Sodomy and
Matzoh: How
Queer and Jewish
Cultures
Radicalized
the1950s
With Michael Bronski,
The 1950s is commonly
viewed as a socially conservative
and sexually
repressive decade. Yet it was
also a time of incredibly
subversive, and highly
political art and popular
culture, much of which
came out of Jewish and
queer experiences. This
series will explore the work
of these artists and
performers and look at how
the challenged prevailing
ideas about gender,
sexuality, ethnicity, identity,
and sexual politics, and
examine the overlaps
between dissident queer and
Jewish sensibilities. We will
be looking at films with
Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis,
television work by Jack
Benny and Gertrude Berg,
listening to “dirty” Jewish
women comics Belle Barth
and Pearl Williams (as well as
Lenny Bruce), and reading
Allan Ginsberg, Patricia
Highsmith, Paul Goodman,
Laura Z. Hobson, and
Herbert Marcuse, as well as
selected critical essays on
the period.
The free reading
discussion group will meet
at the Lesbian and Gay
Community Services Center
at One Little West Twelfth
Street in New York City from
1-3 pm the last Saturday of
each month starting in
February. The Center is fully
accessible. Please contact
CLAGS at (212) 817-1955
for registration or access
information. Schedule of
readings available upon
registration at the CLAGS
office.
February 23, March 30,
April 27 and May 25
