Long Slow Burn: Sexuality and Social Science

The "Gay '90s" of the 20th century have been nothing if not, well, gay. For the first time, gays and lesbians have witnessed consistent positive representation of their lives in film, on television, in literature, and in politics. Gay culture has even extended itself to the oft-impenetrable ivory tower, where academics have been conceiving a new branch of the humanities: gay and lesbian studies. As anthropologist Kath Weston notes in Long Slow Burn, the social sciences are just now catching up to the discipline and "getting hip to queer consideration." As even non-gay academics begin to examine literature, film, and the arts with an eye for queer sensibilities, Weston convincingly argues that gay and lesbian studies are here to stay.

The essays that comprise Long Slow Burn were written at various points throughout the '90s, when queer theory emerged as a viable academic discipline. A self-proclaimed "native ethnographer," Weston explores the trends in gay and lesbian migration from rural areas to big cities--particularly "Meccas" like San Francisco and New York City's Greenwich Village--and passionately searches for more creative, less elitist approaches to queer theory.

At turns thought-provoking and introspective, Long Slow Burn is certain to secure a place for gay and lesbian studies that can extend beyond the arts and sciences. --Kera Bolonik