The Bar Scene A Place for Homosexual Culture and Identity...

In every walk of life, people seek refuge from the judgmental perception of their contemporaries. Thus, many people live in secrecy. For them, secrecy is an absolute necessity in dodging undesired scrutiny and maintaining normalcy in public. When it comes to gender and the expression of it, lines are often blurred. While some hide, others brazenly parade their sexuality in public and their alternative perspectives on gender roles. In â€Å"The Bowery as Haven and Spectacle† from Gay New York, by George Chauncey, explores the emergence of the Bowery â€Å"fairy† bars, and how they became a sanctuary for the queer and working-class of New York City. He discusses in great length the tension that arises between the middle-class and working-class, the†¦show more content†¦With this said, I will explore the importance of the bar scene in the development of gay gender perspectives, and to do this, I will use both Chauncey and Mushroom to show the how the bar scene pro vided a gateway where it was possible for homosexuals to birth a unique culture and custom tailor a set of guidelines for ones gender expectancies. Binary relationships constitute our perceptions of the contemporary world. Binary relationships such as working-class versus middle-class, homosexual versus heterosexual, femininity versus masculinity, dictate what is presumed to be acceptable, correct, and standard, versus what is incorrect, unacceptable, incorrect, and uncommon. In order for the bar scene to thrive, the perfect environment would have to be chosen. This is what Chauncey discusses in his piece. In the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, the Bowery was the epicenter of â€Å"commercialized vices†, and had a distinctive working-class culture with its own codes of conduct, dress, and public socializing, thus facing much scrutiny from the middle-class. Chauncey writes, â€Å"[†¦] The Bowery, like the Tenderloin, was an area where working-class men and women could engage in sexually charged encounters in public, it also took on a particular significance in bourgeois ideology and life in the late nineteen th century as a so-called red-light district (p 35).†Show MoreRelatedThe Lesbian Experience Of The Early And Mid Twentieth Century Essay1746 Words   |  7 Pagesunknown and ignored because it was impossible for women to claim their identity as a lesbian; they were frequently viewed from the outside as sick, confused, or sinful and no one would want to be considered one. 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