“What Lips These Lips Have Kissed”: Refiguring the Politics of Queer Public Kissing 1
Authors:
Charles E. Morris - Charles E. Morris III is associate professor of communication at Boston College; John M. Sloop - John M. Sloop is professor in the Communication Studies Department at Vanderbilt University
DOI:
10.1080/14791420500505585
Publication Frequency:
4 issues per year
Published in:
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies,
Volume
3,
Issue
1
March
2006
, pages 1
- 26
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Abstract
In this essay, we argue that man-on-man kissing, and its representations, have been insufficiently mobilized within apolitical, incremental, and assimilationist pro-gay logics of visibility. In response, we call for a perspective that understands man-on-man kissing as a political imperative and kairotic. After a critical analysis of man-on-man kissing's relation to such politics, we discuss how it can be utilized as a juggernaut in a broader project of queer world making, and investigate ideological, political, and economic barriers to the creation of this queer kissing “visual mass.” We conclude with relevant implications regarding same-sex kissing and the politics of visible pleasure.
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1
Earlier versions of the essay were presented at the 2003 NCA/AFA Argumentation Conference and at the 2004 NCA convention.
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| Keywords: Same-Sex Kissing; Queer Politics; Public Sex; Gay Representation |
| view citations (4) |

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