Section 002 How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.
Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).
Instructor(s): David M Halperin (halperin@umich.edu)
Course Description:
Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.
This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize which a small but significant body of work in queer studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.
In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?
At the core of gay experience there is not only identification but disidentification. Almost as soon as I learn how to be gay, or perhaps even before, I also learn how not to be gay. I say to myself, 'Well, I may be gay, but at least I'm not like that!' Rather than attempting to promote one version of gay identity at the expense of others, this course will investigate the stakes in gay identifications and disidentifications, seeking ultimately to create the basis for a wider acceptance of the plurality of ways in which people determine how to be gay.
Additional note. This course is not a basic introduction to gay male culture, but an exploration of certain issues arising from it. It assumes some background knowledge. Students wishing to inform themselves about gay men and gay culture in a preliminary way should enroll in an introductory course in lesbian/gay studies.
bullllllleeettttttttttttttttt
titianum teflong hollow tip copper bullet
Crazypickney said
22:48 01/07 2008
I dont read it either
MonEyBeLLy said
22:49 01/07 2008
lol@JB mi naw read it either but dem things ya a get from bad to worst
swif said
22:49 01/07 2008
they need a course in how not to be gay!
jathugs said
22:55 01/07 2008
lol naw promote di battybwoy dem bullet fi dem!!!...
blackrob1010 said
07:35 01/10 2008
What de b#%b*...them really have too much money in America...them ah waste time and money on a stupid course like this. That is why it have so much batty boy ova deh. Fire bon them chi chi.
Glitch said
07:52 01/10 2008
Wat next......
Glitch said
07:53 01/10 2008
How to get shot..or killed
BEN said
08:54 01/10 2008
GAY GAYGAY GAY GAY
ZJSnyper said
09:15 01/10 2008
dis too long fi read
DJ O.P. said
09:20 01/10 2008
seh batty mon fi get BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
j_anthony said
09:25 01/10 2008
da bredda ya brave nuh raas
crucial24 said
09:38 01/10 2008
yo str8 fya 4 dem
FiveStar said
13:19 01/10 2008
mi waaa run inn pon him and him fag students dem and done mi AK clip pon dem, and reload and done it again and reload and done it again and mi naaa stop all di likkle ants dem inna him classroom dead.
ENGLISH 317. Literature and Culture.
Section 002 How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.
Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).
Instructor(s): David M Halperin (halperin@umich.edu)
Course Description:
Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.
This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize which a small but significant body of work in queer studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.
In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?
At the core of gay experience there is not only identification but disidentification. Almost as soon as I learn how to be gay, or perhaps even before, I also learn how not to be gay. I say to myself, 'Well, I may be gay, but at least I'm not like that!' Rather than attempting to promote one version of gay identity at the expense of others, this course will investigate the stakes in gay identifications and disidentifications, seeking ultimately to create the basis for a wider acceptance of the plurality of ways in which people determine how to be gay.
Additional note. This course is not a basic introduction to gay male culture, but an exploration of certain issues arising from it. It assumes some background knowledge. Students wishing to inform themselves about gay men and gay culture in a preliminary way should enroll in an introductory course in lesbian/gay studies.
http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?BG/317descr
GAY