Martin P. Levine - Böcker

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a major catastrophe for gay communities. In less that two decades, the disease has profoundly altered the lives of gay men and lesbians. HIV has become an opportunistic social invader, reshaping communities and the distribution of wealth, altering the social careers of gay profesionals and the patterns of entry into gay and lesbian life, and giving birth to groups like ACT UP and Queer Nation. This volume discusses the ways HIV/AIDS has changed collective and individual identities, and how our perceptions of the disease have been affected. It covers such topics as the impact of the epidemic on small towns, cultural barriers to AIDS prevention, gay youth and inter-generational relations, and the roles of lesbians in AIDS organizations. The book seeks to provide insights into the new communities among gay men and lesbians, and the new kinds of identities and relationships which are emerging form the social and cultural ferment engendered by HIV/AIDS. Martin Levine was a pioneer AIDS researcher who died of AIDS in 1993.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a major catastrophe for gay communities. In less that two decades, the disease has profoundly altered the lives of gay men and lesbians. HIV has become an opportunistic social invader, reshaping communities and the distribution of wealth, altering the social careers of gay profesionals and the patterns of entry into gay and lesbian life, and giving birth to groups like ACT UP and Queer Nation. This volume discusses the ways HIV/AIDS has changed collective and individual identities, and how our perceptions of the disease have been affected. It covers such topics as the impact of the epidemic on small towns, cultural barriers to AIDS prevention, gay youth and inter-generational relations, and the roles of lesbians in AIDS organizations. The book seeks to provide insights into the new communities among gay men and lesbians, and the new kinds of identities and relationships which are emerging form the social and cultural ferment engendered by HIV/AIDS. Martin Levine was a pioneer AIDS researcher who died of AIDS in 1993.

A sociological examination into the emergence of male homosexuality with a traditional masculine ethosBefore gay liberation, gay men were usually perceived as failed men—"inverts," men trapped in women's bodies. The 1970s saw a radical shift in gay male culture, as a male homosexuality emerged that embraced a more traditional masculine ethos. The gay clone, a muscle-bound, sexually free, hard-living Marlboro man, appeared in the gay enclaves of major cities, changing forever the face of gay male culture.Gay Macho presents the ethnography of this homosexual clone. Martin P. Levine, a pioneer of the sociological study of homosexuality, was among the first social scientists to map the emergence of a gay community and this new style of gay masculinity. Levine was a participant in as well as an observer of gay culture in the 1970s, and this perspective allowed him to capture the true flavor of what it was like to be a gay man before AIDS. Levine's clone was a gender conformist, whose masculinity was demonstrated in patterns of social interaction and especially in his sexuality. According to Levine, his life centered around the "four D's: disco, drugs, dish, and dick."Later chapters, based on Levine's pathbreaking empirical research, explore some of the epidemiological and social consequences of the AIDS epidemic on this particular substratum of the gay community. Although Levine explicitly refuses to pathologize gay men afflicted with HIV, his work develops a scathing, feminist-inspired critique of masculinity, whether practiced by gay or straight men.

This Major Reference series brings together a wide range of key international articles in law and legal theory. Many of these essays are not readily accessible, and their presentation in these volumes will provide a vital new resource for both research and teaching. Each volume is edited by leading international authorities who explain the significance and context of articles in an informative and complete introduction.