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The influence of gays and lesbians on language, literature, theater, poetry, dance, music, and the arts is unmeasurable. In the era before AIDS, gay and lesbian culture had a defining, if unrecognized, influence on American life, an influence that is only now being acknowledged.
This reissue of the classic anthology,
Lavender Culture, serves as a provocative, dynamic, and wide-ranging reminder of American gay and lesbian culture in the days before the status of gay people received widespread attention in the media, religion, and politics, before Newsweek saw it fit to feature a cover story on LESBIANS, and before gays and lesbians took center stage in America's cultural landscape.
Here we find the young, assertive voices of such activists, authors, and artists as Rita Mae Brown, Barbara Grier, John Stoltenberg, Julia Penelope, Andrea Dworkin, Andrew Kopkind, Jane Rule, Arthur Bell, Charlotte Bunche, and dozens more. Including essays on such diverse subjects as gay bath houses, the gay male image in classical ballet, images of gays in rock music, Judy Garland, lesbian humor, sports and machismo, the growing business of women's music, and the Cleveland bar scene in the 1940s, Lavender Culture, with new introductory essays by the editors and Cindy Patton, offers a panoply of gay and lesbian life, tracing the current influence and visibility of gay and lesbian culture back to its origins.
About the author
Karla Jay has written, edited, and translated nine books, the most recent of which are
Dyke Life and
Lesbian Erotics.
Dyke Life won the 1996 Lambda Literary Award in the category of Lesbian Studies. She is editor of NYU Press's series, "The Cutting Edge: Lesbian Life and Literature." This is the only lesbian studies series in the world from a university press. In existence since 1992, the series now spans some 20 books of original criticism, reprints, translations and recovered archival letters and manuscripts. Dr. Jay has written for many publications, including
Ms. Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Village Voice, and
Lambda Book Report. She is Professor of English and Director of Women's Studies at Pace University in New York City. She is currently at work on two books,
Ten Decades of Struggle: Gay and Lesbian Life in the United States (Oxford UP) and
Tales of the lavender Menace (Basic).
Summary
The reissue of this anthology serves as a provocative and wide-ranging reminder of American gay and lesbian culture in the days before gay life became "chic". It demonstrates the influence of gays and lesbians on language, literature, theatre, poetry, dance, music and the arts.
