Book Report

Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior by Tim Bergling – The author examines the topic of gay (and straight) men who look down on those gay guys who behave in an effeminate manner. I definitely think it’s a subject worth exploring; why is femininity so downgraded in our culture? The author clearly defines the scope of his book at the outset: he is not addressing other forms of prejudice; for example, he’s not examining negative attitudes against butch lesbians. This book is full of the author’s personal experience, it’s conversational in tone and not professional at all– but that’s okay. He does do a good job at starting off a dialog around this subject, finding that those gay and straight men who look down on femmy gay guys also tend to exhibit sexist attitudes towards women. Not groundbreaking stuff, but a message that needs to be repeated. I do think that Julia Serrano’s “Whipping Girl” was a much better, and broader, look at the topic though. Grade: B-

The American Heiress by Daisy Godwin – A quote on the book’s cover termed it a “guilty pleasure”, and I must agree. Standard historical fiction phluff. I do commend the author for keeping the plot moving and keeping me engaged the whole way, though I can’t figure out why I was so hooked – I really didn’t care for any of the characters. Guess I just was in the mood for something light. Grade: C-

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