Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody by Melissa M. Wilcox (review)

Queer Nuns is the fruit of Melissa Wilcox's lengthy ethnography of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an organization consisting of (mostly) gay men who engage in philanthropy and political activism while dressed in nuns' habits. While wearing the habit, which usually includes heavy pancake make-up, the Sisters assume alternate personas with playful names such as Sister Reva Lation and Sister Sorenda 'da Booty. They are often accompanied by "guards" wearing more traditionally masculine clothing, who both protect the Sisters from harassment and parody the Pontifical Swiss Guard. The striking appearance of the Sisters is hard to describe in print and Queer Nuns features several pages of high quality full-color photographs and illustrations. The stated mission of the Sisters is "the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt" (15). Indulgence refers not only to the pursuit of pleasure, but also to the Catholic sense of an indulgence as an expression of forgiveness from the Church. One of the Sisters' key projects is distributing condoms and the promotion of safe sex within the gay community.

The casual observer might assume that the activities of the Sisters are solely recreational or else a way to ridicule the Catholic Church in retaliation for its stance on homosexuality. However, Wilcox frames the Sisters' work as an example of "serious parody." While they are engaged in ludic, performative protest, they are also in a sense "serious nuns." Wilcox found that the Sisters value their identity as nuns and find their work spiritually fulfilling. Further, some members of the queer community regard the Sisters in much the same way that a traditional religious community might regard monastics, that is, as a spiritual elite and people in whom they can confide. At their best, Wilcox argues, the Sisters are prophetic figures who respect and emulate the Catholic institution of nuns while simultaneously claiming the moral high ground over the Catholic Church by decrying institutional injustices.

The first chapter of Queer Nuns describes the origins of the Sisters, beginning with a playful excursion by a trio of gay men in habits through San Francisco in 1979. More gay men wanted to be initiated as Sisters and a constitution was drafted and signed in 1980. The Sisters began campaigns to scold homophobic evangelical missions into San Francisco's Castro district and to respond to the AIDS crisis by promoting safe sex and offering emotional support to those affected. Today, the Sisters have local units called "houses" throughout North America as well as Europe, Australia, and South America.

The second chapter explores what is serious about the Sisters' activism. The Sisters insist that despite the parodic elements of their activities they are not merely wearing habits but actually are nuns. Sisters often explain that they do not claim to be Catholic nuns and that the Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on nuns. Thus they are free to define what it means to be a nun on their own terms. They simultaneously respect and emulate Catholic nuns even as they revel in the irony of a monastic order that celebrates sexuality.

The third chapter explores issues of gender within the Sisters. The Sisters describe their activities as "genderfuck," confounding ideas of gender much as they confound ideas of religion. For example, many of the Sisters sport beards while wearing their habits. Wilcox refers to the Sisters using the feminine pronoun "she," although one interview subject explained her feeling that Sisters do not have a gender while wearing the habit. This chapter also explores the experience of cisgender women and transgender people within the Sisters, who often face unique challenges or feel misunderstood within an organization where the majority are cisgendered men.

The fourth chapter explores issues of racial and cultural diversity within the order. Several of Wilcox's interview subjects expressed concern over how overwhelmingly white the Sisters are as an organization as well as the...