Customer Reviews

Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine

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Peter Hennen's beautifully written and engaging ethnography takes us inside three different gay men's communities - the Radical Faeries, Leathermen, and the Bears. While Radical Faeries parody effeminacy by playfully embracing it, the Bears attempt to look like "regular guys" and celebrate their larger, hairier bodies. Leathermen,in turn, emulate the hypermasculine biker culture. He argues that all three groups deploy distinct approaches to gender issues and sexual pleasure. At the same time, masculine norms continue to constrain members of each community.

What is immediately clear from reading Hennen's work is that he possesses the skills of the most gifted ethnographers, that is, the ability to see the broader social significance in the smallest of details. (If you want to know what the significance of "faerie drag," consult Chapter 3.) He is also a gifted writer. Unlike the dull prose of many academics, Hennen's writing is lively and vivid. You will not only see gender and sexuality everywhere when you are reading this book, but you will smile when you do because Hennen has such a great sense of humor. At the same time, this is a serious book and it makes important contributions to the the sociology of gender, sexuality, masculinities, and queer studies. (It has already received an honorable mention award for its contributions to the sociology of gender.) It would be a terrific book to use for undergraduate and graduate courses in these areas, but also of general interest to anyone who wants to learn more about these communities. Read it, you will not be disappointed!

Faeries, Bears and Leathermen - three groups of the Gay community that have always intrigued me.
In reading this book, I was prepared to take a look inside each group, and see what they did, how and why they did it, and how they felt about being what they are.
In this, I was not disappointed. Why rate this book so low, then? I was NOT prepared to have this be a DOCTORAL DISSERTATION!
This book is fine for sociologists, or social scientists, or academics who want academic research and reasons for what makes these men tick. It is NOT for the general public - those of us who have MAYBE taken one Sociology class in college!
If I were still in college, and wanted to use this as a reference book for a Sociology paper, this would be a good reference. As a casual read, however, I've read better stereo manuals.
Somewhere, somehow, someone will of course disagree with me - that's fine. I hope you pass your Sociology Finals! As for me, I'll read my "Bear" magazine - at least IT has pictures!