Cracks in the iron closet

Description

David Tuller provides the first look into the emotional and sexual lives of Russian lesbians and gays and the pervasive influence of the state on gay life. Part travelogue, part social history, and part journalistic inquiry, the book challenges our assumptions about what it means to be gay. The book also explores key issues in Russia and Soviet life, including concepts of friendship, community, gender, love, fate, and the relationship between the public and private spheres.

Description

When David Tuller went to Russia in 1991 with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, he arrived with the idea that he would be helping "liberate" lesbian and gay Russians, helping them explore without shame or fear their repressed sense of sexual identity. Within a few days Tuller realized that the Russians he met knew exactly who they were - and that they could teach him a few things about who he was, too. Through a series of extended visits over the next five years, he delved into the often hidden, yet richly varied, emotional and sexual lives of Russian lesbians and gay men. Cracks in the Iron Closet is part travelogue, part social history and journalistic inquiry, and part offbeat love story. Tuller's experiences also shed light on issues that have roiled the American lesbian and gay movement in recent years: How does culture influence the expression of sexual identity? Is bisexuality a fraudulent pose or a genuine orientation? What "causes" homosexuality anyway? Cracks in the Iron Closet provides the first glimpse into the culture of Russian lesbians and gays as they speak frankly to Tuller about their lives, their loves, and the influence of the state while challenging his assumptions about what it means to be gay.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Cracks in the iron closet: travels in gay and lesbian RussiaFaber and Faber1996-01-01
• Cracks in the iron closetUniversity of Chicago Press1997-01-01