In an often provocative personal exploration of homosexual identity, National Public Radio reporter Browning (The Culture of Desire) argues that gay activism in the U.S. has taken on a communitarian, almost religious character, shaped by a Protestant belief in spiritual rebirth that is central to American culture. In transforming subterranean desire into a political movement, gay and lesbian activists have made coming out a ritual akin to being "born-again," he contends. By contrast, the gay-straight divide is much more fluid and bridgeable in Naples, Italy, where Browning's encounters with a gay doctor and transvestites lead him to situate homosexual identity in a web of family relations and social codes. To buttress his thesis that experiencing being gay is shaped by one's culture, Browning looks at the ritualized gay sex of Sambia tribesmen of New Guinea and at homosexuality among middle-class Brazilians and Filipinos. The search for a responsible, liberated sexuality, he insists, can serve as a model for political activists working to achieve an inclusive, pluralistic, democratic society. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Browning's Culture of Desire (1993) regarded modern gay American culture as having evolved out of sexual desire. His new book goes beyond sexual desire to answer the question, Does a specifically gay identity exist? He begins with the premise that general society's depiction of gays is based on the mores and archetypes of the predominantly young inhabitants of urban gay neighborhoods. He leads us beyond this rather narrow sampling of all gays to see whether Stonewall veterans (the now middle-aged generation of 1970s gay activists) have anything in common with today's teen and twenty-something queers and, if so, whether that common something is shared by gays in Nepal, New Guinea, and Kentucky, or in different ethnic groups. Browning importantly contributes to gay studies by moving beyond sexual politics to look at other forces--economic, aesthetic, historical, etc.--that drive gay "outness" (his term). Not as tightly focused as Culture, Queer Geography in many ways mirrors what some may consider the present state of gay culture in the more developed parts of the globe. Charles Harmon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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