Description:
The grouping together of "gay and lesbian" is now an accepted part of American speech, but while there are many experiences gay men and lesbians share, there are also obviously innumerable personal, political, and emotional differences between the two groups--differences that produce confusions and tensions. In Opposite Sex: Gay Men on Lesbians, Lesbians on Gay Men, Sarah Miles and Eric Rofes have collected 14 essays by gay and lesbian scholars, activists, artists, and writers that begin to break the silence over what one homo-gender thinks of the other. Miles and Rofes state that their purpose is to "bring the sex back into queer studies," and while many of these essays contain theory and vigorous intellectual discourse, they are all dedicated to talking about actual feelings and actual bodies in the real world. In "Another Place to Breathe," political activist Amber Hollibaugh talks about being a femme woman who looks like a drag queen, trying to be respectful of "real" drag queens on Fire Island. In "In Goldilocks's Footsteps," Elizabeth A. Kelly and Kate Kane discuss their feminist reactions to "Bear Magazine" and its portrayal of happily bulky, hairy men as an alternative to the stereotyped smooth, sculpted gay male gym body. Lawrence Schimel, in "The Butch/Femme Dance," talks about self-identification as a "femme" man attracted to "butch" women. In an age where identities based on gender and sexual orientation are always changing, Opposite Sex is smart, informed, imaginative, and always provocative. --Michael Bronski
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