Soul Beneath The Skin: The Unseen Hearts And Habits Of Gay Men

This surprising and thought-provoking book begins with the obvious fact that Stonewall happened 30 years ago and the perhaps less obvious fact that in the 30 years since an enormous number of social science studies have been done on gay men. Dave Nimmons proceeds to synthesize that information to reveal a number of unseen patterns of gay male behavior truths about our lives we feel instinctively but have not named. For instance countless studies show that gay men have developed a culture in which public violence is almost non-existent which is notable when you consider that violence in this society is almost entirely a male phenomenon. Even in intensely over-crowded gay bars and discos with alcohol and testosterone saturating the atmosphere fist fights are virtually unheard of. On in the area of volunteerism study after study shows that gay men volunteer at a much higher level than any other segment of the population (and very interestingly our volunteerism is about evenly divided between gay and non-gay causes as are our charitable contributions). Our patterns of intimacy and friendship are much more diffuse and extended than heterosexual patterns; sexual jealousy and exclusiveness are extremely different as are our relationships with women and our pursuit of playfulness and sexual bliss. Altogether these gay social innovations have no parallel in modern American culture; they describe a new kind of public ethics one with deep implications for gay men and for the larger society About The Author: Dave Nimmons founder of Manifest Love has been a gay leader in New York since 1983. He served as President of New Yorks Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center for six years for three years directed HIV prevention and education at Gay Mens Health Crisis and is an internationally-known HIV prevention theorist. Table Of Contents: 1.Unseen Hearts and Habits12.Our Peaceable Kingdom133.Communities of Caring404.Dogs Pigs and Altruists565.Alive and Well i