This paper analyzes discourse on Straight-Acting.com. I argue that straight-acting gay men model their version of masculinity on working-class aesthetics. Furthermore, this masculinity is dependent upon a high level of antifemininity and homophobia. The members of this community condemn any gender performances they label “in your face” gayness. While their rejection of the link between effeminacy and homosexuality has the potential to undermine dominant gender ideology, ultimately they reinscribe hegemonic masculinity through their marginalization of women and other gay men.
BrookeyR. A. (1996). A community like Philadelphia. Western Journal of Communication, 60, 40–57.
4.
ButlerJ. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.
5.
ButlerJ. (1993). Imitation and gender insubordination. In AbeloveH.BaraleM.A., & HalperinD.M. (Eds.), The lesbian and gay studies reader (pp. 307–320). New York: Routledge.
6.
ButschR. (1992). Class and gender in four decades of television situation comedy. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9, 387–399.
7.
CantuL. (2000). Entre hombres/Between men: Latino masculinities and homosexualities. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 224–246). Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
8.
ChaunceyG. (1994). Gay New York: Gender, urban culture, and the makings of the gay male world, 1890–1940. New York: Basic Books.
9.
ChengC. (1999). Marginalized masculinities and hegemonic masculinity: An introduction. The Journal of Men's Studies, 7, 295–305.
10.
ConnellR.W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
11.
ConnellR.W. (1992). A very straight gay: Masculinity, homosexual experience, and the dynamics of gender. American Sociological Review, 57(6), 735–751.
12.
EdelmanL. (1994). Homographesis: Essays in gay literary and cultural theory. New York: Routledge.
13.
EdwardsT. (1994). Erotics & politics: Gay male sexuality masculinity, and feminism. New York: Routledge.
14.
FeeD. (2000). One of the guys: Instrumentality and intimacy in gay men's friendships with straight men. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 44–65). Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
15.
FejesF.J., & PetrichK. (1993). Invisibility, homophobia and heterosexism: Lesbians, gays and the media. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 10, 396–422.
16.
FungR. (1999). Looking for my penis: The eroticized Asian in gay video porn. In GrossL. & WoodsJ. (Eds.), The Colombia reader on lesbians & gay men in media, society, & politics. (pp. 517–525). New York: Colombia University Press.
17.
HanS. (2000). Asian American gay men's (dis)claim on masculinity. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 206–223). Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
18.
HankeR. (1992). Redesigning men: Hegemonic masculinity in transition. In CraigS. (Ed.), Men, media and masculinity (pp. 185–197). Newbury Park, PA: Sage.
HequembourgA., & ArditiJ. (1999). Fractured resistances: The debate over assimilationism among gays and lesbians in the United States. The Sociological Quarterly, 40, 663–680.
21.
KervinD. (1991). Gender ideology in television commercials. In VandeBerg L.R. & WennerL.A. (Eds.), Television criticism: Approaches and applications (pp. 235–253). New York: Longman.
22.
KimmelM. (1996). Manhood in America: A cultural history. New York: Free Press.
23.
LehrV. (1999). Queer family values: Debunking the myth of the nuclear family. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
24.
LevineM. (1998). Gay macho: The life and death of the homosexual clone. New York: New York University Press.
25.
MessnerM.A. (1997). Politics of masculinities: Men in movements. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26.
MutchlerM.G. (2000) Seeking sexual lives: Gay youth and masculinity tensions. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 12–43). Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
27.
NardiP. (2000). Anything for a sis, Mary: An introduction to gay masculinities. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 1–11). London: Sage.
28.
ProngerB. (1990). The arena of masculinity: Sports, homosexuality, and the meaning of sex. New York: St. Martin's.
29.
RodriguezE.M., & OuletteS.C. (2000). Religion and masculinity in Latino gay lives. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities. Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
30.
RofesE. (1997). Academics as bears: Thoughts on middle-class eroticisation of workingmen's bodies. In WrightL. (Ed.), The Bear book: Readings in the history and evolution of a gay male subculture (pp. 89–99). New York: Harington Press.
31.
SquiresC.R., & BrouwerD.C. (2002). In/discernible bodies: The politics of passing in dominant and marginal media. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 19(3), 283–310.
32.
TrujilloN. (1991, September). Hegemonic masculinity on the mound: Media representations of Nolan Ryan and American sports culture. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 8, 290–308.
33.
WaltersS.D. (1994). Material girls: Making sense of feminist cultural theory. Berkeley: University of California Press.
34.
WardJ. (2000). Queer sexism: Rethinking gay men and masculinity. In NardiP. (Ed.), Gay masculinities (pp. 152–175). London: Sage.
