"Show Me," Said the Spectator: Chronicles of the Backlash, Episode the Eleventh

I'm not sure whether I'll finish reading Scott Herring's Queering the Underworld: Slumming, Literature, and the Undoing of Lesbian and Gay History (Chicago, 2007). The writing is low-level academese, with an inordinate fondness for alliteration, but I could overlook that. What makes me wonder if it's worthwhile to read more is the (you should pardon the expression) thought.Herring's subject is

"Show Me," Said the Spectator: Chronicles of the Backlash, Episode the Eleventh

I'm not sure whether I'll finish reading Scott Herring's Queering the Underworld: Slumming, Literature, and the Undoing of Lesbian and Gay History (Chicago, 2007). The writing is low-level academese, with an inordinate fondness for alliteration, but I could overlook that. What makes me wonder if it's worthwhile to read more is the (you should pardon the expression) thought.Herring's subject is

Faggot!

Every so often I hear straight men claiming that epithets like “faggot” don’t really refer to homosexuals. Rather, they say, it refers to ineffectual men who can’t take care of themselves or anyone else, who can’t give a woman what she needs, men who are cowardly and despicable, men who aren’t Real Men. (I don’t have any links at the moment, though I’ll try to add some the next time I

Faggot!

Every so often I hear straight men claiming that epithets like “faggot” don’t really refer to homosexuals. Rather, they say, it refers to ineffectual men who can’t take care of themselves or anyone else, who can’t give a woman what she needs, men who are cowardly and despicable, men who aren’t Real Men. (I don’t have any links at the moment, though I’ll try to add some the next time I

There Won't Be A Problem Till The Girls Go Home

I don’t make any claim to historical completeness in what follows; I’ve not mentioned numerous performers who’d be relevant in a complete discussion of queer popular music. I don’t follow music and journalism/criticism as I did before the early 1990s, so I’m not sure I’m right about the trend I describe; this is just how it looks to me. With that in mind…. For me personally, how little has

There Won't Be A Problem Till The Girls Go Home

I don’t make any claim to historical completeness in what follows; I’ve not mentioned numerous performers who’d be relevant in a complete discussion of queer popular music. I don’t follow music and journalism/criticism as I did before the early 1990s, so I’m not sure I’m right about the trend I describe; this is just how it looks to me. With that in mind…. For me personally, how little has