Entertaining Lesbians: Celebrity, Sexuality, and Self-Invention

Author:   Martha Gever ,  Martha Gever ,  Gever Martha
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9780415944809


Pages:   256
Publication Date:   08 September 2003
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Entertaining Lesbians: Celebrity, Sexuality, and Self-Invention


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Overview

"Before the rise of celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and k.d. lang, lesbians were rarely in the limelight and the few that were often did not fare well. Times have changed and today's famous lesbians are popular icons. Entertaining Lesbians charts the rise of lesbians in the public eye, proposing that celebrity has never been a simple matter of opening closet doors, portraying ""positive images,"" or becoming ""role models."" Gever traces the history of lesbians in popular culture during the twentieth century, from Radclyffe Hall and Greta Garbo to Martina Navratilova and Rosie O'Donnell, to explore the paradoxes inherent in lesbian celebrity."

Full Product Details

Author:   Martha Gever ,  Martha Gever ,  Gever Martha
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.420kg
ISBN:  

9780415944809


ISBN 10:   0415944805
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   08 September 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Celebrity talk, lesbian style 2. Visibility now!: The sexual politics of seeing 3. Celestial configurations: Aspects of lesbian stardom 4. Going public: Star wars in the liberation movements 5. In retrospect: Legends of Mercedes de Acosta and company 6. Popular mechanics: Advanced technologies of lesbian celebrity 7. Afterword Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

... a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion of lesbians in 20th-century pop culture that touches on the history of photography, tabloid journalism, theories of mass culture, and the politics of coming out, among other subjects. - Library Journal In Entertaining Lesbians, noted critic and media activist Martha Gever takes on two of the most enduring and problematic assumptions of lesbian culture: visibility and coming out. Through rich historical detail and sustained archival research, Gever explores the possibilities and the contradictions of lesbian celebrity in a study that will be required reading for anyone interested in lesbians and popular culture. --Judith Mayne, author of Framed: Lesbians, Feminists, and Media Culture With uncommon clarity, voluminous research, and a great instinct for what's important, Martha Gever makes sense of the high points of lesbian visibility. A landmark study: literature, television, and popular culture may never be the same. --B. Ruby Rich, author, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement A thoroughly original and timely study, one that will delight and instruct anyone interested in figuring out how sexuality, politics and culture come to define one another in our times. --Jeff Nunokawa, author of Tame Passions of Wilde: The Styles of Manageable Desire Gever examines how celebrity (and LCs in particular) affects political identity and influences social change. The book also includes a few juicy tidbits about Garbo, Martina, and others. - Out


"""...a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion of lesbians in 20th-century pop culture that touches on the history of photography, tabloid journalism, theories of mass culture, and the politics of coming out, among other subjects."" -- Library Journal ""Remember when lesbians used to hide their sexuality, way before Rosie and kd lang? A canny history and critique of the rise of lesbian celebrity."" -- Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer ""In Entertaining Lesbians, noted critic and media activist Martha Gever takes on two of the most enduring and problematic assumptions of lesbian culture: visibility and coming out. Through rich historical detail and sustained archival research, Gever explores the possibilities and the contradictions of lesbian celebrity in a study that will be required reading for anyone interested in lesbians and popular culture."" -- -Judith Mayne, author of Framed: Lesbians, Feminists, and MediaCulture ""With uncommon clarity, voluminous research, and a great instinct for what's important, Martha Gever makes sense of the high points of lesbian visibility. A landmark study: literature, television, and popular culture may never be the same."" -- -B. Ruby Rich , author, ChickFlicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist FilmMovement ""A thoroughly original and timely study, one that will delight and instruct anyone interested in figuring out how sexuality, politics and culture come to define one another in our times."" -- -Jeff Nunokawa, author of TamePassions of Wilde: The Styles of Manageable Desire ""Gever examines how celebrity (and LCs in particular) affects political identity and influences social change. The book also includes a few juicy tidbits about Garbo, Martina, and others."" -- Out"


... a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion of lesbians in 20th-century pop culture that touches on the history of photography, tabloid journalism, theories of mass culture, and the politics of coming out, among other subjects. <br>- Library Journal <br> In Entertaining Lesbians, noted critic and media activist Martha Gever takes on two of the most enduring and problematic assumptions of lesbian culture: visibility and coming out. Through rich historical detail and sustained archival research, Gever explores the possibilities and the contradictions of lesbian celebrity in a study that will be required reading for anyone interested in lesbians and popular culture. <br>--Judith Mayne, author of Framed: Lesbians, Feminists, and Media Culture <br> With uncommon clarity, voluminous research, and a great instinct for what's important, Martha Gever makes sense of the high points of lesbian visibility. A landmark study: literature, television, and popular culture may never be the same. <br>--B. Ruby Rich, author, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement <br> A thoroughly original and timely study, one that will delight and instruct anyone interested in figuring out how sexuality, politics and culture come to define one another in our times. <br>--Jeff Nunokawa, author of Tame Passions of Wilde: The Styles of Manageable Desire <br> Gever examines how celebrity (and LCs in particular) affects political identity and influences social change. The book also includes a few juicy tidbits about Garbo, Martina, and others. <br>- Out <br>


Author Information

Martha Gever is Assistant Professor of Communication at Florida Atlantic University/Broward. Her books include: Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film andVideo and Out There: Marginalization and ContemporaryCultures. She is the former editor of The IndependentFilm and Video Monthly.

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