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Title: Virtually Normal by Andrew Sullivan ISBN: 0-679-74614-5 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 17 September, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.21 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Very poignant
Comment: Homosexuality has been been getting a lot of publicity in the last few years - and even more so in recent weeks, with the election of a gay bishop to the Episcopal church, and the subsequent discussion of gay marriage. With so much talk nowadays, it is important to be informed.
This book, better than any other, clearly and thoroughly outlines the four main arguments for and against homosexuality, and critiques their strengths and weaknesses in a prose style that is both highly personal and incredibly reasoned and intelligent. The Prohibitionists are the one school that is the most decidedly anti-homosexual - seeking to either punish or "cure" gays and lesibans. The Liberationists seek freedom from social labels and conventions, but, like the Prohibitionists, do not accept the concept of homosexuality as a valid state of being - there are no real homosexuals, only homosexual acts. Sullivan sees them as well meaning, but misguided. The Conservatives believe that homosexuals are entitled to a certain amount of privacy and respect, but homosexuality is still a sin. Homosexuals do exist... but they can't help it. They still disapprove of homosexuality, just not necessarily homosexuals. The Liberals also mean well, and struggle for the rights of homosexuals, but unfortunately blanket them in their larger agenda of "helping the little people", so to speak - well meaning, but sometimes a bit patronizing.
Sullivan does more than criticize, however. He also finds merit in these viewpoints. However, his major argument is that these views either need to be overcome or modified if homosexuals are ever going to have an equally accepted place in society. He also offers ways to overcome these different biases. In the place of these four prevailing positions, he argues for a politics that guarantees the rights and equality of homosexuals - without imposing tolerance.
This is an incredibly articulate and brilliantly written book for anyone wishing to know the real truth about a lot of the political and social ramifications concerning homosexuality today, written by a very intelligent man. It is a book for anyone who wishes to sound intelligent and well-informed when discussing this often heated and increasingly important issue.
Rating: 5
Summary: Gay and Normal
Comment: Author Andrew Sullivan's book is a breath of fresh air in the field of gay studies. Mr. Sullivan present different viewpoints on the subject of homosexuality (Prohibitionist, Liberationist, Conservative and Liberal) To present any argument you must understand the position of your opponent and I welcome the chance here ( in this book) to do that.
Not everyone in the gay studies filed has embraced the book and some have spoken very publicly against it, which is funny to me since everyone wants freedom of speech and equal rights, but how quickly we are to condemn those whose viewpoints do not reflect our own. In closing Mr. Sullivan makes some valid arguments for the legalization of same-sex marriage, which he claims would not undermine heterosexual marriage, but may actually strengthen it. Finally someone who commands that we think about ouselves and our culture, who does not give the reader a sugary sweet view of what the world could, should be like.
Rating: 5
Summary: Amazing writing from a true american intellect.
Comment: Andrew Sullivan has written a gem with "Virtually Normal." In these beautifully written pages, we find an author exploring- his goal being to understand first, question next- four explanations for and proposed methods of dealing with homosexuality. In the end, he finds all four lacking.
The doctrines given treatment are: prohibitionism- being gay is a choice of deviance and as such should be treated as a sin, constructionism- gay is merely a social construction and there would be no 'homosexual problem' if we deconstruct sexuality, Conservatism- we should let people be gay but homosexuality should NEVER be encouraged socially. Finally we get to Liberalism. Perhaps Sullivan finds the most trouble here. The liberal doctrine states that as a persecuted group, gays should be tolerated to the point that if social coercion becomes necessary (through 'hate crime' legislation and the like), all the better. Through 'education' (resembling indoctrination) equality can be forced. Save for prohibitionism, I would agree that liberalism is the most dangerous of all.
Although it will be obvious that Sullivan has a special distaste for liberalism, he finds serious flaws in each of the four doctrines for good reason. His conclusion breaks sharply with all of them,resembling more of a classical liberal (J.S. Mill) approach. Tolerance should be encouraged, never forced. Government discrimination is the evil, private discrimination will die in the free market because it is always inefficient. Sullivan then devotes time to gay marriange and military service, asserting- very correctly- that untill homosexuals can serve their country openly and marry legally, they will always be on unequal footing. If the potential reader has never heard Sullivan speak on these issues, she should not delay.
His afterword is a much needed response to seemingly universal misunderstanding on his book. As he criticizes the four dominant views, he gets criticized by them in turn. Even the 'conservatives,' who as ironic as it is, were the group that his defenders were overwhelmingly from, misunderstood his arguments against liberalism as an affirmation of conservativism. Sullivan, if I had to guess, is a republican with a small 'r', i.e. he believes in a somewhat self governing republic. Whatever your views, this book will challenge, educate, and motivate you.
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Title: Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con : A Reader by Andrew Sullivan ISBN: 0679776370 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 25 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Love Undetectable : Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival by Andrew Sullivan ISBN: 0679773150 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 26 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: PLACE AT THE TABLE: THE GAY INDIVIDUAL IN AMERICAN SOCIETY by Bruce Bawer ISBN: 0671894390 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak ISBN: 188636009X Publisher: Alamo Square Press Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Trouble With Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life by Michael Warner ISBN: 0674004418 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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