Melanie Kohnen Livres

The book explores the complex evolution of queer media visibility, highlighting key historical moments such as the Hollywood Production Code, the AIDS crisis, and the post-9/11 reimagining of queer representation. It critiques the notion of progressive visibility, arguing that it often centers on white gay and lesbian narratives, while overlooking broader queer experiences. Through an analysis of film, TV, and print media, it uncovers connections between past and present representations, illustrating how these narratives influence perceptions of American identity and history.

"This book examines the proliferation of gay, lesbian, and queer representations in mainstream American media over the past forty years. Kohnen argues that queer media visibility has become a narrowly defined category that upholds normative ideas about sexuality, race, and the American nation. She examines how and why this limited and limiting concept of queer visibility has become the embodiment of progressive and liberatory LGBT media representations and traces the uneven history of queer media visibility through crucial turning points including the early gay liberation movement of the late 1960s/70s, the AIDS crisis of the 80s, the so-called explosion of gay visibility of the 90s and the reimagination of queer citizenship after the events of 9/11. Further, Kohnen reveals how queer visibility shapes and reflects not only media representations, but the real and imagined geographies, histories, and peoples of the American nation"--