September 27, 2017

Jason Orne

Boystown

Boystown is Jason Ornes ode to queerness. Like queerness, Orne writes in a genre that is

unusual, creative, personal, and pushes boundaries. Orne uses a triangulation of research

methods including the participant observation of living as an active member of Boystown,

enactive ethnography and the scholarly thought and processes of the Chicago School, and

interviews and conversations that result from engaging in the gayborhood. In using these

methods, Orne examines the gentrification of Boystown and its development into a gay theme

park, the intersectionality of race, gender, and class within the gayborhoods, and the power that

sexy, intimate, erotic, queer spaces have to break down barriers. Ultimately, Orne discusses the

difference between gay and queer, arguing that gay has become a part of the charmed circle. He

calls for a sexual queer revolution that includes queer heterosexuals. Orne argues that queer

people must bring the lessons of queer sexy spaces that exist in the night time into the day.

Sexual Racism

In this chapter, Orne analyzes the role that race plays within Boystown. He argues that intimate

relationships created through sexy queer spaces have the power to break down racial barriers and

stereotypes. He does so by incorporating his personal experiences and anecdotes of his time in

gay clubs and bars where the aforementioned ideal is not occurring. He observes and analyses

racial scripts, white Eurocentric beauty standards, and the lack of integration within nominally

diverse spaces. Orne notes that entrenchment will continue to happen if people do not go beyond
mere contact. He believes that queer communities can move past sexual racism when real

intimacy occurs because sex is humanizing.

I would like to further discuss Eurocentric beauty standards because I feel that they are deeply

ingrained in our society, doxa, and media.

How does one move beyond sex and connection and arrive at real intimacy? Where is the line?

How do sexy communities enable and inhibit intimacy and the breaking down of barriers?

Becoming Gay

In this chapter, Orne argues that no one is born gay and humorously states, Diva worship isnt

genetic (123). He argues that Habitus, the unconscious social understanding of taste and

decisions which is created by our experiences and, especially, our neighborhoods. Orne includes

anecdotes about being a baby gay to illustrate how he learned gay habitus. He states that

because no one is born gay and must learn gay habitus, the same is true for straightness.

Ultimately, Orne questions the possible change of gay habitus due to the gentrification of

neighborhoods as gay becomes a part of the charmed circle.

I would like to discuss other habituses in other communities. Orne states that gay habitus is more

than culture. If so, what is gay culture? Where is the line between POC communities habitus and

culture?

If one learns gay habitus through experiences, interactions with gay communities, and media,

then what does that mean for gay people that are isolated from these experiences?

Also, what about queer habitus?