Content area
Full Text
Stigma and Sexual Orientation: Understanding Prejudice Against Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals, by Gregory M. Herek. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998. 278 pp. $54.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-8039-5384-4. $23.95 paper. ISBN: 08039-5385-2.
While weaving through topics including marriage, youth, civil rights, parenting, hate crimes, health, and research methods, this book provides an interdisciplinary overview of the homophobia and heterosexism literature. The chapters, written by such well-known contributors as Nardi, Sherrod, Kite, Dean, Meyer, and Herek, explain heterosexism and homophobia among heterosexuals and the consequences of these prejudices for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals.
The book begins with Karen Franklin's look at why people are homophobic and heterosexist. This chapter stands out as the strongest sociological analysis, outlining the influences of the social construction of masculinity and femininity and the structural dynamics of race, class, and gender. Next, from a fascinating study on predicting homophobia and heterosexism in potential jurors, Drury Sherrod and Peter Nardi find that prejudice abounds among white southerners, people who hold...