Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940The award-winning, field-defining history of gay life in New York City in the early to mid-20th century Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Called "monumental" (Washington Post), "unassailable" (Boston Globe), "brilliant" (The Nation), and "a first-rate book of history" (The New York Times), Gay New Yorkforever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - lydia1879 - LibraryThingI read this for research for a queer historical fiction novel I'm writing, and it was interesting. Chauncey gives a very detailed, thorough, well-researched account of queer meeting places, attitudes ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - DarthDeverell - LibraryThingIn Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890 – 1940, George Chauncey argues “that gay life in New York was less tolerated, less visible to outsiders, and more ... Read full review
Contents
PART I | |
The Fairy as an Intermediate | |
Trade Wolves and the Boundaries of Normal | |
The Forging of Queer Identities and the Emergence | |
Urban Culture and the Policing of the City | |
Rooming Houses | |
The Social World of the Baths | |
The Village | |
The Double Life Camp Culture and the Making of | |
Prohibition and the Spectacle | |
The Exclusion of Homosexuality from the Public | |
The Strange Career of the Closet | |
Praise for Gay New York | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
activity allowed American appeared arrested attracted Authority Avenue balls bars baths became become behavior boys Broadway called central century chapter character Chicago city’s clubs Committee continued culture dance developed drag early encounters established evidence example fairies female friends gathered gay men gay world gender groups Harlem heterosexual historians History homosexual houses identified identities immigrant instance interest interviewed Italian known late later lesbians less lives male masculine meaning meeting men’s middle-class moral moved neighborhood night normal noted observed offered organized pansy Park patrons played police practices Press Prohibition prostitutes published queer raid records referred regarded relations reported respectable restaurants Review role saloons seemed served sexual social society Square straight Street subculture suggests theater took turn University University Press urban Village visited West women working-class York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 |
| Author | George Chauncey |
| Publisher | Basic Books, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0786723351, 9780786723355 |
| Length | 496 pages |
| Subjects | › › › History / Modern / 20th Century History / Social History History / United States / 20th Century History / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA) Social Science / LGBT Studies / Gay Studies Social Science / LGBT Studies / General Social Science / Sociology / Social Theory Social Science / Sociology / Urban |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |