Progay/Antigay: The Rhetorical War Over SexualityCombining humanistic rhetorical criticism with social scientific concepts, Ralph R. Smith and Russel R. Windes examine how the discourse of the progay/antigay debate shapes the self-understanding and strategies of the two opposing sides. The struggle over issues such as lesbians and gay men serving openly in the military, same-sex marriage, and inclusion of "sexual orientation" in anti-discrimination and hate crime laws have evolved along with the development of rival progay and traditionalist antigay communities. In the process of presenting their arguments to the wider society, the two sides exercise extraordinary influence on each other. As a result of the public policy debates, the progay movement has moved toward an essentialist, non-sexual identity, while the traditionalists have shifted toward a secular public self-representation. Progay/Antigay also analyzes the internal disagreements within the two movements. The same-sex marriage debate illustrates important dimensions of the contest over sexuality. The authors examine rhetorical strategy and counter-strategy in this specific institutional context. Progay/Antigay also discusses how the study of the variant sexuality issue provides the opportunity to assess paths for reconciliation and to judge concepts of political pluralism and multiculturalism. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 70
... identity , " " frame , " and " movement / countermovement di- alectic ... gay people and their opponents - who they are and what they want - do not ... lesbian and traditional- ist actors use identity constructs as weapons to achieve ...
... identity claims and relational and situational definitions . The study of ... gay men . The symmetry of the contest over sexuality may arise , in part ... lesbian persons resemble one another in their strategies and their location in the ...
... gay / lesbian discourse con- sists of efforts to make sexual difference ... identity and their strategic consequences for public policy formation ... gay marriage narrowed the range of gay identity , en- hanced themes of gay / lesbian ...
... gay / lesbian public policy questions if they encouraged reduction of opportunistic and shallow argument , the formulation of more substan- tive appeals , a rethinking of identity claims , and a deeper appreciation of the fundamental ...
... Sexuality Issue Culture Public policy debate ... lesbian people . A few writers constructed arguments to support repeal of ... identity . In short , as philosopher Richard Mohr ( 1994 ) remarks , “ America seems to be at a turning point on gay ...
Contents
1 | |
Chapter 2 Analysis of Communication in Contests Over Variant Sexuality | 35 |
Chapter 3 Appeals in Progay and Traditionalist Discourses | 57 |
Chapter 4 Antagonistic Construction of Identity and Conflict | 93 |
Chapter 5 Debate Within Communities | 127 |
A Case Study | 155 |
Chapter 7 Criticism of the Variant Sexuality Issue Culture | 181 |
References | 203 |
Index | 227 |
About the Authors | 239 |