Peter M. Nardi

Based on surveys and interviews of two hundred gay men, Peter Nardi's new study presents the first book-length examination of contemporary urban gay men's friendships. Expertly weaving historical and sociological research on friendship with firsthand information, Nardi argues that friendship is the central organizing element of gay men's lives. Through friendship, gay identities and communities are created, transformed, maintained, and reproduced. Nardi explores the meaning of friends to some gay men, how friends often become a surrogate family, how sexual behavior and attraction affects these friendships, and how, for many, friends mean more and last longer than romantic relationships. While looking at the psychological joys and sorrows of friendship, he also considers the cultural constraints limiting gay men in contemporary urban America—especially those that deal with dominant images of masculinity and heterosexuality—and how they relate to friendship. By listening to gay men talk about their interactions, Nardi offers a rare glimpse into the mechanisms of gay life. We learn how gay men meet their friends, what they typically do and talk about, and how these strong relationships contain the roots of larger cultural forces such as social movements and gay identities and neighborhoods. Nardi also points out the political and social consequences when friendships fail to provide support against oppression. An intimate and informative look at gay life in urban America, Gay Men's Friendships ultimately shows how these relationships challenge the gender order of our society by questioning how masculinity is constructed and by offering a model for a more creative blending of gay and heterosexual masculinity.

Invincible Communities

Gay Men's Friendships

Martin P. Levine

John H. Gagnon

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a major catastrophe for gay communities. In less than two decades, the disease has profoundly changed the lives of gay men and lesbians. Not just a biological and viral agent, HIV has become an opportunistic social invader, reshaping communities and the distribution of wealth, altering the social careers of gay professionals and the patterns of entry into gay and lesbian life, and giving birth to groups like ACT UP and Queer Nation. The distinguished contributors to this volume discuss the ways HIV/AIDS has changed collective and individual identities, as well as lives, of gay men and lesbians, and how these alterations have changed our perceptions of the epidemic. They cover such topics as the impact of the epidemic on small towns, cultural barriers to AIDS prevention, gay youth and intergenerational relations, and the roles of lesbians in AIDS organizations. This collection provides compelling insights into the new communities among gay men and lesbians and the new kinds of identities and relationships that are emerging from the social and cultural ferment engendered by HIV/AIDS. Contributors include Barry D. Adam, Lourdes Arguelles, Rafael Miguel Diaz, John H. Gagnon, Gilbert Herdt, Gregory M. Herek, Nan D. Hunter, Peter M. Nardi, John L. Peterson, Anne Rivero, Gayle S. Rubin, Beth E. Schneider, and Nancy E. Stoller.

Gay Men and Lesbians Encounter HIV/AIDS

In Changing Times

How do gay men respond to controlling notions of masculinity in society and stereotypes of gay sexuality? This book explores the ways in which gay men in the United States engage in, contest and modify these notions and develop a sense of masculine identity. The book examines the creation of identity through the everyday lives of gay men: their work; home; community; and relationships.

Gay Masculinities

Beth E. Schneider

This comprehensive reader brings a social science perspective to an area hitherto dominated by the humanities. Through it, students will be able to follow the story of how sociology has come to engage with gay and lesbian issues from the 1950s to the present, from the earliest research on the underground worlds of gay men to the emergence of queer theory in the 1990s. Bringing together classic readings and the best work of younger scholars from all parts of the English-speaking world, this reader will be an invaluable resource for courses at undergraduate and graduate level in all areas of the sociology of sexuality and gender. Separate sections cover: * theoretical foundations * identity and community making * institutions and social change * challenges for the future. Each section begins with an introduction giving readers a brief guide to the readings in that section, contextualises them and relates them to one another and the book ends with an afterword by Ken Plummer summing up the present state of play and looking forward to the future.

A Reader

Social Perspectives in Lesbian and Gay Studies

As definitions of masculinity change, how friendships are organized by men is also affected. However, interactions among and between men are not only shaped by gender. This volume offers an analysis of the differences within the genders and the social forces that shape the ways in which friendship is organized. Through different perspectives, the contributors show that a greater variation exists within rather than between the genders. They focus on the diversity in men's friendships and how men develop and maintain friendships with both men and women. Chapters focus on philosophical and historical questions; illustrate the strong connection between social structure and men's friendships; and consider cultural

Men's Friendships

The significantly updated third edition of this short, practical book prepares students to write a questionnaire, generate a sample, conduct their own survey research, analyse data, and write up the results, while learning to read and interpret excerpts from published research. It combines statistics and survey research methods in a single book.

Doing Survey Research

In this book students will be able to follow the story of how sociology has come to engage with lesbian and gay issues from the 1950s to the present.

Peter M. Nardi

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