Synopses & Reviews
What is it about andldquo;the homosexualandrdquo; that incites vitriolic rhetoric and violence around the world? How and why do some people hate queers? Does homophobia operate differently across social, political, and economic terrains? What are the ambivalences in homophobic discourses that can be exploited to undermine its hegemonic privilege? This volume addresses these questions through critical interrogations of sites where homophobic discourses are produced. It provides innovative analytical insights that expose the complex and intersecting cultural, political, and economic forces contributing to the development of new forms of homophobia. And it is a call to action for anthropologists and other social scientists to examine more carefully the politics, histories, and contexts of places and people who profess hatred for queerness.
The contributors to this volume open up the scope of inquiry into processes of homophobia, moving the analysis of a particular form of andldquo;hateandrdquo; into new, wider sociocultural and political fields. The ongoing production of homophobic discourses is carefully analyzed in diverse sites including New York City, Australia, the Caribbean, Greece, India, and Indonesia, as well as American Christian churches, in order to uncover the complex operational processes of homophobias and their intimate relationships to nationalism, sexism, racism, class, and colonialism. The contributors also critically inquire into the limitations of the term homophobia and interrogate its utility as a cross-cultural designation.
Contributors. Steven Angelides, Tom Boellstorff, Lawrence Cohen, Don Kulick, Suzanne LaFont, Martin F. Manalansan IV, David A. B. Murray, Brian Riedel, Constance R. Sullivan-Blum
Review
andldquo;Homophobias provides a much-needed perspective for bringin the reader to a more objective understanding of the mechanics of GLBT hatred and rhetoric in other times and places.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A major strength of this anthology is its attention to the roles of both colonialism (as a precedent of contemporary globalizing processes) and contemporary political, economic, and social changes on the development of attitudes toward sexuality and gender in postcolonial contexts.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[A] splendid collection of essays. . . . This book is a must for anyone interested in anthropological fieldwork methods as well as theories of homosexuality.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The essays bring careful attention to the conceptual pitfalls of typical understandings of homophobia and look instead for the complex cultural logics and constellation of social, political, and economic factors that undergird antihomosexual expressions. Ultimately, Homophobias invites us to rethink what we mean by andlsquo;homophobiaandrsquo; and to think more complexly about the particular, changing sources and meanings of antihomosexual phenomena.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Homophobias is a well-edited collection of how homophobia is captured across cultures, time, and space. It also questions how homophobiaandmdash;an exclusive prejudice against homosexualsandmdash;can exist as a universal form of discrimination, and how that discrimination can exist in various forms from political emasculation to violent attacks. Homophobias serves as an important collection of works with which to move past preconceived ideas of what one thinks constitutes homophobia.andrdquo;
Synopsis
A collection that analyzes homophobic violence from an anthropological, cross-cultural perspective.
About the Author
David A. B. Murray is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Graduate Program in Womenandrsquo;s Studies at York University in Toronto. He is the author of Opacity: Gender, Sexuality, Race, and the andldquo;Problemandrdquo; of Identity in Martinique.
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Introduction / David A. B. Murray 1
Part One. Displacing Homophobia
1. Can There Be an Anthropology of Homophobia? / Don Kulick 19
2. Homophobia at New York's Gay Central / Martin F. Manalansan IV 34
3. andquot;It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steveandquot; / Constance R. Sullivan Blum 48
4. The Homosexualization of Pedophilia / Steven Angelides 64
5. Stolen Kisses / Brian Riedel 82
Part Two. Transnational Homophobia
6. Not Quite Redemption Song / Suzanne LaFont 105
7. The Emergence of Political Homophobia in Indonesia / Tom Boellstorff 123
8. Homo Hauntings / David A. B. Murray 146
9. Lucknow Noir / Lawrence Cohen 162
Epilogue: What Is to Be (Un)Done? / David A. B. Murray 185
Bibliography 193
Contributors 221
Index 223