Reinventing the Male Homosexual
Subtitle: The Rhetoric and Power of the Gay Gene (Race, Gender, and Science)
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: March 2002
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 167
ISBN-13: 9780253215123
Subjects: Gay Studies; Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics; Life Sciences - Human Anatomy & Physiology; Science; Gender Studies; Behavior genetics; Genetic aspects; Homosexuality, Male; Physiological aspects; Research; Social aspects; Sociology
First sentence: During the last few years, the debate over gay rights has taken a distinctive direction.
Description: Reinventing the Male Homosexual: The Rhetoric and Power of the Gay Gene examines the assumption that embracing the biological research on homosexuality is a viable political strategy for the gay rights movement. The biological argument for gay rights is treated as a "bio-rhetoric, " a means of incorporating scientific research into public debates. The book investigates the biological research on which this gay rights argument is based, and explores how male homosexuality is conceptualized in the fields of behavioral genetics, neuroendocrinology, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology. Robert Alan Brookey demonstrates that most biological research begins with the assumption that male homosexuality is a state of physical effeminate pathology. Although biological research may seem to support a pro-gay rights agenda, the same research can actually be used to support conservative political interests.