Gay/Lesbian Survey, Nancy C. Unger
History 177
Paper Requirements and Suggestions
This paper is an opportunity to indulge yourself in an in-depth look at virtually any aspect of gay and lesbian American history that appeals to you. You may conduct more conventional research—for example, a paper on a significant individual—or utilize the vast array of less conventional resources and/or less conventional topics available. You may focus on one particular historical period, or trace an idea or phenomenon across many periods within the century. If you are stuck for ideas, I am available for consultation and have a fairly extensive collection of G/L history sources in my office.
This is a HISTORY paper, not an analysis of current events! Therefore, the bulk of your paper should address HISTORICAL events occurring at least 10 years ago. There can be exceptions to this rule, however. See me if you have a particularly recent topic in mind. Bear in mind that you paper should utilize primary materials as extensively as possible. Ideally, you would all utilize the G/L archives in San Francisco, but considering the logistical problems as well as the limitations of a ten week quarter, I encourage you to consider the wealth of other primary sources more readily available.
Broad topics include the relationships between homosexuality and:
- church (spirituality, lesbian nuns, impact of Catholicism, the ordination of homosexuals, debates over the acceptance of homosexuality within various churches and faiths, etc.)
- medicine/health (issues of breast cancer, artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, AIDS, bathhouse controversies, etc.)
- adoption
- politics (gay activists, anti-gay activists, various local and state ballot issues, official and unofficial presidential policies, etc.)
- crime (victims or perpetrators)
- family (gay marriage)
- sports
- military
- academia
- psychology and psychoanalysis
- environment and ecology
- the arts
- philosophy
- feminism
- passing
- race
- class
- ethnicity
- aging
- adolescence
- popular culture: (G/Ls in and on film/television)
- literature: lesbian pulp novels, gay fiction and memoir, popular literature
- pornography: print and film, issues of S/M
- prostitution
- G/L historiography
- rural life
- humor
Still stuck for an idea? Consider the huge variety of primary source material available:
- history books (elementary, junior high, high school, or college)
- medical books
- Romance novels
- best sellers
- popular magazines, news weeklies
- G/L magazines, newspapers, and other publications
- academy-award-winning films
- religious tracts
- advertising (magazines, radio, newspapers, television)
- television sitcoms
ALL of the above are only suggestions!! You by no means limited to this list!! Do check your ideas with me. I rarely refuse a project if a student is sincerely interested.
For additional ideas, do some browsing: Go to the Orradre home Web page and look at the “choose subject” menu on “research guides.” Click “Gender Studies” and you’ll find “Gay and Lesbian Studies—A Research Guide.” Or access it directly at http://www.scu.edu/orradre/research/gender_studies/gay-lesbian.html.
Also search in the database America: History and Life. Entering “homosexual,” “Lesbian,” or “gay men” will result in hundreds of scholarly articles. Browsing through the various entries allows you to get a sense of the vast amount of research being done on an incredible variety of topics. The bibliographies of the journal articles listed here are a gold mine of secondary and primary sources. Articles from the journals our library does not have will be delivered to you free of charge.
Do not submit the paper written for this class to another class for credit. If you have a similar assignment in another class and wish to work on a project that will fulfill the course requirements for both classes, please see me. If the other professor and I agree, your paper will need to be more in depth (around 15 pages of text). On the cover page, please note BOTH classes for which the paper has been submitted.
Select a topic that you will be able to adequately present in 8–10 pages of text with standard margins, exclusive of bibliography and footnotes. Keep in mind that this is a formal paper for an upper-division university course. I will provide you with samples of proper footnotes and bibliographic entries. Footnotes must be in proper format for a history paper. You may place them either at the bottom of each page (remembering to indent the first line of each entry) or as endnotes, but they cannot be placed parenthetically within the text. You may wish to consult The University of Chicago Press' A Manual of Style or Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers, for questions concerning proper writing, footnoting, bibliographic entries, etc. Another helpful tool is Jules R. Benjamin's A Student's Guide to History.
Proper spelling and grammar are essential and will constitute 50% of your paper’s grade. When in doubt, consult Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. DO NOT JUSTIFY THE RIGHT HAND MARGIN! Do NOT use contractions (“don’t,” “won’t,” etc., are not acceptable—write out “do not,” “would not,” etc.) After initially referring to a person by his or her full name (“Mary Beth Norton”) subsequent references should be last name only (“Norton”). DO NOT QUALIFY YOUR REMARKS WITH THE USE OF “I.” Contrast the two following sentences: “I think lesbians gained important rights through this crucial legislation.” “Lesbians gained important rights through this crucial legislation.” Clearly the second statement is the more forceful and compelling one. Besides, the whole paper is what you think, so there is no need to be redundant.
Please do not enclose your paper in a binder or file. A staple will do.
When printing your paper, always run the spell checker. Each page of your paper must be numbered. Your paper must have a title. Titles are important—they tell the reader what the paper is about and should intrigue the reader. Dates should appear day first, then month, followed by year—with no commas in between: The battle began 12 May 1865, and did not end for many months.
The bibliography should include not just the works cited within the paper, but ALL the works consulted.
Use quotations sparingly. The focus of the paper should be your interpretation of the evidence, not the evidence itself. Long quotes, if used at all, must be indented and single spaced. Unless the exact wording of the source is crucial, paraphrase rather than quote—but always remember to footnote what you paraphrase. The period at the end of a quote appears inside the quotation marks: The Grand Canyon was “the greatest home the Indians ever knew.”1
Begin your paper by putting it into historiographic context. What has been said on this topic before, and by whom? (“The leading books on this subject are John Smith’s Gay Men in Drag (1995), and Joan Johnson’s Drag Queens in History (1974).” What are you saying that is new, or that substantially adds to what has already been said? (“Both Johnson and Smith focus almost exclusively on gay men in drag. This paper will focus primarily on the negative response this generated among feminists,” or, “While Johnson focuses on the emotional needs of men in drag and Smith on the changes in the legal repercussions of appearing publicly in drag, this paper will synthesize their two topics, revealing how one can be used to inform the other.”) Thus, your paper cannot be just a rehash or report on something already well known. You should be learning something new. This is a research paper, not a report!
Your written research proposal, including topic, tentative thesis, and working bibliography, is due no later than is listed on your syllabus, but the sooner the better. A working bibliography includes not only the sources you have in hand, but the sources you intend to consult. Required: In addition to listing all secondary sources (including at least two journal articles), specifically identify your primary sources.
Research papers turned in early will be evaluated and returned. Revised papers may be resubmitted for a higher grade. Such revisions are entirely optional. The sooner you can get a draft to me, the better. The last day to turn in a draft for revision is listed on your syllabus. The last day papers, including revised drafts, will be accepted is also listed on your syllabus. No papers will be accepted after that date. This quarter will FLY by, so map out your research agenda NOW!
Proper Footnotes and Bibliography
Considering the variety of styles used across the disciplines, there is a great deal of understandable confusion about the appropriate style for footnotes and bibliographic entries. Papers for this class are to follow the model set forth in Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
1. BOOK
Author: John Hope Franklin. Title: The Biography of George Washington Williams. Place of publication: Chicago. Publisher: University of Chicago Press. Copyright date: 1985. Page number: 54.
FOOTNOTE
1. John Hope Franklin, The Biography of George Washington Williams (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 54.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY
Franklin, John Hope. The Biography of George Washington Williams. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
2. JOURNAL ARTICLE
Author: Nancy C. Unger. Article title: “The ’Political Suicide’ of Robert M. La Follette: Public Disaster, Private Catharsis. ” Journal: The Psychohistory Review. Volume: 21. Number: 3. Date: Winter 1993. Pages: 197–220. Page quoted: 213.
FOOTNOTE
2. Nancy C. Unger, “The ’Political Suicide’ of Robert M. La Follette: Public Disaster, Private Catharsis, ” The Psychohistory Review 21 (Winter 1993): 213.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY
Unger, Nancy C. “The ’Political Suicide’ of Robert M. La Follette: Public Disaster, Private Catharsis. ” The Psychohistory Review 21 (Winter 1993): 197–220.
3. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Author: Tyler Marshall. Article Title: World War II Remembered. Newspaper: New York Times. Date: January 15, 1995. Section Number/Letter: B. Page Number: 7. Edition (morning or evening): M.
FOOTNOTE
3. Tyler Marshall, “World War II Remembered, ” New York Times, 15 January 1995, B7(M).
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY
Marshall, Tyler. “World War II Remembered. ” New York Times, 15 January 1995, B7(M).
4. CITATION TAKEN FROM A SECONDARY SOURCE
Author you’re citing: Helen Hunt Jackson. Article Title: The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America. Journal: American Historical Review. Volume: 14. Date: June 1984. Page number in that journal: 597. Author of Secondary Source: Mary Beth Norton. Title: Major Problems in American Women’s History. Place of Publication: Lexington, Massachusetts. Publisher D.C. Heath and Company. Date: 1989. Page: 43.
FOOTNOTE
4. Helen Hunt Jackson, “The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America, ” American Historical Review 14 (June 1984): 597, quoted in Mary Beth Norton, ed., Major Problems in American Women’s History (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1989), 43.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY
Jackson, Helen Hunt. “The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America. ”
American Historical Review 14 (June 1984): 590–598. Quoted in Mary Beth Norton, ed. Major Problems in American Women’s History, 42–47. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1989.
5. WORLD WIDE WEB
document. Author’s name: Joe Smith. Title of document: Eldrige Cleaver Title of Website: The Black Panther Homepage. Date of publication or most recent revision: May 13, 1999. URL: www.blackpanthers/blackhistory.htm. Date of access: September 23, 2001.
FOOTNOTE
1[1]. Joe Smith, “Eldridge Cleaver,” The Black Panther Homepage, 13 May 1999, <http:www.blackpanters/blackhistory.htm> (23 Sep. 2001).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Joe. “Eldridge Cleaver.” The Black Panther Homepage 13 May 1999.<http:www.blackpanters/blackhistory.htm> (23 Sep. 2001).
6. FROM AN ELECTRONIC VERSION OF A NEWSPAPER
newspaper article found on Web. Author’s name: Chris Wren. Title of article: “A Body on Everest.” Newspaper: Bohunk News. Date of article: 22 July 1956. URL: bn.com/search/daily/bin/getdoc+site+332534+0. Date of access: October 31, 2001.
FOOTNOTE
[1]2. Chris Wren, “A Body on Everest,” Bohunk News online, 22 July 1956, <http:www.bn.com/search/daily/bin/getdoc+site+332534+0> (31 Oct. 2001).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wren, Chris. “A Body on Everest.” Bohunk News online, 22 July 1956. <http:www.bn.com/search/daily/bin/getdoc+site+332534+0> (31 Oct. 2001).
IF YOU ARE USING THE NEW YORK TIMES on the web through SCU’s Orradre Library cite, or any other source that requires a subscription, there’s no need to put the whole online address. Simply follow the date of the story/article with New York Times, Proquest Historical Newspapers Online.
If you cite a source more than once in your footnotes, the first time, you put the full citation:
5. John Hope Franklin, The Biography of George Washington Williams (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 54.
If you use that exact same page as your next footnote:
6. Ibid.
If you use the same book, but a different page as your next footnote:
7. Ibid., 32.
If you use that same book, but there are several other footnotes in between, use an abbreviated citation:
10. Franklin, Williams, 54.
When in doubt, consult Turabian!
Working Theses for History 177—Spring 2002
- Still honing thesis on history on views (official and unofficial) concerning homosexuality by the American Catholic church.
- Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered/Queer people involved with paganism and pagans have played a (disproportionately?) large role in LGBTQQ liberation movements in part due to a spirituality that is outside conventional cultural norms.
- Harvey Milk, in both his failures and success, played an especially significant role in history by breaking from traditional gay politics to become the first openly gay politician to hold a significant office in the United States.
- Amy DeMartini: In their successful struggles to overcome barriers to adoption, homosexual couples are proving their worth as parents and contribution to the creation of the “new American family.”
- Nicki Ford: Still honing her thesis on popular films’ presentations of homosexuality over time.
- Despite strides in visibility and acceptance, popular films continue to consistently convey homosexuals stereotypically.
- Through popular film, Western culture has created and enforced a series of categories defining gender and sexuality.
- Repressed homosexual screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers in early-twentieth-century Hollywood frequently included hidden or coded messages in their films that expressed their sexuality.
- Still honing her thesis on the legal and political ramifications of gay and lesbian marriages from a historical perspective.
- The Clinton administration’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy concerning homosexuals in the military, despite its sympathetic motivations, is ultimately a failure in promoting toleration of homosexuality.
- From the 1940s to the present, the process of Coming Out serves as a powerful lens through which to view factors of age, generation, race, community standards, etc., among gay men over time.
- Since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, homosexual cohabitation has directly influenced the increase of cohabitation among heterosexual couples as an acceptable alternative to marriage.
- The history of education and treatment of HIV/AIDS have made inroads on the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS as a “gay” disease guaranteeing a quick yet horrible death.
- Social, political, and economic factors caused women, both lesbian and straight, to dress and pass as men in Victorian-era America.
- A variety of motives led women to pass as men from the Revolutionary War to the turn of the 20
th century. - Due to the history of an especially pronounced homophobic culture, many homosexual professional athletes remain closeted even as homosexuals are tolerated/welcomed in other professions.
- The history of homosexuality in sport reveals that while homophobia is clearly evident, gay men face a greater stigma than do lesbians.
- Still honing her thesis on the history homosexual athletes confronting discrimination in sports
- In part as a response to the rising visibility of homosexuals in American society in recent decades, organized hate groups have increasingly incorporated homosexuals into their targeted groups.
- The recognition of gays and lesbians in the office environment has become a more common and accepted occurrence, resulting in greater productivity, as well as adherence to the non-discrimination act amended in 1997.
- The acceptance and even veneration of transgenderism and homosexuality in religions and/or spiritual life in early America died out quickly due to persecution based on Christian beliefs, rapidly eliminating the homosexual aspects of those religions/spiritual beliefs.
- By comparing the history of issues and attitudes of two ethnic groups in America concerning homosexuality, the role of ethnicity in American homosexuality will be revealed.
- The history of the dominant but unsuccessful efforts to assign a gender to ambiguously sexed infants illustrates society’s insistence on sexual and gender clarity, as well as the futility of this insistence.
- Although vilified since the 1980s as the source of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, historically bathhouses throughout American cities enhanced gay lives.
- A history of military policy concerning homosexuals reveals that Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” solution cannot be permanent.
- Still narrowing her focus on the contributions of “safe spaces” to gay and lesbian culture between 1960 and 1990.
- The development of military communities in World War II San Francisco led to a transformation in homosexual relationships influenced by the city’s development as a gay/lesbian center and the efforts by military authorities to suppress homosexuality.
- Although its opponents depict gay marriage as a shocking development in the otherwise solid and unchanging institution of marriage, history reveals a long evolution leading toward the acceptance of gay marriage.
- Despite existent taboos, the period marking the end of the Great Depression and leading into the Cold War gave rise to a homosexual identity within the American film industry.
- A contrast of the responses to the homosexuality of football star Dave Kopay and tennis great Martina Navratilova reveals the disparity of public acceptance of homosexual athletes based on sex.
- Same sex relations developed within the prison system because inmates seek sexual gratification, power over other inmates, and fulfillment of lost family roles.
- Gays and lesbians seeking to adopt children throughout history have faced a daunting series of legal challenges.
- Scholars’ reactions to the romantic friendships between women in the nineteenth century have changed over time as the gay and lesbian movement progressed.
- Lesbian parents have faced a long history of stigma, as their ability to provide a healthy environment has been challenged.
- Still honing his thesis on gay men and lesbians in politics.
- Still honing thesis on medicalizing homosexuality.
- Still honing thesis on homophobic homosexuals. Possibly: Homosexuals have themselves not been immune to the powerful messages of homophobia, and internalizations have taken a variety of forms.
- Still narrowing focus on the significance of homosexuality as an increasingly divisive issue within American Christianity.
- As the United States has experienced a paradigm shift concerning gay/lesbian rights, so too have laws affecting gay/lesbian adoption, reflecting Americans’ ideas about what constutites “family” and “family values.”
- Although homosexuality has been widely incorporated into popular culture in the past decades, frequently through television, the presentations too often remain stereotypic.
- Bathhouses have played a central role in facilitating and enhancing the creation of a gay identity and lifestyle.
- The growing emphasis on social justice within Catholic education has been contributing to a schism within the Church over homosexuality.
- Due to the economics of the studio system during the Golden Age of Hollywood, even in this industry, perceived as liberal, gay male actors were seen as detached from the sexual actions, and often forced to hide their sexual preferences.
- Pressures of closeted life, rather than homosexuality itself, drove some gay men and lesbians to crime.
- Still honing thesis and time period considering gays and lesbians in the military.
- The experience, especially the gains, of lesbians during World War II mirrored that of all women, and their subsequent decline as well.
- Still developing thesis on rebellion against traditional gender norms and values.
- Still refining thesis on the relationship between gays in the film and theater industries and the presentation of homosexuals in film and on stage.
- The evolution of gay/lesbian attitudes toward the movement from civil unions to marriage is an important indicator of the development and diversity of social attitudes and identifications within the gay/lesbian community.
- Although all gay and lesbian athletes suffer to some degree from homophobia, gay men bear a disproportionate burden due to popular perceptions of masculinity and femininity.
- Still developing thesis on homosexuality and homosexuals in film.
- The media’s coverage of gay/lesbian hate crimes both create and reflect important changes in attitudes about homosexuals and homosexuality.
- The city of San Francisco exhibited special and unique qualities of social and political tolerance that laid the foundation for it to become one of the first great centers of homosexual life and culture in the United States.
- A study of the evolution of homophobia in American reveals much about the evolution of gay and lesbian identities in American history.
- The modern homophile movement has dramatically exacerbated tensions between the official rejection of homosexuality within the Catholic Church and the number of homosexual priests within that church.
- Although women were prescribed to be sexually submissive in the early 20
th century, lesbian photographers and the photographs of female same-sex relationships document a powerful subculture. - The way that people in the United States who experienced same-sex desire and participated in same-sex sexual activities prior to the modern “invention” of homosexuality reveals much about modern constructions of homosexuality.
- Butch and femme roles have existed in the lesbian community throughout the 20
th century as a way to adapt to the heterosexual norms of society. - The case of Frank Buttino, the fbi agent who sued for civil rights for homosexuals employed by the Federal Security Agencies, is an important indicator of the G/L movement’s progress in its continuing to challenge homophobia at all levels.
- The organization Dignity reveals the impact of the modern gay and lesbian movement within the Catholic Church.
- Despite a façde of new acceptability, ongoing restrictions on the depictions of gay/lesbian themes in current feature films is a continuation of older efforts to ignore or demonize homosexuals and homosexuality.
- In the early half of the twentieth century, gay writers including Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams helped bring male homosexuality into the mainstream through non-fiction exposes, fictional stories, and their own flamboyant lifestyles.
- Still honing her thesis on the evolution of lesbians in college sport.
- One measure of success of the modern G/L movement is the vast proliferation of teen organizations and counseling in schools to promote sexual health, provide support, and create positive mental health in homosexual teens.
- Still honing thesis on the role of military service in World War II in creating the nascent gay/lesbian identity/culture/community.
- Still honing thesis on homosexual prostitution as distinct from heterosexual prostitution.
- Following the outbreak of AIDS in the United States, the media contributed significantly to the stigma placed on gay men.
- The theater has played an important role in changing perceptions of homosexuals and fostering their acceptance into American culture.
- The family, traditionally the most important structure in many Asian cultures is also the largest impediment for most self-identified Asian American gay men and lesbians in coming out to themselves, their families, their ethnic community, and the larger American society.
- The changing views of the American medical community of the nature of homosexuality were due not only to intense outside pressure applied by gay and lesbian communities, but also from within the medical profession.
- Although people with leftist political views are frequently painted as the biggest victims of McCarthyism, gay men and lesbians bore the largest burden as they were systematically purged from positions in the federal government as “national security risks.”
You do NOT have to hand this in, but mentally review this checklist before handing in your research paper:
- _ I revised this paper at least once.
- _ I spent at least 20 hours on this paper.
- _ I started work on this paper at least four weeks ago.
- _ I have tried hard to do my best work on this paper.
- _ I proofread the paper at least twice for grammar, punctuation, and the formatting of the notes and bibliography.
- _ I asked someone else to read the paper for both content and mechanics.
- _ I ran the paper through a spell-check.
- _ I double-checked to make sure everything in the paper conforms to the policies described in the class hand-out “Paper Requirements and Suggestions”