Greg Knotts:
The Columbia Reader assembles over 100 readings on lesbians and gay men in media, politics and society at large. It reads like an introductory course reader for a gay and lesbian studies class and its back cover even bills it as a "highly approachable introduction to lesbian and gay studies for students and general readers." The editors provide a summative voice in their effectively written abstracts assembled between the collected readings. These abstracts often quote some of the impending articles as well as serve as a common thread weaving the entire Reader together.
The first section of The Reader, entitled 'History,' begins by couching homosexual behavior in society, both past and present, and makes the distinction between societies where this behavior was merely in evidence as opposed to societies, like our present one, where a gay identity has emerged (p. 25). The editors assert "an individual's self concept takes shape as erotic yearnings are organized and directed through social contact with others, as he or she learns about and experiments with the sexual identities made available by the culture" (p. 29). This echoes Michel Foucault's premise that with the advent of a psychological look at homosexual behavior in society, "'the sodomite had been a temporary aberration; the homosexual was now a species'" (p. 34). John Boswell's 'Concepts, Experience, and Sexuality' is included in this History section and offers a discussion on the Essentialist/Social Constructivist debate with a look at how society treats people with intrinsic feelings of same sex desire versus the extrinsic social codes placed on those feelings (p. 45).
John D'Emilio speaks about how capitalism fed in to the rising tide in same-sex sexual acts in 1920's and 30s America as new "patterns of living could evolve because capitalism allowed individuals to survive beyond the confines of the family" (p. 51). Sex, during this period, went from the imperative to procreate to having an attention paid to the erotic and emotional role in sex, which opened the door to same sex attraction. People began to define themselves through their erotic life. D'Emilio also references America's World War II experience which "plucked millions of young men and women, whose sexual identities were just forming, out of their homes, out of towns and small cities, out of the heterosexual environment of the family, and dropped them into sex-segregated situations" (p. 52).
George Chauncey describes the class based phenomenon of the New York Bowery district where 'slumming' became a fashionable and titillating experience for both women and men of the rising middle class to attend the 'fairy circuses' and bars of the lower class district (p. 70). More importantly, Chauncey describes how the rise in media attention of these places brought awareness to society on a variety of levels: that these places existed at all and if you were remotely inquisitive about how to participate in this 'depravity,' you now had names and addresses of establishments that trafficked in such commodities (p. 72).
Articles about Troiden's four phases of identity formation and Pat Califia's look at the S/M party scene offer interesting perspectives on the formation of a gay identity. Carol Queen's look at how bisexuals are (not) included in the gay movement is thought provoking. She quotes Amanda Udis Kessler who notes that bisexuals share the same issues with the gay movement and puts forth the common sense observation that bisexuals "don't get half-gaybashed when we walk down the street with our same sex lovers…we don't get half-fired from our jobs, or lose only half our children in court battles" and asserts the need to include bisexual issues in the civil rights movement for gays and lesbians (p. 108).
Transsexuals are also given voice from Leslie Feinberg's discussion in 'To Be or Not To Be,' where she asserts that her belief "that the centuries-old fears and taboos about genitals, buried deep in the dominant Western culture, make the subject of surgical sex-change highly sensational" (p. 117). The section is a comprehensive look at the role history has played in the formation of a sexual identity.
The second section of The Reader is on 'Institutions' ranging from the religious to the various strands of the scientific, including psychology and the entire etiology debate. The influence of the Church and its often interconnectedness to civil law saw what may be considered to be the logical move from homosexual acts as 'sins against nature' being translated into 'crimes against nature' (p. 122). The religious and spiritual discussion includes Walter Williams' discussion of homophobia's role in the Mayan and Mestizo cultures of Mexico (p. 134), Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's 'Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons,' the Church's official position on ministering to homosexuals (p. 137), and Rebecca Alpert's thorough dissection of Biblical references to same-sex acts (p. 153).
The medical and psychiatric discussion includes Thomas Szasz's look at homosexuality's move from 'heresy to illness' where he laments the "psychiatric preoccupation with the disease concept of homosexuality — as with the disease concept of all so-called mental illnesses, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, or suicide — conceals the fact that homosexuals are a group of medically stigmatized and socially persecuted individuals" (p. 161). Here also is included a discussion from the landmark 1973 Symposium on APA nomenclature where Judd Marmor states that homosexuality as psychopathology is only "reflecting our culture's bias toward a particular deviance" in behavior (p. 177).
The abstract provided by the editors on the etiology question is particularly insightful and thought provoking, inspiring us to consider the entire debate over the cause of homosexuality as an incorrect premise, on a variety of levels: cause intimates the potential need for a cure, or at the very least as a 'Problem to Be Solved,' as well as offering the need, then, to ask the question of what causes heterosexuality — or even sexuality in general (p. 187).
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's discussion of effeminate boys and the facetiously offered title "How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay," is thoughtful and David Jefferson's contribution of biology as the root of homosexuality not guaranteeing legal protection (see slavery and women's relegation to subordinate legal status) offers a challenge to many looking for the elusive 'cause' of homosexuality and believing biology to be the safest ally (p. 212).
Legal, political, cultural and educational institutions also are given their moment in the sun. Lillian Faderman's look at the 'absence' of lesbian history, Gary Melton's thoughts on the public and privacy issues in law and Jewelle Gomez's deconstruction of race and sexuality for black lesbians are all thoughtful contributions. David Ruenzel, however, offers a challenge to the education community that bears mentioning. In 'A Lesson on Tolerance,' Ruenzel follows the 'coming out' story of a secondary teacher and the arguments about the curriculum that ensue. Curriculum, he says,
is the most ephemeral of documents, constantly changing to meet social and political pressures. Schools sometimes like to pretend, especially when they want to keep teachers 'on track,' that the curriculum is a document of immutable wisdom, when it is all too often the product of compromise made in the face of intrepid lobbying (p. 285).
Those in charge decide what gets passed on to future generations; the school serves as a vehicle of socially constructed values of the hegemonic majority.
The third section of The Reader is on 'The Media,' both mainstream as well as the gay press, and dissects the media in its various forms. The discussion of film traces the evolution of the 'frivolous, asexual sissies' of the 1930s, through the Motion Picture Production Code to movies like 'The Children's Hour' and 'Boys in the Band' when gay themes went from unutterable to the focus of the film. Television follows the same type of etymology from Milton Berle's cross-dressing to Archie Bunker's diatribes to Ellen DeGeneres' public coming out and the various incarnations of gay men and lesbians on talk shows (p. 297).
Michelangelo Signorile, Vito Russo and Caroline Sheldon are among those who give voice to the variety of presentations of gay men and lesbians on the screen and TV. Joshua Gamson describes the unique presence of Pedro Zamora on, what was at the time culturally revolutionizing, "MTV's Real World." Gamson goes on to describe the talk show phenomenon and how often the societal tables are turned and the homophobe is seen as the deviant, often receiving derision from the audience, and sometimes even the talk show host as well (p. 333). And for the isolated teen (or adult), talk shows often offer "renditions of you, chattering away in a system that otherwise ignores or steals your voice at every turn" (p. 332).
Richard Goldstein offers some thoughts on the presentation of AIDS in the media and 'outing,' the phenomenon of publicly claiming a closeted person as gay or lesbian, is discussed by Gabriel Rotello and Larry Gross (p. 436). The gay press and journalism in general are also given ample treatment from Eric Marcus, Rodger Streitmatter and Ed Jackson. Polly Thistlethwaite offers the insight that gay representation in journalism is essential because it is "through the printed word, consumed privately, anonymously, that we often first call ourselves queer, where we first find others who think what we think, do what we do, write what we feel" (p. 462). It is through these representations in the media that the process of a homosexual identity construction can begin — so easily, and unconsciously done by the heterosexual mainstream.
Pornography and the burgeoning world of cyberspace are also given attention in this media section. Scott Tucker and Joan Nestle offer insights on gender and censorship. Nestle's is a challenging voice that criticizes the gay community for censoring itself and falling victim to its own fragmented ideologies (p. 506). Richard Fung offers an interesting discussion of "dominance and submission" and the portrayal of Asians in gay video pornography (p. 523). Daniel Tsang, Jeff Walsh and others visit the role of cyberspace and the Internet. Steve Silberman gives special attention to future generations and the use of the Internet by inquisitive and questioning teens. "A decade ago, the only queer info available to most teens was in a few dour psychology texts under the nose of the school librarian. Now libraries of files await them in the AOL forum and elsewhere" (p. 540).
The Columbia Reader is a comprehensive look at gay and lesbian issues in the media and politics. It claims to also be a discussion of gays and lesbians in society at large. This is a challenging claim, because after politics and the media, what is left? The Reader does trace homosexual behavior and the rise of a gay identity through various historical periods of society. The Reader also looks in depth at religion and the medical field and their various influences on society. These various influences: media, legal, political, religious, medical — are all necessary and do, in fact, largely describe a society.
But it is the educational system that passes on the social mores of a society and I believe issues in education and their impact on society receives the thinnest strokes in this broadly painted Reader. Although there are mentions about higher education ["one of the first institutions to feel the impact of the newly visible gay liberation was the academy" (p. 238)] and secondary education [the 'coming out' story mentioned above], there are no nods to the elementary schools. This may have as much to do with the absence of material in the larger academic discussion, as it does with the presumed asexuality of the elementary school. Also, although it is a comprehensive compendium, The Reader, in such a short time, can already be considered dated material. Contributions to the field of gay and lesbian studies seem to be made daily. And the positive presence of gay men and lesbians in all forms of the media seems to also be on the increase. For instance, in today's mainstream TV culture of the award-wining "Will and Grace," The Reader was published at a time when the creation of a pilot with a script involving 'a woman and her gay roommate' were just being developed. In just three short years, a gay teen in Topeka does not have to search out The Columbia Reader for a look into gay culture; he can just turn on the television.
The Reader ends with some thoughts about tomorrow, which grows closer to today than the authors might have imagined. Cheryl Clarke, Mirtha Qunitanales, Michael Denneny, and Barbara Smith offer thoughts on the need to merge racial and ethnic needs into the discussion of gay civil rights. Andrew Sullivan and Thomas Stoddard tackle the gay marriage debate and Sullivan very rightly, I think, says, "the concept of domestic partnership could open a Pandora's box of litigation and subjective judicial decision-making about who qualifies. You either are or are not married" (p. 634).
Most poignant to tomorrow, I believe, is the idea of a discrimination free society which E.L. Pattullo voices in 'Straight Talk About Gays.' Pattullo calls for a society free of discrimination and says the greatest risk to such a society like that would be that a certain number of people would self select to live gay lives as opposed to straight ones (p. 617). There may not be a need to legislate 'difference.' Do not pretend there are not distinctions between gay and straight. But what could truly be the risk of removing discrimination from a society? Pattullo surmises there may be a few more gay people. A discrimination free society? I know I, for one, would like to find out what that looks like.
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