Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the MasculineOver time, male homosexuality and effeminacy have become indelibly associated, sometimes even synonymous. In Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen, Peter Hennen contends that this stigma of effeminacy exerts a powerful influence on gay subcultures. Through a comparative ethnographic analysis of three communities, Hennen explores the surprising ways that conventional masculinity is being collectively challenged, subverted, or perpetuated in contemporary gay male culture. Hennen’s colorful study focuses on a trio of groups: the Radical Faeries, who parody effeminacy by playfully embracing it, donning prom dresses and glitter; the Bears, who strive to appear like “regular guys” and celebrate their larger, hairier bodies; and the Leathermen, who emulate hypermasculine biker culture, simultaneously paying homage to and undermining notions of manliness. Along with a historical analysis of the association between effeminacy and homosexuality, Hennen examines how this connection affects the groups’ sexual practices. Ultimately, he argues, while all three groups adopt innovative approaches to gender issues and sexual pleasure, masculine norms continue to constrain members of each community. |
Contents
1 | |
Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Effeminacy | 32 |
Resistance and Compliance among the Radical Faeries | 59 |
Recuperation Resistance or Retreat? | 95 |
Hypermasculinity Performativity and the Specter of Starched Chiffon | 134 |
6 Fielding Questions Fielding Possibilities | 179 |
Notes | 197 |
219 | |
235 | |
Other editions - View all
Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine Peter Hennen No preview available - 2008 |
Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine Peter Hennen No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam associated BDSM Bear body Bear Camp Bear community Bear culture Bear magazine Bear masculinity Bourdieu Butler cabin challenge chapter clubs concept Connell construction desire dominant drag drag queens dress early effeminacy effeminacy and homosexuality effeminacy effect effeminate embodied emphasis erotic experience Faerie community Faerie culture feminine feminized fetish field notes Friendly Bears fucking gay community gay leather gay leathermen gay/queer gender trouble guys Harris Harry Hay Hay’s hegemonic masculinity heteronormative heterosexual historical homosexuality identity intercourse interest interview subjects kind Leather Camp leather community leather culture leather S/M leathermen lesbian male man’s mean men’s Mitch Walker molly houses movement mukhannathun narrative nature normative observed one’s pansexual participants performance perspective play pleasure political postmodern practices queer Radical Faeries relationships role same-sex sanctuary scene seems sexual culture social subculture subject-subject consciousness suggests Suresha there’s TigerLily Timmons tion women