Gay Icons: Culture, Celebrity, and Queer Imagination (In-Person)

From the 1920s onward, “gay icons” like Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Streisand, and Madonna, captured the collective imagination of queer Americans, carving out space for gay subcultures of camp and drag to emerge. Yet, at the same time, they reinforced the paradoxical omnipresence and erasure of queerness in a society that criminalized homosexuality and gender nonconformity while benefitting from the creativity of queer artists and filmmakers, including many of the gay icons listed above. What about ostensibly straight, white female stars inspired such intense admiration and identification among mid-century queer Americans? How did gay and lesbian fan cultures emerge in the margins of 20th century mass culture, and why did these subcultures converge on mainstream female celebrities like Garland, Hepburn, Streisand, and Madonna? What can a study of these figures, through film and performance, tell us about the historical trajectory of gender and sexuality in 20th century America—from its revolutionary impulses to its normalizing tendencies?

In this course, we will ask how the figure of the “gay icon” emerged historically, how gay icons’ public lives and performances were consumed and interpellated by queer fans, and why, by the end of the century, they had become narrowly associated with white gay male culture. We will watch key films and performances starring gay icons and analyze their performances, alongside readings from cultural critics and historians of LGBTQ+ life during the Great Depression, World War II, the Baby Boom, the long 1960s, and the AIDS epidemic. How did gay men, lesbians, and trans people find solace and a sense of community through gay icon worship? How did these emergent gay fan cultures reinforce consumerism, whiteness, and heteronormativity? How can we read these gay icons’ mainstream films and performances through a queer lens? Readings will be drawn from George Chauncey, Susan Sontag, Esther Newton, Hugh Ryan, Andrea Weiss, David Halperin, and Richard Dyer.

Course Schedule

Tuesday, 6:30-9:30pm ET
January 28 — February 18, 2025
4 weeks

$335.00

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