Ferro network gay sissies

At one point in our history, identifying as a Jewish writer would hold condemned one to the fringes of literary being. But clearly Philip Roth is not diminished if his work is viewed as situated within that group’s language. Nor is Toni Morrison reduced by viewing her work within the context of dark language. However, some would argue that Tennessee Williams is diminished, not when he’s viewed as a Southern writer, but when he’s defined as a gay writer. Hackles ascend when such sacred cows as Henry James or Elizabeth Bishop are discussed as gay. Bishop, we should remember, didn’t wish her work situated even within the context of a women’s language collective for fear that this could hurt her reputation.

In the early pages of Andrew Holleran’s novel Dancer from the Dance, one of the founding texts of contemporary gay literature, the friend of the author writes: “who, after all, wants to interpret about sissies? &#; if you were a family man going home on the to Chappaqua, I don’t think you’d long to read about men who suck each other’s wee-wees! Even if people accept fags out of kindness,