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01/08/2008

Many of us queer boys certainly learn how to be gay men while in college. However, this research is mostly done in clubs, coffee shops, bookstores, or in the privacy of our dorm rooms as we, for the first time, are free to let the tears flow while watching Shelby kick the bucket in Steel Magnolias. While theatre majors might get some classroom experimentation time when they're asked to do a scene from Jeffrey, and Sociology class might lead to a brief verbal discussion on the role of the homosexual in society, most of the time the classroom is not the place on campus where we actually learn the (well lubricated) ins and outs of queer life.

The University of Michigan, however, has for the past few years been changing all that. How you ask? Well, since 2000, the college has, off an on, offered a course in "How to Be a Gay Dude". And since the course is for some reason now getting renewed attention on various web sites and media outlets, we thought we too would jump on the bandwagon and bring the practical class to new light. Here, check out this actual listing from the school's course directory:

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(**ED NOTE: The course is not being offered this semester, and, according to Mr. Halperin, possibly will not ever be offered again)

ENGLISH 317. Literature and Culture.

Section 002 — How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Instructor(s): David M Halperin (halperin@umich.edu)

Course Description:

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.

This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice — subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize — which a small but significant body of work in queer studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.

In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?

At the core of gay experience there is not only identification but disidentification. Almost as soon as I learn how to be gay, or perhaps even before, I also learn how not to be gay. I say to myself, 'Well, I may be gay, but at least I'm not like that!' Rather than attempting to promote one version of gay identity at the expense of others, this course will investigate the stakes in gay identifications and disidentifications, seeking ultimately to create the basis for a wider acceptance of the plurality of ways in which people determine how to be gay.

Additional note. This course is not a basic introduction to gay male culture, but an exploration of certain issues arising from it. It assumes some background knowledge. Students wishing to inform themselves about gay men and gay culture in a preliminary way should enroll in an introductory course in lesbian/gay studies.

No word on whether or not the campus will ever get around to offering a class in how to be a lesbian. In the meantime, ladies, we think chatting up that cute Women's Studies grad student who keeps using words like "Herstory" would be a good place to begin your independent research.

ENGLISH 317. Literature and Culture. [Uof Michigan]

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Posted by: KipEsquire | Jan 9, 2008 2:12:21 PM

Posted by: Benton | Jan 16, 2008 12:25:32 PM

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