The University of Michigan is offering students a class in

[Amby 490]

http://perezhilton.com/?p=11751

ENGLISH 317. Literature and Culture.

Section 002 — How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Instructor(s): David M Halperin (halperin@umich.edu)

Course Description:

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.

This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice — subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize — which a small but significant body of work in ####### studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.

In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?

At the core of gay experience there is not only identification but disidentification. Almost as soon as I learn how to be gay, or perhaps even before, I also learn how not to be gay. I say to myself, 'Well, I may be gay, but at least I'm not like that!' Rather than attempting to promote one version of gay identity at the expense of others, this course will investigate the stakes in gay identifications and disidentifications, seeking ultimately to create the basis for a wider acceptance of the plurality of ways in which people determine how to be gay.

Additional note. This course is not a basic introduction to gay male culture, but an exploration of certain issues arising from it. It assumes some background knowledge. Students wishing to inform themselves about gay men and gay culture in a preliminary way should enroll in an introductory course in lesbian/gay studies.

http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?BG/317descr

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

don't ask what the end of course test is.

[Amby 490]

I want to know

[Alhamdulillah 0]

I'm guessing, if you require a class on how to be gay, that you're probably not gay so what's the point of the class then?

[Amby 490]

tolerance?

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I thought the only thing required to be gay was that you prefered cocks to clams. What is there to learn? Does this class teach you how to be a flaming stereotype? That is what I am getting from the description.

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

I want to know

time for your test! bend over the desk!

[Heracles 417]

You got to love some colleges. University of Michigan should be more interested in teaching kids how to get their dying state out of poverty rather than BS classes on sexuality.

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

I thought the only thing required to be gay was that you prefered cocks to clams. What is there to learn? Does this class teach you how to be a flaming stereotype? That is what I am getting from the description.

maybe it teaches proper lube selection

[Alex+R 0]

I thought the only thing required to be gay was that you prefered cocks to clams. What is there to learn? Does this class teach you how to be a flaming stereotype? That is what I am getting from the description.

It seems like an exploration of how people "perform" their sexual ID or something. The part that throws me is the thing about using the class as an experiment or something. I want to know more about that.....

[Alhamdulillah 0]

tolerance?

I don't think that's the point of this class at all.

Based on this paragraph

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.

It sounds like it's based on the student being gay so the class is geared more towards teaching the stereotypes that are percieved as "gay" like another poster has already suggested.

Does this class teach you how to be a flaming stereotype?

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

[no name 1]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Not if they've been in the closet for years trying to hide it.

[Alex+R 0]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

I think that being gay is trendy in our society, thus classes like these popping up.

I have a gay friend who we all swear is straight. He does it for attention from his mom, seriously. Another friend of mine was gay as a teen, then grew up and admitted it was an attention ploy for mommy.

Do you REALLY think that doesn't happen?

[no name 1]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

I think that being gay is trendy in our society, thus classes like these popping up.

I have a gay friend who we all swear is straight. He does it for attention from his mom, seriously. Another friend of mine was gay as a teen, then grew up and admitted it was an attention ploy for mommy.

Do you REALLY think that doesn't happen?

I think it's being accepted more in our society (gay marriage anyone), hence these classes are allowed to exist.