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Queer Words, Queer Images
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
James Darsey, Ohio State University
Joseph A. DeVito, Hunter College
Karen A. Foss, University of New Mexico
Fred E. Jandt, California State University,
San Bernardino
Mercilee Jenkins, San Francisco State University
Lynn C. Miller, University of Houston
QUEER WORDS,
QUEER IMAGES
Communication and the
Construction of Homosexuality
EDITED BY
R. Jeffrey Ringer
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Copyright 1994 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Queer words, queer images: communication and the construction of homosexuality / edited by R. Jeffrey Ringer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-7440-7 (cloth: alk. paper)ISBN 0-8147-7441-5 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. HomosexualityUnited States. 2. Homosexuality in television
United States. 3. Homosexuality in motion pictures. 4. Symbolism in communication. I. Ringer, R. Jeffrey.
HQ76.3.U5Q44 1994
306.766dc20 93-30242
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Contents
Acknowledgments
Many people have contributed to this project. At the beginning six associate editors (James Darsey, Joe DeVito, Karen A. Foss, Fred Jandt, Mercilee Jenkins, and Lynn Miller) read over 100 essays to identify the best and most appropriate for this volume. Each of these essays was anonymously reviewed by two associate editors. Together we selected fifteen of the essays that appear in this volume. I would like to thank them for the many hours they contributed as readers and for their advice that helped shape this volume.
After these essays were selected I invited a guest author to read each of the essays in a section and to comment upon them. These outstanding individuals (James Chesebro, Larry Gross, Lynn Miller, Dorothy Painter, and Mercilee Jenkins) are experts in their fields. Their essays have added tremendously to this volume by providing synthesis and direction.
I would like to thank several individuals from the Ohio State University. James Darsey served as a liaison while I was working in Denmark for one year. His department provided support for duplicating, mailing, and clerical help. We would like to thank department chair Joseph Foley, Betty Moeller, and Elizabeth Carlson for this assistance. I would also like to thank James Darsey for his comments and advice on the introduction.
In addition to the associate editors and guest authors, the remaining authors were extremely cooperative and understanding of this long process. Their patience has been greatly appreciated.
At St. Cloud State University, Donna Banks provided clerical assistance by typing and mailing letters. The Department of Speech Communication at St. Cloud under Chairs Chuck Vick and Judy Litterst were extremely supportive of me while I was working on this project. I appreciate all of the support I have received from the entire department. Financial assistance and support were provided by Dean Michael Connaughton of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities. Indeed, the entire university has been supportive.
At New York University Press, our editors Niko Pfund and Despina Papazoglou Gimbel have been tremendously supportive and understandingparticularly of missed deadlines. Their assistance has helped make this project a reality.
Finally, the Caucus on Gay and Lesbian Concerns of the Speech Communication Association deserves recognition. Their presence has given all of us the motivation to investigate these important issues that are often ignored by mainstream researchers. Their strength and devotion ensures that we will continue to explore and understand the communication in our lives.
R. JEFFREY RINGER, PH.D.
St. Cloud State University
Queer Words, Queer Images
Introduction
R. Jeffrey Ringer
The origin of this book dates back to 1981. At that time, the Caucus on Gay and Lesbian Concerns of the Speech Communication Association published an anthology of essays on gay male and lesbian communication entitled Gayspeak: Gay Male and Lesbian Communication. The central premise of that anthology was that the social reality human beings have created around the concept of homosexuality has made homosexuality an issue. In a departure from investigations that sought to explain aspects of sexual orientation, the responses to the behavior rather than the behavior itself became the legitimate subject of inquiry. Thus, the authors in Gayspeak chose to examine human responses to homosexuality from the viewpoint of the communication discipline. Homosexuality, contended James Chesebro, the editor of Gayspeak, is predominantly a communication problem, and a humane understanding and resolution of this issue is to be found in established frameworks, methods, principles, and perspectives of the discipline of communication (1981, xiii).
Gayspeak examined the languages of lesbians and gay men, communication patterns among lesbians in established relationships, the rhetoric of the gay rights and lesbian-feminist movements, images of gays and lesbians in the media and drama, the campaign efforts of pro- and antigay forces, as well as other communication related topics. These articles, reflecting the substance and diversity of the communication discipline, have been acknowledged as pioneering efforts in understanding gay and lesbian communication.
The current anthology is based on premises similar to those that motivated its predecessor. The Caucus on Gay and Lesbian Concerns continues to believe in the value of examining the language, nonverbal acts, and symbols of gay men and lesbians. Thus, Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality examines the rhetoric of gay politicians, the symbols and strategies used during the coming out process, the strategies used to resolve conflicts in gay and lesbian relationships, and the decision whether or not to come out in the classroom as these reflect the gay and lesbian experience, primarily in the United States, today.
The editor and authors also continue to believe in the importance of examining the ways in which heterosexuals conceive of and respond to homosexual behavior. Thus, this volume critically examines a court case that involves the use of a well-known symbol by a gay/lesbian group, portrayals of gays and lesbians in literature and in the media, and the female athlete = lesbian myth.
