Is there such a thing as an American gay culture--a set of styles, values, and behaviors that arises not from ethnicity or religion but from sexual orientation? How is that culture transmitted? And how is it likely to survive the depradations of homophobia and AIDS? These questions are explored by Browning, a reporter for NPR.
This book was absolutely amazing and a must read for any LGBT person who came of age after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Browning takes a frank and direct look at what many people see as the gay culture, despite his own objections to that term. In this pursuit Browning takes a look at the LGBT generation that came of age after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and how they have returned vivacity to the decimated LGBT movement and the way in which their demands for more than passive acceptance has defined the character of many young LGBT people today. He similarly manages to recount just who distressing the beginning of the AIDS-epidemic was to the gay community and the pain, isolation and rage that it brought with it. His analysis of the diversity of the gay experience and the lack of its representation in the ranks of LGBT activism, populated by mostly WASP men, also shows the dangers of unifying such heterogeneous lifestyles under one umbrella and the strain of lumping so many different people together. This a book that does not shy away from presenting the true raw world of the LGBT movement with its myriad goals and figure-heads and does so in a way that not only chronicles the movement but enriches it.
This is a fascinating history of gay culture in the last half of the twentieth century. The author claims it is "an inquiry into the faiths, practices, structure, and meanings of gay life in America." Like Edmund White’s 1980 States of Desire: Travels in Gay America, Browning’s The Culture of Desire is a personal survey about gay men, not a survey approach with footnote s and index. A former NPR reporter, Browning attempts to discover whether or not a gay culture exists in today's America. The linkage he makes between his data and his thesis is extremely tenuous, however, and many readers may remain unconvinced by his contention that ``gay culture'' is distinguished from other cultural entities by its diversity and its ability to assume a wide range of ``masks.'' Browning filters his perceptions through his own personal experience--cruising San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, attending the raucous, butch- dominated Hotlanta Weekend--and through the experiences of a roster of gays that he has known. He does effectively demonstrate the multiplicity of gay styles and attitudes thus the book is worthwhile for exploring the queer and gay culture.
Probably the most fascinating thing about this book to me is that it was published when I was 16. So reading it almost 30 years later was so interesting because I recalled what I was going through and how I was thinking about and experiencing gay life and culture at the time. It’s also interesting to perceive what the author anticipated about the direction gay communal life (and the wider society) would go in the future - and what he didn’t (couldn’t?) anticipate. Definitely a worthwhile read for me.
Interesting but dated. Written in 1993, it's a snapshot of gay culture in that time, when the AIDS crisis was in full flow. The theme of the book is the "construction" of a gay culture--both by exclusion from the mainstream culture and by conscious and subconscious efforts of gays and lesbians. The author, who of course is gay, does this through the stories of a dozen or so gay men he met and interviewed as part of this project. Very familiar stories that work well to support his theme of the construction of a gay culture. Interesting, as I said, but it's astonishing how much things have changed in the 20 years since the book was published. The subtitle of the book is "The Paradox and Perversity in Gay Lives Today," but it really should be "in Gay Lives Yesterday."