with CJ Pascoe and Tey Meadow, of the blog SocialInqueery.com. Beyond her writing, she was a founding member of "The Miracle Whips" burlesque group in 2004. She also started the parenting collective "L.A. Genderqueer Parenting" in 2009. Both groups were based in Los Angeles.
Works
Ward's first book, Respectably Queer, is based on her observations done from three different queer organizations, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, Bienestar, and Los Angeles-Christopher Street West. Ward's second book Not Gay has received positive reviews from New York Magazine and many other outlets. New York Magazine states " shows that homosexual contact has been a regular feature of heterosexual life ever since the concepts of homo- and heterosexuality were first created—not just in prisons and frat houses and the military, but in biker gangs and even conservative suburban neighborhoods." In her book, Not Gay, Ward answers the questions people have about same sex encounters while being considered to be heterosexual. This answers the questions such as "Are men gay for having sex with other men?" Her research originally came from other research from sociologist, psychologists, historians, and more readings where she was also able to create further connection between race and gender. Furthermore, she is able to identify patterns that correlate with the history of America going back to the 1950s Pre World-War II, public bathrooms, etc. with same sex encounters. In her work, Ward, reveals these men's encounter are not paid attention, however, can be punishable, for example, using military hazing. When white men do practice this it allows for them to reach their masculinity with other white men. This allows for them to still be seen as heterosexual when they acknowledge their acts as an accident. In conclusion, Ward, gives the readers a new way to look at opposite couple attraction and a new outlook on heterosexual masculinity. As of 2015, Ward is working on a monograph entitled The Failure of Heterosexuality: How Sexism Doomed the World's Most Cherished Union .
