Social Science : Gay Studies

In this major contribution to lesbian theory and cultural studies, Lydia Hart explores how the shadow of the lesbian animates representations of violent women in literature, plays, film and performance. more...

Price: $41.95

This is a superb work of scholarship, impossible to overpraise.... It marks a milestone in the 20-year rise of gay and lesbian studies.--Martin Duberman, The Advocate The men of Renaissance Florence were so renowned for sodomy that "Florenzer" in German meant "sodomite." In the late fifteenth century, as many as one in two Florentine men had come to the attention of the authorities for sodomy by the time they were thirty. In 1432 The Office of the Night was created specifically to police sodomy in Florence. Indeed, nearly all Florentine males probably had some kind of same-sex experience as a part of their "normal" sexual life. Seventy years of denunciations, interrogations, and sentencings left an extraordinarily detailed record, which author Michael Rocke has used in his vivid depiction of this vibrant sexual culture in a world where these same-sex acts were not the deviant transgressions of a small minority, but an integral part of a normal masculine identity. Rocke roots this sexual activity in the broader context of Renaissance Florence, with its social networks of families, juvenile gangs, neighbors, patronage, workshops, and confraternities, and its busy political life from the early years of the Republic through the period of Lorenzo de' Medici, Savonarola, and the beginning of Medici princely rule. His richly detailed book paints a fascinating picture of Renaissance Florence and calls into question our modern conceptions of gender and sexual identity.  more...

Price: $30.00

French Queer Cinema looks at queer self-representation in contemporary auteur film and experimental video in France. Whilst there is growing research on representations of queer sexualities in France, this is the first comprehensive study of the cultural formation and critical reception of contemporary queer film and video. French Queer Cinema addresses the socio-political context informing both queer DIY video and independent gay cinema, including films such as Patrice Chéreau’s Ceux qui m’aiment prendront le train, Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s Drôle de Félix, François Ozon’s Le Temps qui reste and André Téchiné’s Les Témoins. Taking up the recent Anglo-American attention to queer migration, the book looks at gay fantasies of Arab (beur) men, as well as beur self-representation in Europe’s fastest-selling gay DV porn production Citébeur. Further chapters cover transgender dissent, and the effects of AIDS and loss on the formation of gay identities. Key Features. *Provides a full, up-to-date account of the formation, reception and setting for contemporary queer film and video in France. *Situates cinematic representations of migration, social exclusion and queer sexualities in the context of recent repressive legislation on sex work and immigration. *Covers the work of less well-known directors such as Christophe Honoré, Sébastien Lifshitz and Gaël Morel. more...

Price: $99.99

The year 2003 marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark "declassification" of homosexuality as a disease by the American Psychiatric Association--a watershed in the lives of gays and lesbians in the United States. For the first time in history, a generation of self-identified lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender individuals are approaching retirement. This volume brings to the forefront important issues concerning the health, mental health, and concomitant special social service needs of this population and emphasizes the need for more research on aging sexual minorities. Based on empirical and qualitative research methods, chapters focus on the myriad issues of aging for lesbians and gay men including: Social and Cultural Considerations about HIV Among Midlife and Older Gay Men; Psychological Well-Being in Midlife Older Gay Men; Well-Being Among Middle-Aged and Older Single Gay Men; Lesbian Friendships at and Beyond Midlife. Contributors include Judith Barker, Jacqueline Weinstock, Bertram Cohler, and Doug Kimmel, among others. ;chapter more...

Price: $60.00

This book contributes to a critical understanding of how Chinese same-sex identity in urban China is variously imagined; how it is transformed; and how it presents its resistances as China continues to open up to global power relations. more...

Price: $125.00