CAPITALISM AND GAY IDENTITY BY JOHN D’EMILIO

1. CAPITALISM AND GAY IDENTITY BY JOHN D’EMILIO 報告：小小虎隊

2. 1960 – gay liberation movement began at the end of 1960s  constructed the myth of silence, invisibility and isolation  the myth of eternal homosexual • 1970 – for gay and lesbian, they were years of achievement • 1980 – resurgence of right wing  gay men and lesbian faced the oppression

3. Free labor and Capitalism  nuclear family • What is free labor system? 1. free laborers have the freedom to look for a job 2. free laborers have the ability to sell their laborer power • 17th Colonial family 1. family was an interdependent unit of production 2. the home was the work place

4. 18th  no longer independent but still interdependent • 19th • wage labor became more common • men and women are drawn out of the self-sufficient household • family became an affective unit (work and production- personal life)

5. Heterosexual Relations Changed • Colonial New England─Sex was harnessed to procreation. Men and women needed the labor of children for producing grain. ↓ • By the 1970s, with the spread of capitalist relations of production, the birth rate dropped. • Heterosexual expression is for establishing intimacy, promoting happiness, and experiencing pleasure.

6. Homosexual Behavior and Homosexual Identity In the seventeenth century, homosexual behavior existed, but they had no “social space,” and no identity. Homosexual behavior─sodomy among men, lewdness among women ↓ By the second half of the nineteenth century, homosexual identity appeared as capitalism took hold.

7. Group Life of Gay Men and Lesbians Early twentieth century： • Male homosexual gathered in gay bars in large cities, also public bathhouses and YMCAs. • Lesbians formed literary societies and private social clubs. By 1920s and 1930s, big cities contained lesbian bars. • Simultaneously, doctors developed theories about homosexuality, describing it as a condition, a part of his or her “nature.”

8. The Division between Male Sphere and Female Sphere • Among whites, gay men have been more visible than lesbians. • Streets, parks, and bars, especially at night, were “male space.” • Reason: According to Kinsey studies of the 1940s and 1950s, capitalism had drawn far more men than women into the labor force, and at high wages • By 1940s in the rural West, Kinsey found extensive incidence of homosexual behavior, but, in contrast with the men in large cities, little consciousness of gay identity.

9. 二次世界大戰間帶來的同志空間發展 • 年輕、性慾身分正在組成的人群為被影響主體 • 人們離開家庭主導的異性戀男女框架環境 • 人們落入同性同勞力付出場域的生理性分歧 • 不論異同的同性情慾自由流動趁勢崛起

10. 同志情慾空間發展與其社會影響 • 同志夜店等性展演場所如雨後春筍冒出 • 同志次文化較過去穩定，出櫃意願提高 • 大眾傳媒中的曝光劇增，遍地開花 • 同志不再沉默、同志被正視、同志不孤立 • 同志解放運動的基礎形成

11. 社會對同志的反動壓迫 • 因為上述情形而開始有系統，全面性的變本加厲 • 用公權力對同志活動，同志出沒場所姦視 • 包括工作、郵政、軍警控管等全方位壓迫 • 這些壓迫帶來同志解放運動的爆發

12. Scapegoats • Capitalism: contradictory relationship Capitalism weakens the bond which holds family together vs. Capitalism still needs the family to reproduce stability in the system

13. How to move toward liberation? • Supporting issues that broaden the opportunities for living outside traditional heterosexual family • Affirming rights of young people • Building an “affectionate community” where autonomy and security coexists to provide support for gays and lesbians

14. THANKS YOU ALL FOR LISTENING