From: cjmchale@dsg.cs.tcd.ie (Ciaran McHale)
Subject: Heterosexuality---the book (Was: Homoerotic bible quotes?)
Organization: DSG, Dept. of Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 10:41:12 GMT

In <1992Aug13.202031.2203@midway.uchicago.edu>
pmm7@ellis.uchicago.edu (peggy boucher murphy (you had to ask?)) writes:
>this reminds me!  i saw one of the funniest papebacks
>at a local alternative/feminist/lesbian bookstore!  
>it was titled _heterosexuality: what causes it_ or 
>something very similar.  i read the intro and first 
>2 chapters there, but had no $$$.  :(  i was chortling
>rather noticably, much to the amusement of my so and 
>a friendly dyke who had apparently already read it.  
>
>the charts alone, on all the possible "causes" of 
>heterosexuality (wonderful reversals!) are worth noting.
>and chapter 2, on what it takes for a normal man to 
>pass as a heterosexual -- <giggle> -- read it.  

Here's the reference to the book (short review afterwards):

@book{misc-4,
          author =	"Gillian E. Handscombe and Martin Humphries",
           title =	"{Heterosexuality}",
       publisher =	"GMP Publishers Limited",
            year =	"1987",
         address =	"P.O. Box~247, London~N15~6RW, England",
         edition =	"1st",
           month =	sep,
            note =	"Distributed in North America by Subterranean Company,
			P.O. Box~10233, Eugene, Oregon~97440, USA.
			ISBN~0-85449-034-5.
			UK~\pounds4.95;
			US~\$9.95",
	   blurb =	"Why are some people so stubbornly attracted to the
			opposite sex? What exactly {\em is\/} heterosexuality?
			What causes it? Is it a satisfactory lifestyle for the
			individuals affected? Can it be cured? And why is it so
			often the subject of powerful irrational feelings?
		\par
			Questions like these have vexed lesbians and gay men
			from time immemorial. In this highly original
			anthology, the nature of heterosexuality is examined
			from a wide range of converging perspectives. The
			contributors use memoir, fiction, illustration and
			verse as well as the more scholarly techniques of
			social psychology. They explore such themes as
			friendship with heterosexual women, working politically
			with straight men, social behaviour in the heterosexual
			community, and the philosophical basis of the
			heterosexual norm---to name but a few.
		\par
			Produced by a team of acknowledged experts, each with
			long experience in this field of study, this book has
			an appeal for both specialist and general reader.
			Certain to become the established authority on its
			subject."
}

From the blurb on the back cover, it appears that the book is one which
pokes fun at heterosexuality. _Some_ articles in the book certainly do
this. Like Peg, I recommend the following from it:

	"What Exactly is Heterosexuality... and what causes it?"
	--- The name says it all

	"Hetiquette"
	--- This is a fictional letter from a man to his boyfriend about
	how to behave when they go to visit his parents for a weekend.
	It is a wonderful satire of the hassles of being in the closet.

And also:

	"Whose Problem is it Anyway"
	--- This gives an account of a heterosexual women who goes for
	psychoanalysis in order to be "cured." Most of the text is
	composed of the dialogue between the patient and her doctor.

The rest of the book is composed of a few personsl accounts and serious
essays, many of which are excellent. I recomend the book, but don't be
mislead into thinking this book is composed entirely of homour.


<> It goes without saying that I have no motivation to fit in any more. I
<> prefer sanity.
<> --- "The Tables Need Turning" by Jan Parker, in "Heterosexuality"

Ciaran.
-- 
Ciaran McHale                                                             ----
Department of Computer Science, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.       \bi/
Telephone: +353-1-7021539 FAX: +353-1-772204 email: cjmchale@dsg.cs.tcd.ie \/