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Contested Closets The Politics and Ethics of Outing Larry Gross |
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A landmark exploration of the practice of revealing a public figure's hidden homosexuality through the controversial practice of outing. "A thorough examination (naming names and reprinting controversial articles) of 'the deliberate revelation by lesbian and gay people of the hidden homosexuality of prominent people.' Gross, a University of Pennsylvania communications professor, generally approves of outing but explores it from all sides. For journalists who dismiss outing as simple invasion of privacy, Gross raises unsettling questions about 'the obligation to tell the truth, 'journalists who "collude in disinformation," and the hypocrisy of 'singling out this one area in which to protect a right to privacy that is routinely trampled in the interest of the public's "right to know" everything.'" —American Journalism Review "A scholarly yet accessible and entertaining study of outing. Gross brings a much-needed historical context to the debate over this still-controversial topic. I strongly recommend Contested Closets to anyone, including Gunderson, who thinks outing is either contemptible or immoral. For Gross has clearly demonstrated outing is ancient and ethical. It may also be the best way to level the political playing fields, thereby giving homosexuals a chance of attaining parity with heterosexuals." —Lambda Book Report "Contested Closets is both a solid academic work and a brisk, entertaining read. Gross is particularly effective in skewering the hypocrisy of the mainstream media, and he also includes more than one hundred pages of original articles and commentarieis from both the straight and gay press - an immensely valuable contribution to historians and casual readers alike." —Los Angeles Times "One of the few sources where original articles on outing have been collected." —Contemporary Sociology "Contested Closets: The Politics and Ethics of Outing, provides a highly readable history of the ambivalence mainstream media have expressed toward homosexuality. Homosexuality, Gross argues, has almost always been used selectively by media in a way that contributes to confirming antigay biases." —Journal of Mass Media Ethics "The author's powerful arguments make his essay something to devour. The demand to end the queer Code of Silence is rational, motivating, and compelling." —The Prism Newsletter "Contested Closets is a significant contribution both to contemporary media studies and to contemporary gay-lesbian studies. Gross tackles thorny issues such as secrecy and the construction of sexual identity in contemporary queer theory, and illustrates his claim that hiding is not the key to emancipation through an analysis of the media 'outing' controversy." —Quarterly Journal of Speech Larry Gross is professor of communications in the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California and the co-editor of Image Ethics in the Digital Age (2002). 348 pages | 1993 |
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$26.00 paper