Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? is an eye-opening assembly of essayists who have had it with demands that they remain invisible and refrain from confronting the self-appointed guardians of community standards. Editor Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (Nobody Passes) proudly sports the label of agent provocateur, challenging normative behavior all the way down to her "genderqueer" name--making clear this collection will combat any and all tendencies to impose a bland, allegedly non-threatening marketing myth on America's diverse gay and lesbian population. (As Oscar Wilde once said, God forbid your behavior should frighten the horses.)
This cohort has little use for the mythical gay male--the handsome, BMW-driving urban professional who lives in a perfect loft with a Jack Russell terrier (or maybe a Golden Lab) and a live-in boyfriend (preferably an underwear model). He appears in these essays only as the object of cautionary tales about our willingness to ignore significant differences among individuals--whether they be gay, straight or anything else--along the fluid spectrum of contemporary sexual identity. All the contributors eloquently testify to the psychological toll they have paid for not conforming to the expectations of the normative culture and for not shutting up about it. Harris Kornstein, for example, looks back over a friendship with two boys he met in grade school--at that age, they had no idea that they were all gay and would struggle individually to understand their sexual identities, finding distinct paths to self-acceptance before reestablishing their friendships as adults. Kornstein’s heartbreaking candor illustrates the benefits of not running away from scary conversations and maintaining one’s faith that speaking the truth is better than hiding.
Survival with dignity is a recurring theme in Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?, and its essays suggest a variety of approaches, including humor, brutal honesty, confrontation and generosity. Ezra RedEagle Whitman, a Native American who has crossed a number of boundaries with aplomb, shares the guidance one woman gave when he danced a female role in a tribal dance but had not yet perfected his use of the shawl in performance, enlarging her advice as a call for greater understanding and acceptance for all: "Because, darling, contempt is such a crooked shawl." --John McFarland
Shelf Talker: Provocative essays on the psychological toll of the pressures to conform to elusive modes of masculinity.