Interrogating Homonormativity: Gay Men, Identity and Everyday Life (Palgrave Studies in (Re)Presenting Gender)

This book explores the concept of homonormativity and examines how the politics of homonormativity has shaped the lives and practices of gay men living primarily in the UK. The book adopts a case study approach in order to examine how homonormativity is shaping relationships within gay male culture, and between this culture and mainstream society. The book features chapters on same-sex marriage, HIV treatment, dating and hook-up culture, sexualized drug use and the world of work. Throughout these chapters, the book develops a conversation regarding the role that neoliberalism has played in defining gay male identities and practices in the UK and USA. If homonormativity is understood as the sexual politics of neoliberalism, this book considers to what extent those sexual politics pervade gay men’s sense of self, their relationships with each other, their experience of the spaces they occupy in everyday life, and the identities they inhabit in the workplace.blematizing the concept of homonormativity. Acknowledgements Contents Chapter 1: Introduction The Shape of Things to Come References Chapter 2: Contextualising Homonormativity Contextualising Homonormativity The New Homonormativity Beyond the New Homonormativity References Chapter 3: Forsaking all others? Same-Sex Marriage and the Politics of Everyday Life I do (but should I?): The promises and pitfalls of marriage equality “Stop Fucking Around”: The Homonormative Argument for Marriage Questioning the Pursuit of Same-Sex Marriage (Legislation) Marriage, Property and Financial Benefits Marriage and Relational Rights Marriage and Politics Queering the Knot: Gay Men’s Reasons for Marrying Public Recognition The Privileged and the Political ‘Dropping the H-bomb’: The language of married life. On (not) being a (real) husband Beyond the Dyad Conclusion References Chapter 4: Conditional Acceptance: British Attitudes Towards Homonormativity in the Context of PrEP The “Wonder Drug”: Introducing PrEP as a Public Good Pills (but no) Thrills Passing the Buck Suffer Little Children Privatising PrEP Cost/Benefit? Conclusion: Framing (Homo)Normativity References Chapter 5: ‘Kindness is Our Preference’: Hook-Up Apps As Technologies of Polite Incivility Kindness is Our Preference The Hidden Labour of Content Moderation The Cultural Politics of Platform Design “You’re Cancelled”: The Politics of Blocking Polite Incivility Conclusion References Websites Chapter 6: Something for the Weekend? Nostalgia, Vulnerability and Discipline in Chemsex Heterotopias Chemsex in Context Moving Towards Chemsex Spaced Out: The Geographies of Chemsex Chemsex Heterotopia Crossing the Threshold After the Party Fucking with History References Film Chapter 7: Marching to a Different Tune: Inside the Corporate Sponsorship of LGBTQ Lives Reflections on Pride Employee Resource Groups Employee Benefits and Mutual Investments Net Gains: Corporate Benefits of Pride Participation A View from the Sidelines: Corporations and Community The Privatisation of Activism Marching to a Different Tune Commodifying the Whole Self References Chapter 8: Conclusion: Reflections on Homonormativity Reflection One: Homonormativity is (even more) relevant today. Reflection Two: Homonormativity Increasingly Frames Public Attitudes Towards Gay Men Reflection Three: Homonormativity Frames Gay Men’s (Use of) Space Where We Go from Here: The Vanishing Point of Homonormativity References Index "Using interviews to nuance his careful analysis, Mowlabocus shines a bright light on the current conundrums of queer everyday life." -- Professor Lisa Duggan, Department of Social & Cultural Analysis, New York University, USA. "This is an exceptional book, which interrogates the complex ways in which marriage equality has changed the place of gay men in contemporary (British) society, exposing how formal equality continues to overlook sexual difference and ends up obscuring demands for genuine equity." -- Dr. Gavin Brown, Professor of Political Geography & Sexualities, Leicester, UK. "A pleasure to read, this book offers reflections that are refreshingly grounded in the experiences of gay men today dealing with a new world of legal rights in a context of declining public gay spaces and at best conditional public acceptance." -- Dr. Barry Adam, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Windsor, Canada. This book explores the concept of homonormativity and examines how the politics of homonormativity has shaped the lives and practices of gay men living primarily in the UK. The book adopts a case study approach in order to examine how homonormativity is shaping relationships within gay male culture, and between this culture and mainstream society. The book features chapters on same-sex marriage, HIV treatment, dating and hook-up culture, sexualized drug use and the world of work. Throughout these chapters, the book develops a conversation regarding the role that neoliberalism has played in defining gay male identities and practices in the UK and USA. If homonormativity is understood as the sexual politics of neoliberalism, this book considers to what extent those sexual politics pervade gay men's sense of self, their relationships with each other, their experience of the spaces they occupy in everyday life, and the identities they inhabit in the workplace. Sharif Mowlabocus is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, New York, USA. He holds a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Sussex, UK, and is the author of several books and research articles. His research focuses primarily on Western gay male culture and its engagement with new forms of communication, mediation and representation "This book explores the concept of homonormativity and examines how the politics of homonormativity has shaped the lives and practices of gay men living primarily in the UK. The book adopts a case study approach in order to examine how homonormativity is shaping relationships within gay male culture, and between this culture and mainstream society. The book features chapters on same-sex marriage, HIV treatment, dating and hook-up culture, sexualized drug use and the world of work. Throughout these chapters, the book develops a conversation regarding the role that neoliberalism has played in defining gay male identities and practices in the UK and USA. If homonormativity is understood as the sexual politics of neoliberalism, this book considers to what extent those sexual politics pervade gay men's sense of self, their relationships with each other, their experience of the spaces they occupy in everyday life, and the identities they inhabit in the workplace"--Page 4 of cover