Gay Politics, Ethnic Identity: The Limits of Social Constructionism
In: Socialist review: SR, Band 17, Heft 3-4, S. 9-54
ISSN: 0161-1801
A discussion of theory & practice in gay & lesbian movements in the US, focusing on the contradiction between the tenets of social constructionism -- the new orthodoxy of sexual theory -- & the practical politics of gay movements. A modified constructionist position is proposed that would allow identites such as gay & lesbian ones to be conceived of as core components of the self, without reifying those identities. The themes of identity & ethnicity are analyzed from a cultural & political perspective, exploring the historical specificity of sexual identities & of the ethnic model of gay identity; also, essentialist & constructionist understandings of identity & ethnicity in general are criticized. It is concluded that, from the standpoint of a modified constructionism, it is reasonable to accept the ethnic model -- both as a relatively accurate characterization of contemporary gay identity formation & as a politically defensible starting point from which gay movements can evolve in progressive directions. Modified AA