Fred Carriles

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Fairchild, Emily

Keywords

The Ladder, ONE, Mattachine Review, Queer, Same-Sex Relationships

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

I provide a queer analysis of how the same-sex relationship was discussed and conceptualized within three homophile publications. I analyzed 48 articles from the three most widely read homophile publications: the Ladder, ONE, and Mattachine Review. Data collection occurred in the qualitative research program NVivo. Here I coded the 48 documents in three consecutive stages: open, axial, and selective. Analysis of the data involved assessment of the thematic patterns produced through coding and historical contextualization of the period studied. My research revealed two ways in which authors of the homophile publications discuss the same-sex relationship. First, the dominant account of the deviant relationship interprets the same-sex romance as inferior and the heterosexual romance as superior. These endorsements of the heterosexual relationship are expressed both explicitly and implicitly. Secondarily, I identify an emerging counternarrative in which authors contest the primacy of the heterosexual romance. This contestation occurs in two types of dialogues: critiques of marriage, and critiques of the heterosexual relationship. Finally, I identify three processes describing the findings and their implications: romantic mimesis, abject relationships, and queering romance.

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