{"product_id":"buying-gay-9780231189101","title":"Buying Gay","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid K. Johnson tells the story of the physique magazine produced by and for gay men to show how gay commerce was not a byproduct of the gay-rights movement but an important catalyst for it. He offers a vivid look into the lives of physique entrepreneurs and their customers, presenting a wealth of illustrations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNamed one of the 20 best LGBTQ reads of 2019. * Attitude *\u003cbr\u003eNamed one of 'The best queer(ish) non-fiction tomes we read in 2019' * Advocate *\u003cbr\u003eNamed a top ten book by the 2020 Over the Rainbow committee of the American Library Association * Over the Rainbow committee of the American Library Association *\u003cbr\u003eThis deeply researched book expands our understanding of pre-Stonewall gay male activism by describing a bold group of physique photographers, magazine publishers, and booksellers who were more militant than the Mattachine Society and built a far larger constituency through their explicit portrayal and defense of homoerotic desire.  A revelatory and compelling history. -- George Chauncey, author of \u003ci\u003eGay New York\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat do 1950s muscle magazines, gay booksellers, and pen-pal networks have to do with the LGBTQ movement? A great deal more than you might think. In this compelling book, David Johnson unearths stories of shrewd businessmen and hungry consumers who, through asserting their right to sell and buy and read what the law tried to ban, challenged repression, fostered gay community, and helped to build a movement. -- Leila J. Rupp, author of \u003ci\u003eA Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohnson’s convincing fleshy history challenges conventional wisdom, arguing that what we have called the ‘homophile era’ (defined by 1950s and 1960s gay rights social movements) was actually ‘the physique era’—when the market of homoerotic fitness magazines and mail-order commerce produced a much larger imagined community and had arguably more significant legal impact. -- Lucas Hilderbrand, author of \u003ci\u003eParis is Burning: A Queer Film Classic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid K. Johnson’s \u003ci\u003eBuying Gay \u003c\/i\u003eis a groundbreaking work that reshapes how we think about queer history and its political movements. Johnson explores the barely underground world of pre-Stonewall publishing that shaped LGBT life, politics, and promotion of a gay identity. Johnson’s lucid writing and enthralling story startlingly remaps and complicates movement history, suggesting that an army of consumers cannot lose. -- Michael Bronski, author of \u003ci\u003eA Queer History of the United States\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOffering a deeply researched, panoramic view of a world that had not yet received a serious scholarly treatment, Johnson persuasively shows that gay consumer culture developed earlier than we imagined. A landmark intervention in LGBTQ history. -- Timothy Stewart-Winter, author of \u003ci\u003eQueer Clout: Chicago and the Rise of Gay Politics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFilling unfortunate gaps in the historiographies of business, capitalism, and consumption, \u003ci\u003eBuying Gay\u003c\/i\u003e is an exciting, innovative, original, and groundbreaking new study of gay consumer culture in the 1950s and 1960s. -- Marc Stein, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Stonewall Riots: A Documentary History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this intelligent work, historian Johnson . . . makes a compelling case that, in contrast to the academic tendency to dismiss physique magazines as mere artifacts of closeted life, physique entrepreneurs went on to found other businesses and ultimately created ‘a gay market.’ . . . Johnson draws on archival evidence and original interviews in prose that remains accessible even as it demonstrates his scholarly chops. This excellent history brings to light a little-known subject with a well-supported, unusual argument. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *\u003cbr\u003eThrough a finely tuned narrative, Johnson traces the arc of physique  magazines, offering an inside look at the stories and personalities of  the courageous publishers of gay magazines and books. . . . It is clear  from Johnson’s excellent study that physique magazines had more than  historical significance; they were central to gay culture in the 1960s,  representing a way for gay men to celebrate their own sexuality and find  commonality with others. * Foreword Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eAn accessible, detailed and riveting journey into the pioneering early  gay physique zine industry. . . . David K Johnson reveals how the trade —  more than just producing iconic, epic images — was an important  catalyst for the gay rights movement. This is an indispensable and  fascinating addition to the library of anyone interested in gay culture. -- Uli Lenart * Attitude *\u003cbr\u003eJohnson shows how physique entrepreneurs consolidated the power of the gay community in the United States, allowing them to resist the persecution from the U.S. Postal Service amidst the anti-communism of the Cold War. -- Johnny Fulfer and Catherine Cueto * The Economic Historian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBuying Gay\u003c\/i\u003e challenges prevailing gay historiography, which has long been dominated by leftist and even socialist 'queer' analyses averse to capitalism and American society itself. . . . Even taking Stonewall into consideration, gay activists have achieved their greatest victories not in trying to overturn society, but rather by broadening it. And as Buying Gay shows, they were most effective when using the tools of bourgeois capitalism. -- James Kirchick * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBuying Gay\u003c\/i\u003e is a thorough, and extremely entertaining read that delights in several ways, and especially in terms of David K. Johnson’s analysis of the tropes of physique magazines. * Hyperallergic *\u003cbr\u003eIn this richly documented, groundbreaking volume, Johnson retrieves the genre of physique magazines as an unrecognized source of historical information on the gradual development of a homosexual community. * Choice *\u003cbr\u003eExciting. . . .  Riveting. . . . Fabulous. . . . Compelling. -- Eric Gonzaba * Journal of Social History *\u003cbr\u003eBodies politic and visual are at the heart of David K. Johnson’s well-written and extensively researched book. . . . Johnson documents the birth and decline of the physique industries with a deep dive into original and secondary sources, crafting a creative and challenging rethinking of the prologue to the explosion of the LGBTQ movements. -- Marc J. Stern * Business History Review *\u003cbr\u003eDavid Johnson's \u003ci\u003eBuying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement\u003c\/i\u003e  is an important contribution to several fields: American cultural  history, queer history and histories of capitalism and consumerism to  name just a few. \u003ci\u003eBuying Gay\u003c\/i\u003e breaks down binaries between  capitalist and entrepreneur on the one hand and queer subject and  activist on the other, arguing that commercial activity by gay  entrepreneurs contributed to community building and progressive change. -- Justin Bengry * Advertising \u0026amp; Society Quarterly *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBuying Gay\u003c\/i\u003e is meticulously researched, well written, and, like  the best scholarship, demands that we rethink ideas we have taken for  granted in the light of compelling new data. -- Katherine Sender * Advertising \u0026amp; Society Quarterly *\u003cbr\u003eJohnson successfully rewrites the physique era into gay political history in this well‐argued and engaging work. -- Emma M. Broder * Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences *\u003cbr\u003eAn accessible, detailed and riveting journey into the pioneering early gay physique zine industry. * Attitude *\u003cbr\u003eA deeply researched, beautifully written work that deserves the broadest possible readership. * New England Quarterly *\u003cbr\u003eWhat is most useful and original in Johnson’s work is that he offers a new genealogy of the LGBTQ movement in the United States. * The Point *\u003cbr\u003eAn excellent reminder of just how much the early gay political movement was tied to markets and consumer capitalism. * Marginal Revolution *\u003cbr\u003eThe business of producing and disseminating homoerotic images helped forge a movement. Case well made. * Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e1. Emerging from the Muscle Magazines: Bob Mizer’s Athletic Model Guild\u003cbr\u003e2. Selling Gay Books: Donald Webster Cory’s “Business with a Conscience”\u003cbr\u003e3. The Grecian Guild: Imagining a Gay Past, and Future\u003cbr\u003e4. “I Want a Pen Pal!”: Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield and the Adonis Male Club\u003cbr\u003e5. Defending a Naked Boy: Lynn Womack at the Supreme Court\u003cbr\u003e6. Consolidating the Market: DSI of Minneapolis\u003cbr\u003e7. The Physique Legacy\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eAbbreviations\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48864259834199,"sku":"9780231189101","price":80.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780231189101.jpg?v=1722271115","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/buying-gay-9780231189101","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}