The title "Instead" reveals the book's preoccupation with the subjunctive, with the choices that we make and that are made for us, and with the possibilities that remain to be imagined. The essays are situated within the fields of Feminist legal Theory and Sexuality and Law, exploring gender and sexuality through the frames of law, culture, and society. The themes confronted include mortality and morality, sexuality and democracy, colonialism and matrimony, and poverty and poetry. The individual chapters refract specific subjects through disparate lenses and the book as a whole likewise echoes particular topics in different contexts. The writing style is designed to maximize the reverberations. The form is not a traditional academic one, but it is widely accepted under various labels and the author's work in this form has garnered recognition and praise.