a very uneasy feeling.''
``I agree.... Lots of stuff in gay male culture revels in crappy hypermasculine stereotype... And there are plenty of gay men who are clueless or canny assholes--wasn't the CFO of WorldCom or Enron gay?''
Christian
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I think it is an interesting problem to figure why a revolt against gender which is an implicit attack on the prevailing social order, doesn't necessarily comprehend a more radical attack of the socio-economic system and its politically oppressive dimensions.
To channel Catherine for a moment, I think she might maintain it does, but not in a way that is certified as `political' by the predominately hetro-male culture that dominates radical political culture. In other words, the onus is on the Left to comprehend the culture of gender, not the other way around. I would probably agree, but hold out for the idea that gender politics needs a heavier dose of left radicalism, while at the same the Left needs a more articulated understanding of gender.
Certainly, if the `personal is political' then a counter-culture of gender should by rights be a natural ally of progressive and leftist movements. And yet, that is not quite how it has turned out.
In the SF Bay area I would say that there is an odd gender difference between the established Gay, and the Lesbian culture's political dynamics were the women tend to be more consistently political, and more politically progressive than the men. I say odd, because at face value it would seem that gender politics would not have a gender difference in the political realm, and yet they do.
What I find interesting about the difference between Gay and Lesbian counter-cultures here, is they exist in completely different worlds. They are not different versions of the same revolt, but entirely different sorts of revolts. And of course this isn't to say that both are monolithic. In fact as time goes on, the early 70s unanimity of both has dissolved to such an extent that I suspect both are having difficulty maintaining any uniform community position at all.
There are a lot of ways to dissect these differences, but of the gay and lesbian friends I've had, I would say the women would tend to show up to a left political demo or take on both leadership and support roles in political movements much more readily than the men. And after thinking about it a little, I am not sure I can explain why.
Chuck Grimes
ps. all of these impressions are based on personal friendships and can be completely skewed by another oddity, which is that I have had more women friends who were lesbian, than men friends who were gay.