Over time, male homosexuality and effeminacy have become indelibly associated, sometimes even synonymous. In Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen, Peter Hennen contends that this stigma of effeminacy exerts a powerful influence on gay subcultures. Through a comparative ethnographic analysis of three communities, Hennen explores the surprising ways that conventional masculinity is being collectively challenged, subverted, or perpetuated in contemporary gay male culture. Hennen’s colorful study focuses on a trio of groups: the Radical Faeries, who parody effeminacy by playfully embracing it, donning prom dresses and glitter; the Bears, who strive to appear like “regular guys” and celebrate their larger, hairier bodies; and the Leathermen, who emulate hypermasculine biker culture, simultaneously paying homage to and undermining notions of manliness. Along with a historical analysis of the association between effeminacy and homosexuality, Hennen examines how this connection affects the groups’ sexual practices. Ultimately, he argues, while all three groups adopt innovative approaches to gender issues and sexual pleasure, masculine norms continue to constrain members of each community.

This book examines gendered language use in six gay male subcultures: drag queens, radical faeries, bears, circuit boys, barebackers, and leathermen. Within each subculture, unique patterns of language use challenge normative assumptions about gender and sexual identity. Rusty Barrett's analyses of these subcultures emphasize the ways in which gay male constructions of gender are intimately linked to other forms of social difference. In From Drag Queens to Leathermen, Barrett presents an extension of his earlier work among African American drag queens in the 1990s, emphasizing the intersections of race and class in the construction of gender. An analysis of sacred music among radical faeries considers the ways in which expressions of gender are embedded in a broader neo-pagan religious identity. The formation of bear as an identity category (for heavyset and hairy men) in the late 1980s involves the appropriation of linguistic stereotypes of rural Southern masculinity. Among regular attendees of circuit parties, language serves to differentiate gay and straight forms of masculinity. In the early 2000s, barebackers (gay men who eschew condoms) used language to position themselves as rational risk takers with an innate desire for semen. For participants in the International Mr. Leather contest, a disciplined, militaristic masculinity links expressions of patriotism with BDSM sexual practice. In all of these groups, the construction of gendered identity involves combining linguistic forms that would usually not co-occur. These unexpected combinations serve as the foundation for the emergence of unique subcultural expressions of gay male identity, explicated at length in this book.

Leathermen illuminates the kinky subculture of men who wear leather and the men who crave them. These intelligent, well-crafted, and steamy stories expand readers’ horizons and stretch the limits of imagination with some of the edgiest erotica being written today. Tales of delectably sordid adventures in sex clubs, back-room bars, and bathhouses, as well as private sex parties and first-time forays into the world of leather, take readers on a hot and heavy journey through this definitely un-hidebound world.

Larry Townsend's first handbook was an immediate cult classic upon its release in 1972. Its publication was the first step to bringing gay 'leathersex' out into the open. Presented here in a completely revised and updated edition, this is still the most authoritative work in the field and is sought after by beginner and advanced practitioners alike.

In 1883, wearing a sixty-pound suit sewn from leather boot-tops, a wanderer known only as the Leather Man began to walk a 365 mile loop between the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers that he would complete every 34 days, for almost six years. His circuit took him through at least 41 towns in southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York, sleeping in caves, accepting food from townspeople, and speaking only in grunts and gestures along the way. What remains of the mysterious Leather Man today are the news clippings and photographs taken by the first-hand witnesses of this captivating individual. The Old Leather Man gathers the best of the early newspaper accounts of the Leather Man, and includes maps of his route, historic photographs of his shelters, the houses he was known to stop at along his way, and of the Leather Man himself. This history tracks the footsteps of the Leather Man and unravels the myths surrounding the man who made Connecticut’s caves his home. Ebook Edition Note: Six of the 111 illustrations have been redacted.

From Drag Queens to Leathermen examines gendered language in six gay male subcultures: drag queens, radical faeries, bears, circuit boys, barebackers, and leathermen. The chapters include ethnographic-based studies of language use in each of these subcultures, with special attention to the ways in which linguistic patterns challenge normative assumptions about gender and sexuality.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, 2nd Edition will be a broad, interdisciplinary product aimed at students and educators interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on LGBTQ issues. This far-reaching and contemporary set of volumes is meant to examine and provide understandings of the lives and experiences of LGBTQ individuals, with attention to the contexts and forces that shape their world. The volume will address questions such as: What are the key theories used to understand variations in sexual orientation and gender identity? How do LGBTQ+ people experience the transition to parenthood? How does sexual orientation intersect with other key social locations (e.g., race) to shape experience and identity? What does LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy look like? How have anti-LGBTQ ballot measures affected LGBTQ people? What are LGBTQ+ people’s experiences during COVID-19? How were LGBTQ+ people impacted by the Trump administration? What is life like for LGBTQ+ people living outside the United States? This encyclopedia will be a unique product on the market: a reference work that looks at LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development, and sociology, and emphasizing queer, feminist, and ecological perspectives on this topic. Entries will be written by top researchers and clinicians across multiple fields—psychology, human development, gender/queer studies, sexuality studies, social work, nursing, cultural studies, education, family studies, medicine, public health, and sociology—contributing to approximately 450-500 signed entries. All entries will include cross-references and Further Readings.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, 2nd Edition will be a broad, interdisciplinary product aimed at students and educators interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on LGBTQ issues. This far-reaching and contemporary set of volumes is meant to examine and provide understandings of the lives and experiences of LGBTQ individuals, with attention to the contexts and forces that shape their world. The volume will address questions such as: What are the key theories used to understand variations in sexual orientation and gender identity? How do LGBTQ+ people experience the transition to parenthood? How does sexual orientation intersect with other key social locations (e.g., race) to shape experience and identity? What does LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy look like? How have anti-LGBTQ ballot measures affected LGBTQ people? What are LGBTQ+ people’s experiences during COVID-19? How were LGBTQ+ people impacted by the Trump administration? What is life like for LGBTQ+ people living outside the United States? This encyclopedia will be a unique product on the market: a reference work that looks at LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development, and sociology, and emphasizing queer, feminist, and ecological perspectives on this topic. Entries will be written by top researchers and clinicians across multiple fields—psychology, human development, gender/queer studies, sexuality studies, social work, nursing, cultural studies, education, family studies, medicine, public health, and sociology—contributing to approximately 450-500 signed entries. All entries will include cross-references and Further Readings.

This far-reaching and contemporary new Encyclopedia examines and explores the lives and experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals, focusing on the contexts and forces that shape their lives. The work focuses on LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development and sociology, emphasizing queer, feminist and ecological perspectives on the topic, and addresses questions such as: · What are the key theories used to understand variations in sexual orientation and gender identity? · How do Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) affect LGBTQ youth? · How do LGBTQ people experience the transition to parenthood? · How does sexual orientation intersect with other key social locations, such as race, to shape experience and identity? · What are the effects of marriage equality on sexual minority individuals and couples? Top researchers and clinicians contribute to the 400 signed entries, from fields such as: · Psychology · Human Development · Gender/Queer Studies · Sexuality Studies · Social Work · Sociology The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies is an essential resource for researchers interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on LGBTQ lives and issues.

In a society where sexualized media has become background noise, we are frequently discouraged from frank and open discussions about sex and offered few tools for understanding sexual behaviors and sexualities that are perceived as being out of the norm. This book encourages readers to establish new ways of thinking about stigmatized peoples and behaviors, and to think critically about gender, sex, sexuality and sex crimes. Sexual Deviance and Society uses sociological theories of crime, deviance, gender and sexuality to construct a framework for understanding sexual deviance. This book is divided into four units: Unit I, Sociology of Deviance and Sexuality, lays the foundation for understanding sex and sexuality through sociological frameworks of deviance. Unit II, Sexual Deviance, provides an in depth dialogue to its readers about the sociological constructions of sexual deviance with a critical focus on contemporary and historical conceptualizations. Unit III, Deviant Sexual Acts, explores a variety of deviant sexual acts in detail, including sex in public, fetishes, and sex work. Unit IV, Sex Crimes and Criminals, examines rape and sexual assault, sex crimes against children, and societal responses to sex offenders and their treatment within the criminal justice system. Utilizing an integrative approach that creates a dialogue between the subjects of gender, criminology and deviance, this book is a key resource for students interested in crime and deviance, gender and sexuality, and the sociology of deviance.