Nelson discusses sexuality at length in her book, sometimes detailing her own personal experiences and sometimes analyzing sexual acts from a more theoretical lens. Motherhood and Sexuality are not mutually exclusive She comments on her own relationship with her stepfather, and how she strives to love her stepson while also giving him the space to understand his own relationship in their non-conventional and non-conformist family unit. Nelson analyzes how popular culture often shuns stepparents and emphasizes their mistakes, making it difficult for her to come to terms with her relationship with Dodge's son. StepparentingĪnother recurring theme in The Argonauts is Nelson's relationship with her stepson, and step-parenting more generally. All in all, Nelson encourages the reader to embrace fluidity, rather than stasis, in relation to both conceptions of gender and sexuality. Nelson often explores these concepts through self-reflection, reflecting on her journey with sexuality and her partner's gender transition. Nelson encourages the reader to listen and to treat everyone according to how they describe themselves, without overlaying any alternative agenda or sense of how terms or pronouns should or should not be used. Nelson questions the need for labels while recognizing that labels can be incredibly important for some people in the self-exploration of their gender and sexuality. Nelson explores gender and sexuality in many places in The Argonauts, but often revisits these two concepts in terms of individual respect. Written by people who wish to remain anonymous

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The argonauts by maggie nelson