Up from invisibility : lesbians, gay men, and the media in America / Larry Gross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gross, Larry P., 1942-

Series:

Between men--between women

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media and gay people--United States.

Mass media and gay people.

United States.

Physical Description:

xviii, 295 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2001]

Summary:

Gross traces the relation of lesbians and gays to the media and astutely points to the latters lingering inability to embrace the complex reality of gay identity. He notes the victories, like the opening of the first gay bookstore in the country or the transformation of "The Advocate" from a small newsletter to the first commercial gay paper, but also questions some dubious milestones, like the first lesbian kiss on network television "(LA Law)."

Contents:

1. The Mediated Society 1

Mass Media and American Society 1

Television as the Mainstream 6

Sexual Minorities and the Media 12

Subversion and Resistance 17

2. Coming out and Coming Together 21

The Homosexual in Midcentury America 21

Giving Voice to the Voiceless 24

Provoking Concern 29

The Voice Gets Louder 32

Coming Out in the Nation's Living Rooms 37

3. Stonewall and Beyond 40

"Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Stinging Mad" 40

"Turning Their Condition into Politics" 43

Expressing Outrage 46

Talking Back to the Media 50

4. At the Movies 56

"A Queer Feeling Every Time I Look at You" 56

"Show Me a Happy Homosexual and I'll Show You a Gay Corpse" 60

Friedkin Delivers Gay Corpses 64

Getting the Word Out 67

Gay Films for Straight Audiences 71

Universal or Particular? 75

5. Television Takes Over 81

New Medium, Old Message 81

No Sex, Please, We're Queer 85

6. Aids and the Media 94

Rumors of a "Gay Cancer" 94

Circling the Wagons 96

Natural Squeamishness 99

Media Activism in a Crisis 104

7. Journalism's Closet Opens 110

Burying and Marrying 110

All the News Not Fit to Print 113

The Gray Lady Goes Gay 118

Coming Out in the Newsroom 125

8. Breaking the Code of Silence 131

Naming Names 131

Outing the Pentagon 135

Kinda Ask, Sorta Tell 139

9. Hollywood Under Pressure 143

AIDS Victims and Villains 143

A Kinder, Gentler Hollywood 147

Queering the "Straight" Text 150

10. Hollywood's Gay Nineties 156

"I feel pretty and witty and ... Hey!" 156

Still Villainous After All These Years 164

Sad Young Men 169

Some of My Best Friends Are Celibate 177

11. Beyond Prime Time 184

Adam and Steve and Phil and Oprah 184

The Tongue-Tied Public Square 188

Getting Over the Rainbow 195

Locker-room Closets 201

12. Morning Papers, Afternoon Soaps 208

Coming Out in the Comics 208

You're the First Person I Have Ever Told 216

13. Old Stories and New Technologies 221

The Good Parts 221

Somewhere There's a Place for Us 227

14. A Niche of Our Own 233

Movement to Market 233

Are We Being Served? 244

15. Facing the Future 252

Visibility and Its Discontents 252

Looking Backward 258.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-288) and index.

ISBN:

0231119526

0231119534

OCLC:

47200444