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Challenging widely held assumptions about postwar gay male culture and politics, Homosexuality in Cold War America examines how gay men in the 1950s resisted pressures to remain in the closet. Robert J. Corber argues that a form of gay male identity emerged in the 1950s that simultaneously drew on ...

Challenging widely held assumptions about postwar gay male culture and politics, Homosexuality in Cold War America examines how gay men in the 1950s resisted pressures to remain in the closet. Robert J. Corber argues that a form of gay male identity emerged in the 1950s that simultaneously drew on and transcended left-wing opposition to the Cold War cultural and political consensus. Combining readings of novels, plays, and films of the period with historical research into the national security state, the growth of the suburbs, and postwar consumer culture, Corber examines how gay men resisted the "organization man" model of masculinity that rose to dominance in the wake of the Second World War.

By exploring the representation of gay men in film noir, Corber suggests that even as this Hollywood genre reinforced homophobic stereotypes, it legitimized the gay male "gaze". He emphasizes how film noir's introduction of homosexual characters countered the national "project" to render gay men invisible, and marked a deep subversion of the Cold War mentality. Corber then considers the work of gay male writers Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, and James Baldwin, demonstrating how these authors declined to represent homosexuality as a discrete subculture and instead promoted a model of political solidarity rooted in the shared experience of oppression.

Homosexuality in Cold War America reveals that the ideological critique of the dominant culture made by gay male authors of the 1950s laid the foundation for the gay liberation movement of the following decade. It will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including students and scholars in the fields of American literature, film, and gaystudies.

"The product of rigorous research and thinking, "Same-Sex Affairs assesses the shifting meanings of homosexuality for different classes of gay men, and for "mainstream" society, between 1890 and 1930. While establishing that the Northwest provided a distinctive context for constructions of male ...

"The product of rigorous research and thinking, "Same-Sex Affairs assesses the shifting meanings of homosexuality for different classes of gay men, and for "mainstream" society, between 1890 and 1930. While establishing that the Northwest provided a distinctive context for constructions of male, same-sex sex, Boag also uses evidence from the region to refine understandings of the practice and significance of homosexuality at the national level. "Same-Sex Affairs makes important contributions to the history of both the western United States and modern American sexuality."--John Findlay, author of "Magic Lands

"This is an important work, taking Western history in entirely new directions. Peter Boag demonstrates his judiciousness, his care, with an impressive set of largely overlooked and underutilized sources. And those sources reveal remarkable tales. There is verve, an excitement, in both the ordinariness of everyday life and the extraordinary circumstances of scandal. Historians of sexuality in particular will ponder this book's insights for some time to come. It is a provocative study, rich in documentation, and extremely significant in terms of analytic impact."--John Howard, author of "Men Like That: A Southern Queer History

"This innovative and important work demonstrates the growing importance of homosexuality and pornography in the Western concept of bodily integrity from the 1880s to World War II. It is a wise 'think piece' about uncharted historical terrain--the most desirable kind of scholarship."--Bonnie G ...

"This innovative and important work demonstrates the growing importance of homosexuality and pornography in the Western concept of bodily integrity from the 1880s to World War II. It is a wise 'think piece' about uncharted historical terrain--the most desirable kind of scholarship."--Bonnie G. Smith, author of "The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice"

"In this fascinating book, Carolyn Dean forces us to rethink many of our basic assumptions about pornography, homosexuality, and sexual rights. She brings together a vast repertoire of sources and places these eclectic materials at the very center of contemporary debates over the relationship between sexuality and society."--Bryant T. Ragan, coeditor of "Homosexuality in Modern France"

This work presents a psychological analysis of the process of "coming out" for gay men in America since 1950. Koponen looks at the process as a series of steps in a hero's journey progressing from initial denial and anger to guilt, bargaining, and depression. The stages of acceptance and integration ...

This work presents a psychological analysis of the process of "coming out" for gay men in America since 1950. Koponen looks at the process as a series of steps in a hero's journey progressing from initial denial and anger to guilt, bargaining, and depression. The stages of acceptance and integration of a gay identity represent the goal of the quest. Providing the common ground on which to analyze the "coming out" process, Koponen uses gay male relationships portrayed in six important American novels--Falconer by John Cheever, City of the Night by John Rechy, Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, The Beautiful Room Is Empty by Edmund White, Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran, and Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll by Paul Monette. This book not only is literary study, but also is intended to help gay men reflect on their shared lived experiences. Self-help exercises on identifying and examining the stages of coming out are provided throughout the analysis.