Could "gay shame" ever take the place of "gay pride?"
It did in the past.
Professor Heather Love appeared at the Penn Bookstore last night to discuss her book, Feeling Backward: Loss and the Politics of Queer History, which highlights the importance of remembering the dark and lonely past of the gay and lesbian community .
"Gay pride" is a ubiquitous term that represents the great strides that the gay community has made in political rights and social acceptance. Love, however, presented an alternate view of this assimilation and acceptance.
In her discussion she said, "I am happy about clear advances, but troubled by gay normalization."
Seeing shows like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" as "sell-outs," Love argues that the history of social exclusion resulted in a unique community. By commercializing the gay community and promoting assimilation to social norms, Love feels that the unique personailities of her friends are at risk of being lost.
Love focused on embracing the negativity in gay history, reading passages from her book that glorified its dark and depressing past.
Using literary texts, movies and poetry as the basis of her discussion, she showed the pervasive shame and depression of gays in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"Shame is a historical response in gay culture," argued Love.
Criticizing other gay and lesbian political historians for ignoring the gloomy past of gay and lesbian emotion, Love believes that the negativity was "actually innovative and interesting."
Love emphasized that recognizing the negative emotions that created and united the gay and lesbian community is vital to a discussion of their future.
Addressing the seemingly contrasting issues of homophobia and gay marriage, Love noted the "danger in believing that because gay marriage is allowed in one state, everything is all right."
Love was invited by Caroline Trask, the marketing manager of the Penn bookstore, as part of an initiative to "be diverse in the types of authors, topics discussed and genres," said Trask.
