GLQ CT

Reading informed by the fear and loathing of homosexuality

institutionalized discrimination (discrimination that is built into a culture’s laws and customs) against gay people

self-hatred some gay people experience because, in their growth through adolescence to adulthood, they’ve internalized the homophobia pressed on them by heterosexual America

privileging of heterosexuality

enormous pressure to be heterosexual placed on young people by their families, schools, the church, the medical professions, and all forms of the media

assumption, often unconscious, that heterosexuality is the universal norm by which everyone’s experience can be understood

segment of the population is naturally gay, just as the rest of the population is naturally heterosexual

homosexuality and heterosexuality are products of social, not biological, forces

ways of understanding gay and lesbian experience that focus on the homosexual potential in all people

erotic (though not necessarily overtly sexual) depictions that imply same-sex attraction or that might appeal sexually to a same-sex reader

same-sex friendship of the kind seen in female or male bonding activities

not restricted to the sexual domain, but consists of directing the bulk of one’s attention and emotional energy to other women and having other women as one’s primary source of emotional sustenance and psychological support

includes a range through each woman’s life and throughout history of woman-identified experience, not simply the fact that a woman has had or consciously desired genital sexual experience with another woman

lesbians that dissociate themselves as much as possible from all men, including gay men, and from heterosexual women as well

a “real” man

the kinds of analysis that tend to engage the attention of gay critics

practice of dressing in women’s clothing

Gay men who dress in drag on a regular basis or who do it professionally

flamboyant gay drag

specific theoretical perspective (cannot be defined by such simple oppositions as homosexual/heterosexual)

biological sex of one’s partner

the depiction of strong emotional ties between same sex characters can create a homosocial atmosphere that may be subtly or overtly homoerotic

two types: characteristics that hetersexist culture stereotypically associates with gay men or lesbians (appearance and behavior of “feminine” male characters or “masculine” female characters), coded signs created by the gay or lesbian subculture itself

a more subtle, somewhat abstract, form of gay and lesbian signs consist of same sex characters who look alike, act alike, or have parallel experiences

questions the rules of traditional heterosexuality and thus opens the door of imagination of transgressive sexualities of all kinds.