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ENGLISH 317. Literature and Culture -- How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.
University of Michigan ^ | 1/7/2008 | David M Halperin

Posted on 01/08/2008 9:12:29 AM PST by Beckwith

Course Description:

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one.

This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice — subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize — which a small but significant body of work in queer studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.

In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?

(Excerpt) Read more at umich.edu:80 ...


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: education; higher; homo; homosexualagenda
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Comment #1 Removed by Moderator

To: grellis

You rang.


2 posted on 01/08/2008 9:23:35 AM PST by Admin Moderator
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To: Admin Moderator

Mille grazie!


3 posted on 01/08/2008 9:26:11 AM PST by grellis (Is this the best we've got??!)
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To: Admin Moderator
Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Stupid is as stupid does.
4 posted on 01/08/2008 9:26:14 AM PST by DWar
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To: Springman; sergeantdave; cyclotic; netmilsmom; RatsDawg; PGalt; FreedomHammer; queenkathy; ...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

A tax-funded institution of higher learning. Good thing I haven't had lunch yet, or I'd be sick all over the place.

Why is it that students fight to attend UM?

5 posted on 01/08/2008 9:28:42 AM PST by grellis (Is this the best we've got??!)
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To: Admin Moderator

No wonder so many college graduates reportedly can’t find jobs “appropriate to their educational level.”


6 posted on 01/08/2008 9:42:09 AM PST by hellbender
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Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one.

The practical exams must s...tink.

7 posted on 01/08/2008 9:48:35 AM PST by JRios1968 (Don't mess with tigers, for you are crunchy and chewy...)
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To: grellis; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

For some time now, U of M has been the showroom model for agenda-driven pseudoeducation. Oh, but they did win their bowl game, I think.


8 posted on 01/08/2008 10:05:29 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________Profile updated Sunday, December 30, 2007)
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To: grellis

sounds like a sleeper course. watch a bunch of will and grace, and all streisand’s movies. learn the lyrics to all songs by streisand, minelli, cline, and garland, as well as all the showtunes.
get a dorothy gale outfit.
dress in womens clothing.
work out for tone, not for strength or health reasons.
get a rainbow flag.
get subscriptions to cosmo, vogue, and 17 (for the pics of the young hot guys)
vote dem.

any more questions?


9 posted on 01/08/2008 10:28:27 AM PST by absolootezer0 (white male christian hetero married gun toting SUV driving motorcycle riding conservative smoker)
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To: absolootezer0

Garland and her ilk sang the pop music of their day. Showtunes were the pop music of the pre-Rock era. Do you think all the men who liked it back then were gay? That stereotype needs to die.


10 posted on 01/08/2008 1:47:40 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges

everything i listed is a ridiculous “gay” stereotype.
that was the point.

smile, laugh, don’t have such a negative outlook. :)


11 posted on 01/08/2008 1:53:36 PM PST by absolootezer0 (white male christian hetero married gun toting SUV driving motorcycle riding conservative smoker)
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To: absolootezer0

Freeper Showtune lovers unite!


12 posted on 01/08/2008 1:57:42 PM PST by Borges
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To: AFA-Michigan; Abathar; Agitate; AliVeritas; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; BabaOreally; Balke; BigFinn; ...
Homosexual Agenda Ping

Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the homosexual agenda ping list.

Be sure to click the FreeRepublic homosexual agenda keyword search link for a list of all related articles. We don't ping you to all related articles so be sure to click the previous link to see the latest articles.

Add keywords homosexual agenda to flag FR articles to this ping list.

13 posted on 01/08/2008 4:28:15 PM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: grellis

Not surprising that U of Michigan would have this course. LOL


14 posted on 01/08/2008 4:50:12 PM PST by darkangel82 (And the band played on....)
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To: wagglebee
...and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.

Does this mean that they're going out into the field to pick up some chickens for class credit?

15 posted on 01/08/2008 5:44:42 PM PST by Lauren BaRecall (Duncan Hunter has an actual *spine* for a spine.)
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To: Admin Moderator

Shwell


16 posted on 01/08/2008 5:47:34 PM PST by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: Admin Moderator

Will the penchant for little boys be addressed with a special report from the homosexual subcommittee on the man-boy love relationship? Syllabus will include techniques in finding a rectum in a filthy public restroom, felching at the rest stop, rimming to enhance gastroenteritis, how to avoid ingesting excess fecal material, and the use of rodents to enhance gay pleasure.


17 posted on 01/09/2008 10:03:39 AM PST by Neoliberalnot ((Hallmarks of Liberalism: Ingratitude and Envy))
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To: Admin Moderator

I resent that this course implies that opera and classical music is only listened to by GAY males. I’m straight, and I enjoy opera and classical music.

Talk about reinforcing stereotypes, this course just shoves them in our faces and says, ‘ACCEPT THIS BUT DON’T REINFORCE IT!!!’


18 posted on 01/09/2008 8:31:15 PM PST by figgers3036
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To: figgers3036
The whole "gay" thing is a total misnomer. There's no "gayness" in any of that.

Proof of my premise is most "gay" people go through a great deal of psychological torture. Moreover, the greatest hallmakr of "gayness" is that of vacilation. Furthermore, the fact that a great majority of "gays" have this extreme need to affirm their sexuality in public so as to lend credence to their "gayness" (as opposed to the mere heterosexual who prefers to have sex in private).

When's the last time all of you heterosecuals had serious doubts concerning/respecting your sexuality? The thing about "gayness" is that well over 90% have had doubts about their "gayness". And why stop there, a significant majority of those professing the "gay" lifestyle, have doubted whether or not they were actually "gay" at least once in their life.

The qwexion distills down to whether or not a heterosexual porn-addict is any better than a "gay" person? Or are any of those people any worse than that person who see's their restaurant bill as being unfairly in their favor, and they resolve to just walk out of the establishment (and not pay for whatever)?

Or, are any of those people better than Ted Bundy?

Answer: NO.

19 posted on 01/09/2008 9:12:56 PM PST by raygun (Everyting is a class escept when the object within the class has properties.)
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To: Pharmboy

U of M ping!


20 posted on 01/09/2008 9:29:38 PM PST by thefactor
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