Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior

Rating:
Summary: This Is An Important Book
Review: I have long been fascinated with the way in which gay men "buy into" straight thinking; to wit, that anything less than "masculine" is not to be desired. I mean, how many personal ads do you see where the guy is looking for a "fem" guy? Bergling has taken the whole discussion of preconceived gender roles and given it a personal face with the reporting of what real people think. I found the book very helpful in that regard and can only hope it stirs the thinking of those who think that anything "fem" is to be avoided at best and derided at worst. Read this book!
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I wanted more; it ended too soon.

Rating:
Summary: This Is An Important Book
Review: I have long been fascinated with the way in which gay men "buy into" straight thinking; to wit, that anything less than "masculine" is not to be desired. I mean, how many personal ads do you see where the guy is looking for a "fem" guy? Bergling has taken the whole discussion of preconceived gender roles and given it a personal face with the reporting of what real people think. I found the book very helpful in that regard and can only hope it stirs the thinking of those who think that anything "fem" is to be avoided at best and derided at worst. Read this book!
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I wanted more; it ended too soon.

Rating:
Summary: A Poor Excuse for Gay Literature, Yea, Any Literature
Review: The topic of this book wasn't one that I ever thought needed to be addressed so thoroughly. It's pretty basic, isn't it? Societally...culturally...it is drilled into us that the man is the caregiver, the provider, the strong rock, all traits we attribute to masculinity. Thus when a man is effeminate acting we, albeit often subconciously, assume he doesn't have these traits and dismiss him, fear him, or loathe him. The reason gay men have a dislike for the effeminate acting amongst them is because they have a form of internalized homophobia that allows them to buy into the stereotype of what it takes to be a "real man." And until the whole world gets past this negative stereotype, the gay community won't, either. It hardly needed a book to reveal it. Bergling, a self-proclaimed "straight-acting" and masculine man, writes a trite, poorly arranged piece of tripe that only verifies what I'd feared about the gay community: they'll soak up anything and praise it if it's all about them.

Rating:
Summary: Goood Stuff!
Review: this book may be a little on the short side but it is nicely written and above all you can identify with it, whether you are staight, gay, or bi. there is a little hidden wisdom in it for everybody if you just look hard enough with an open enough mind. i myself am not the most ruffneck, gymboi, denim and leather kinda guy, but the book opened my eyes to a harsh truth about the gay world. and i am not going to disclose that truth here cause then what would the point be of reading the book yourself. it portrays all the stereotypes of gay men with harsh honesty about "straight-acting" and "femmie boi" traits, with surprising compassion to both side of the spectrum.