"I've decided that I don't care if I come across as the biggest fag-hag in the land," Cathy Crimmins writes in the introduction to her book, How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization. It's a good thing she doesn't care, because that's basically how she comes across. She makes the ladies on Will and Grace look like homophobic Bible-thumpers in comparison.
With her funny, accessible style, Crimmins delves into gay men's contributions to American society (she excludes lesbians as they're more "domestic"). She's an amiable narrator for the book - you could picture yourself having these discussions with her over Cosmos at lunch.
Unfortunately, she decides that her personal stories and wide-ranging yet shallow grasp of pop culture are enough. It seems as if only the most basic research was done in preparation. Footnotes, a bibliography, and/or literary references would give it more credibility. I understand she's intentionally avoiding an academic tone, but even an index would be appreciated. It doesn't help that she contradicts what little research she's done: in the first chapter, she claims the word "homosexual" was coined in 1869; by the last chapter, it's mysteriously bumped to 1867.
Crimmins takes us through American culture (mostly post-Stonewall riots of 1969): language, community, celebrations, rituals, food, fashion, sex, art, film, television, music and theater. The subtitles alone are hilarious, such as "Groin Control to Major Tom: The Father of Glam Rock, David Bowie" and "He's Dead, but We Can Still Have a Party: Gay Advances in Mourning Rituals."
With such a charming companion by our side, it's frustrating when her information and arguments are inconsistent. Her conclusions may be correct, you're just not sure how she got there, as in her chapter on movies and television. She concludes that The Wizard of Oz is "absolutely wholesome and absolutely queer at the same time" by describing how it has inspired nationally touring karaoke shows attended by straight families as well as gays. Fine, but what about the actual content of the movie? Most people understand how it's wholesome; it would be fantastic if she enlightened us about it's "queer"-ness. Strangely, she doesn't.
Article comments
1 - chantal stone
great review, Don....
you just gotta love a Hag that's so haggy, she had to write a book about it! ;)
2 - Don Baiocchi
Thanks, chantal. "Haggy" - hilarious. On my blog the title of this review is "Move over, Margaret Cho," because Crimmins almost steals her throne as Queen of the Fag Hags.
3 - chantal stone
they all just give some of us "hags in training" something to live up to. who knew you could make a career out of obsessing over men who don't want you? clearly, i should be getting paid!
4 - Don Baiocchi
see? this book has many uses and can help many people. maybe you should write her and she can mentor you in the ways of hagginess.
5 - chantal stone
hmmm, well i know a few people that might argue i'm already haggy enough. but i suppose you can't be too haggy, right? what i need to learn is how to capitalize on it. ;)
6 - don Baiocchi
you could start a series of how-to videos. or just start a blog! "How To Be a Fag-Hag." there's definitely a lot of options.
and no, you can never be too rich, too thin, or too haggy.
7 - Ben
Ugh... i picked up this book (along with some others) as a gift for my Dad (who I recently came out to) for father's day. I thought it would be a great gesture to show that I'm letting him into that part of my life.
Good thing I read it first- I don't need to give my dad this book if I'm the one who is skeptical about most of what she has to say. Not to mention- this isn't about how Homosexuals saved civilization- it's about how Homosexuals created and fascinated America with a lot of the terrible celebrity worship and popculture phenomenon that destroy the value of mainstream media.
She should re-title this book immediately. Something like "Gay people are super super fun novelties." yikes...