Gendered Outcasts and Sexual Outlaws

Book excerpt: A candid re-examination of what it means to be a gay man Gendered Outcasts and Sexual Outlaws: Sexual Oppression and Gender Hierarchies in Queer Men’s Lives explores the impact and effects of sexual oppression and power relationships within the gay male community. This controversial book features thoughtful and provocative essays from authors, educators, and activists who challenge the stigmatization and issues of power they face as gay men who don’t fit the masculine mold formed by the gay porn industry and the media. Their poignant words reveal the sting of finding discrimination and alienation where least expected as the rise of sexualized hyper-masculinity, racism, and femiphobia among gay men has created a need to re-examine appropriate gay male identity and sexuality. Editors Christopher Kendall and Wayne Martino, who have written about and researched the negative side of gay male pornography, the links between sexism and homophobia, gay male suicide, and the impact of masculinity and sexuality on gay men, divide the book’s powerful essays into two sections: “The Dynamics of Sex/Gender Oppression” and “When Gender Harms and Oppression Becomes the Norm.” The first section challenges the assumptions that form the basis of gay male identity. Relying on the work of radical feminists and cultural theorists, the authors explore the meaning of “gender” in a society that expects men to act according to a masculine ideal—and punishes them when they don’t. The book’s second section analyzes the reality of gender oppression caused by inequality and sexualized gender hierarchies. Contributors discuss what can happen when gay men take seriously the sexual role models that are offered and what happens if they dare to reject them. Gendered Outcasts and Sexual Outlaws examines: effeminacy in gay men’s lives the idealization of the gay male body straight-acting masculinities and the rejection of the feminine narcissism, masculinity, and body absorption racialized masculinity the feminization of the Asian gay male in gay pornography gay male rape domestic violence and much more! Gendered Outcasts and Sexual Outlaws is an eye-opening re-evaluation of what being “gay” means, why being gay is still considered socially unacceptable, and how the gay male community can respond to systemic stigmatization and hate.