No one raises an eyebrow if you suggest that a guy who arranges his furniture just so, rolls his eyes in exaggerated disbelief, likes techno music or show tunes, and knows all of Bette Davis’s best lines by heart might, just possibly, be gay. But if you assert that male homosexuality is a cultural practice, expressive of a unique subjectivity and a distinctive relation to mainstream society, people will immediately protest. Such an idea, they will say, is just a stereotype—ridiculously simplistic, politically irresponsible, and morally suspect. The world acknowledges gay male culture as a fact but denies it as a truth.
David Halperin, a pioneer of LGBTQ studies, dares to suggest that gayness is a specific way of being that gay men must learn from one another in order to become who they are. Inspired by the notorious undergraduate course of the same title that Halperin taught at the University of Michigan, provoking cries of outrage from both the right-wing media and the gay press, How To Be Gay traces gay men’s cultural difference to the social meaning of style.
Far from being deterred by stereotypes, Halperin concludes that the genius of gay culture resides in some of its most despised features: its aestheticism, snobbery, melodrama, adoration of glamour, caricatures of women, and obsession with mothers. The insights, impertinence, and unfazed critical intelligence displayed by gay culture, Halperin argues, have much to offer the heterosexual mainstream.
About David M. Halperin
David M. Halperin is W. H. Auden Distinguished University Professor of the History and Theory of Sexuality at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Editorial Review
In 2000, a catalog description of the author’s undergraduate English course, “How To Be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation,” appeared on the National Review website and caused a storm of controversy. The course aimed to “explore gay men’s unique, characteristic relation to mainstream culture.” Likely due to its provocative title, the course drew fire from across the political spectrum. Conservative critics charged that the university was “promoting” a gay “lifestyle,” while others charged that the course was trafficking in and perpetuating gay stereotypes. Halperin wrote this book, he writes, to “make clear the genuineness of the intellectual stakes in [his] inquiry into gay male culture.” To that end, the author narrows his focus, perhaps too drastically, by largely concentrating on a few scenes from the Oscar-winning 1945 Joan Crawford film Mildred Pierce and the bizarre 1981 Crawford film bio Mommie Dearest. Along the way, he makes occasionally interesting, if repetitive, points about the roles that melodrama and the pop-cultural portrayal of women play in gay male culture. But he also embarks on unnecessary digressions, as when he criticizes at length a 4-year-old Time Out New York article that implied that some aspects of gay culture might be on the wane. He also oddly spends several pages analyzing Sonic Youth’s 1990 song and video “Mildred Pierce” and lambasting “hipsterism.” Throughout, Halperin struggles unproductively with many of the questions he raises, while also leaning heavily on academic social-science jargon. – Kirkus Reviews
How ‘Mildred Pierce’ Explains the World - ‘How to Be Gay,’ by David M. Halperin
The New York Times Book Review – August 7, 2012 (Excerpt)
The four most overrated things in life, Christopher Hitchens once said, are “Champagne, lobsters, anal sex and picnics.” This remarkwas repeated at his memorial service this past April in New York City. The next speaker was the British comic Stephen Fry, who is out and proud. “Well,” he commented, “three out of four isn’t bad.”
In his new book, “How to Be Gay,” David M. Halperin agrees, at least on one unlikely level, with Hitchens. Mr. Halperin, a professor of the history and theory of sexuality at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, provocatively argues that when it comes to defining what it means to be a homosexual man, sex is overrated. Culture matters more.
“Gayness,” Mr. Halperin declares, “is not a state or condition. It’s a mode of perception, an attitude, an ethos: in short, it is a practice.” The great value of traditional gay male culture, he further posits, perhaps even more challengingly, “resides in some of its most despised and repudiated features: gay male femininity, diva worship, aestheticism, snobbery, drama, adoration of glamour, caricature of women and obsession with the figure of the mother.”
These declarations run counter to much of the prevailing gay pride ethos, which argues that gay men are, to borrow the title of Andrew Sullivan’s 1995 book, “virtually normal.” Pretty much like straight people, that is, except for what they do with their dangly bits. To this ethos Mr. Halperin, like the figure on the Heisman Trophy, raises his hand in rebuff: “For all its undeniable benefits, gay pride is now preventing us from knowing ourselves.” [Read the full article...]
The Indigo Bird
An Erotic Novel by Max Markham
James Graveney, a young Major in a respectable regiment, is outwardly conventional. In private James is bisexual, with a strong urge for his own sex. Gay sex, however, is illegal in the Army, so he is discreet about this.
James’ world is turned upside-down when he meets Lieutenant Richard Finch. Richard is intelligent, charismatic and exceptionally handsome. He doesn’t mess around. He gets what he wants, and is completely unscrupulous about how he gets it. Richard will stop at nothing to achieve this, including Machiavellian deception and a cunning and brutal murder. James starts responding to Richard, cautiously at first, then gets swept along on the great love affair of his life.
The Indigo Bird is a rollercoaster of surprises set against backdrops varying from the jungles of Belize to London, the English countryside, and Ireland, and the scene is set for more shocks and adventures. [Read more...]
The Indigo Bird is available through Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords.com, Amazon Kindle US, Amazon Kindle UK, and any other good bookstore.
