The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom - Hardcover

Bronski, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312156251 ISBN 13: 9780312156251

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 1998

Synopsis

A provocative look at the gay rights movement explores its impact on breaking down traditional societal structures and uses practical examples from history, politics, and popular culture to illustrate the interaction between gay culture and the mainstream.

About this title

Review:

"We are your worst fear," went one 1970s rallying cry among gay activists. "We are your best fantasy." Michael Bronski runs with that paradoxical notion, arguing that "straights" are correct to believe that homosexuals represent a threat to the values of Western civilization--and that's a good thing. What they fear (and resent) most in homosexuality, Bronski argues, is the ability of homosexuals to simply enjoy themselves, to take the pleasures of sexuality without the cultural baggage of reproductive responsibility and social conformity. Consequently, the "unique position" of homosexuals "as sexual outsiders endows them with an unparalleled vision for cultural and social change."

Bronski deftly deals with a dizzying array of post-WWII American history and culture, from the battles between homophile assimilationists and gay liberationists to the media controversy surrounding Pee-Wee Herman's arrest and the rise of lesbian chic. He makes a strong case both for the vitality of gay culture (including sexuality) and the necessity of explicitly recognizing the contributions that it has made and continues to make to mainstream culture. "Only when those in the dominant culture realize that they are better off acting like gay people," Bronski writes, "will the world change and be a better, safer, and more pleasurable place for everyone." --Ron Hogan

From the Publisher:

'Bronski ranges widely, often with great insight...a nice feature of his approach is that he seeks to understand gay culture and politics not in isolation but in relation to comparable phenomena both past and present." LA Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312156251
• ISBN 13: 9780312156251
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304