The Harvard Brief

David M. Halperin, “How to be Gay” (Harvard UP, 2012)


Listen Later

What does it mean to be gay? According to many people, gayness is simply homosexuality – a sexual orientation. However, as David M. Halperin argues in his new book How to be Gay (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012), being gay is about more than just sex. In fact, gay men learn how to develop a gay cultural subjectivity through other gay men. Gay culture is phenomenon that is as often denied as it is accepted, as is evidenced by the many stereotypes often associated with gay people, played out in movies and TV shows on a regular basis. Halperin argues that there is a “queer way of feeling,” and that gay subjectivity should be discussed and studied, not dismissed and denied. Despite the catchy title, How to be Gay is a thoroughly academic and detailed book, which seriously dives into the research of gay subjectivity and style. In this interview, he explains how modern day gay identity has been promoted at the expense of gay subjectivity.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Harvard BriefBy New Books Network

  • 3.5
  • 3.5
  • 3.5
  • 3.5
  • 3.5

3.5

2 ratings


More shows like The Harvard Brief

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,822 Listeners

On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,260 Listeners

New Books in Critical Theory by Marshall Poe

New Books in Critical Theory

145 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,164 Listeners

Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

Know Your Enemy

2,064 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

9,414 Listeners

American Campus Podcast by Lauren Lassabe Shepherd

American Campus Podcast

21 Listeners