Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior

by Tim Bergling

Here is a revealing look into male why some gay men are swishy, why other gay men are more masculine, and why effeminate men arouse anger, disgust, and disdain in both gay and straight men. Sissyphobia explores those negative feelings that are aimed at people termed fairies, faggots, flamers, and queens; men who, as the author puts it, "run more toward what we could term the 'Quentin Crisp school of homosexuality.'" The focus of Sissyphobia is the author's search for the roots of the rage toward effeminate or flamboyant men experienced by men of every sexual persuasion, even themselves.

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Queer

133 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat flawed attempt at addressing the straight acting phenomenon within the gay community -- I would say queer but this stuff is definitely gay. The book is definitely rooted in representing the most visibly represented segment of the queer community (white male queers) but the author makes it a point of saying that much was intentional.

Would have enjoyed it a lot more if issues of misogyny and internalized homophobia got more than a passing glance. Where's the analysis?

[Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book, yet is on a fascinating subject. There is no rigor in this book at all; just half-assed dine store reasoning different possibilities, not giving any account how probable a given theory is, or even the possible implications if it were true.

[Dameon Huber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mocks effeminate men, not a good thing in my book.

[Reeter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/sissyphob...

This book read more like an opinion piece than an actual argument against effeminophobia, but I still think there's some value here. While things are getting better, there's still a lot animosity targeted toward effeminate men, no matter the sexuality. And I think this is a topic that still needs to be talked about.

I wouldn't call this book a complete analysis of fear and hatred towards effeminate men in out society, but I think this would be a good starting point.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this, which were, of course, dashed. This book is frustratingly off-hand and casual, mainly comrised of selected quotes from a survey the auther sent out, then compiled the responses. Firmly located in gay male culture--and complete with the stereotypical objectification of male bodies and sex--Bergling tries to understand why many gay men view sissyness negatively and why some men are "effiminate." While his heart is in the right place and honest, to do this book without discussing straight men and transgender fails to provide a complete picture. A more appropriate subtitle might be: gay men I know who are on the internet and answered my survey and some thoughts from me.

[Zac Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a really long time, but I've never had a feeling that I needed to pick it back up, if that says anything.