Queer Aging in North American Fiction (eBook)

Linda M. Hess is Assistant Professor of American Studies (wissenschaftl. Mitarbeiterin) at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. She has published articles on the intersection of aging studies and queer studies, and she is co-editor of Exploring the Fantastic: Genre, Ideology, and Popular Culture (2018).

Dedication 5
Acknowledgments 6
Contents 8
Chapter 1: Introduction: Queer Aging and the Significance of Representation 11
A Conspicuous Absence 11
Locating Queer Aging 17
Core Themes 22
Overview of Chapters 31
References 35
Part I: The Confines of Straight Time 40
Chapter 2: The Older Lesbian as Predator: Dorothy Baker’s Trio: A Novel (1943) 41
Lesbian Visibility in the First Half of the Twentieth Century 41
Age Relations: The Older Predator Versus the Younger Victim 46
The Power of the Heteronormative Timeline 50
Chrononormativity’s Violence 52
References 56
Chapter 3: The Menace of Gay Aging: James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room (1956) 58
The Cultural Climate of the Cold War Era 58
American Nationality and/as Compulsory Heterosexual Masculinity 64
The Stereotypical Figure of the Aging Gay Man 69
The Reader’s Critical Perspective 74
References 78
Part II: In an Era of Liberations 81
Chapter 4: Lesbian-Feminist Aging: June Arnold’s Sister Gin (1975) 82
The Influence of (Lesbian) Feminism 82
Menopause as a New Beginning 87
Defying Stereotypes of Asexuality 89
Anger as Politics 93
References 100
Chapter 5: Gay Times in NYC: Andrew Holleran’s Dancer from the Dance (1978) 104
In the Wake of the Stonewall Riots 104
The Economy of the Body 108
Failing the Heteronormative Future 111
The Margins of the Cultural Screen 118
References 123
Part III: Transitions of the 1990s 126
Chapter 6: Gay Aging After AIDS: Andrew Holleran’s The Beauty of Men (1996) 127
The Impact of the AIDS Crisis 127
Age Anxiety in the Age of AIDS 132
Trajectories and Spaces of Decline 137
Living in Limbo: Lark’s Queer Temporality 141
References 148
Chapter 7: Visible Old Lesbians: Suzette Mayr’s The Widows (1998) 150
Lesbian Hypervisibility and Postmodern Canadian Literature 150
Bearing a New Self 155
Desire and the Failures of the Aging Body 160
The Widow as (Ghosted) Lesbian 165
References 172
Part IV: Queer Aging in the Young Twenty-First Century 175
Chapter 8: New Stories About Gay Aging: Mike Mills’s Beginners (2010) 176
Into the Twenty-First Century1 176
Constructing Identity Through Narrative 182
The Framework of History 186
Becoming Real 191
References 197
Chapter 9: Lesbian Aging Hits the Road: Thom Fitzgerald’s Cloudburst (2011) 200
Twenty-First-Century Lesbian Road Movie 200
A Salty Old Woman 205
Physical Decline, Ageism, and Caregiving 207
Marriage Equality and Kinship Systems 212
References 221
Part V: Queer Aging Now 224
Chapter 10: Conclusion: Ask What Queer Aging Can Do for You 225
Tracing a History 225
The Current Moment of Queer Aging in North American Fiction 227
The Future (of Queer Aging) Is Now 229
References 231
Index 233