Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Repetitive references in every chapter
informative
medium-paced
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Incredibly interesting narrative and really expanded my view on gay history. Definitely would NOT listen to the audiobook aloud or around children. Will read again soon to make sure I got all of the details.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
fast-paced
Following gays throughout history who have traditionally been erased from queer narratives due to their ‘badness’, such as Ronnie Kray and Ernst Röhm, Bad Gays offers a compelling argument against the dilution of queerness into a line of moral superiority - not every queer person is a good person, but they’re still part of queer history. With each chapter focusing on a different 'bad gay', this is accessible and digestible while also offering a compelling argument against only acknowledging 'morally correct' gays.
It looks at the contributions of ‘bad gays’ to queer culture and wider society, delving into the politics and social ties of these gays and helping the reader to understand shifting attitudes to queerness, and particularly queerness as understood by elites who were generally white. It draws attention to the respectability of queerness and queer identities, along with the ties to masculinity and the presentation of sexuality in order for queerness to be presentable, or at least, tolerated.
Its major downfall is that it almost exclusively focuses on wealthy western gay men (Margaret Mead and Yukio Mishima are the only exceptions to that), and I found the repeated focus on the idea that elites were accepting of homosexuality if it was hidden and/or presentable to be overly emphasised - I would have enjoyed a deeper analysis of the exploitation of queer people in spite of their queerness due to their positions/resources.
Overall, this is a really interesting challenge to moral queerness and claims these bad gays, for better or for worse, as part of the queer community.
It looks at the contributions of ‘bad gays’ to queer culture and wider society, delving into the politics and social ties of these gays and helping the reader to understand shifting attitudes to queerness, and particularly queerness as understood by elites who were generally white. It draws attention to the respectability of queerness and queer identities, along with the ties to masculinity and the presentation of sexuality in order for queerness to be presentable, or at least, tolerated.
Its major downfall is that it almost exclusively focuses on wealthy western gay men (Margaret Mead and Yukio Mishima are the only exceptions to that), and I found the repeated focus on the idea that elites were accepting of homosexuality if it was hidden and/or presentable to be overly emphasised - I would have enjoyed a deeper analysis of the exploitation of queer people in spite of their queerness due to their positions/resources.
Overall, this is a really interesting challenge to moral queerness and claims these bad gays, for better or for worse, as part of the queer community.
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia
Moderate: Misogyny, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic
informative
medium-paced