AIternate Routes A JournaI of CriticaI SociaI ResearcIh Editorial Collective Narinder Brar Beth Cleland Colleen Anne Dell Edward Micheal Oliver Siomonn Pulla Willow Scobie Jeffrey Shantz Roberta Lynn Sinclair Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Carleton University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology http://www.archive.org/details/alternateroutesc16alte AIternate Routes A JournaI of CrItIcaI SocIaL Research" Volume 16, 2000 Editorial Policy/Call For Papers Perspectives Rory. Johnstone Sexual and Ethnic Scripts in the Context of African American Culture 5 Mike Patterson Where the Forest Meets the Highway Work in Progress Anita Seibert From Matka Polka to New Polish Woman 42 Article Phil Robinson Resisting Subjection, Subjected Resistance: Sadomasochism, Feminism, Moral Regulation and Self-Formation 62 Book Reviews Linda Di Luzio Jeffrey Shantz Taking A Stand: A Review of Nancy E. Dowd's In Defense of Single-Parent Families. New York: New York University Press. 1997. 200 pp. 89 Wally Seccombe and D.W. Livingstone. "Down to Earth People": Beyond Class Reductionism and Postmodernism. Aurora: Garamond Press. 2000. 134 pp. Contents of Past Issues 93 98 Alternate Routes Editorial Policy/Call For Papers Alternate Routes (AR) is a refereed multi-disciplinary journal published annually by graduate students in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University Ottawa, Canada, K1S 5M6, altroutes@ccs.carleton.ca. As a peer reviewed journal, AR provides a forum for debate and exchange among North American and International graduate students. We are therefore interested in receiving papers written by graduate students (or co-authored with faculty), regardless of university affiliation. The editorial emphasis of the journal is on the publication of critical and provocative analyses of theoretical and substantive issues which have clear rele- vance to progressive political intervention. Although we welcome papers on a broad range of topics, members of the editorial board work within a feminist and (post) Marxist tradition. Therefore, we encourage submissions which advance or challenge questions and contemporary issues raised by these two broadly defined perspectives. We also welcome commentaries and reviews of recent publications and works in progress. Alternate Routes is currently seeking submissions for Volume 17, 2001. Papers should be submitted double-spaced and in triplicate, following the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing system, keeping end- notes to a minimum. Floppy disks formatted in WordPerfect or Microsoft Word arc required for papers accepted for publication. Back issues of alternate routes arc available at the following prices per vol- ume: Current Issue (Volume 16, 2000) — Individuals $12.00; Students/ Un(der)employcd $6.00; Institutions $21.50. Volume 15/14 (99/97): Individuals $12.00; Students/Un(dcr)cmploycd $4.00; Institutions $12.00. All previous years: Individuals $3.00; Studcnts/Un(dcr)cmployed $1.50; Institutions $6.00 . Alternate Routes is indexed in Sociological Abstracts and the Left Index. The Alternate Routes Collective greatfully acknowledge the financial assis- tance ol the Carleton University community; the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology and it's Chair, John Shepherd; the late Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, Mill Jones, the Dean ol Graduate Studies and Research, Roger Mlock- ley; and the Vice-President of Research, John ApSimon. We also wish lo great- fully thank all the anonymous reviewers. Volume 16, 2000 Chemins AUernatif Perspectives Sexual and Ethnic Scripts in the Context of African American Culture Rory Johnstone The study of North American homosexual integration within a predomi- nately heterosexual environment is not a new endeavor. On the other hand, there has been minimal examination of the same issue when focus- ing on ethnic minority groups. The following discussion explores the challenges of homosexual life in the context of the "Afrocentric 1 " frame- work. The difficulties of interlocking modern homosexuality and mod- ern African American culture can be attributed to societal scripts2 that dictate insular boundaries and rules based on ethnic origin and sexual orientation. These scripts are founded on widespread, narrow-minded notions of perceived truth and, consequently, prescribe the direction of cultural behaviours. Society has created gay male and black male modes of behaviour while simultaneously dictating that one can be aligned exclusively but never mutually. In order to understand the lack of cohe- siveness one must first investigate the scripts allied to the homosexual male and the afrocentric male. Through examination of these clashed outlines it becomes apparent that aligning oneself equally with both scripts is next to impossible and any attempt to do so is, in essence, social suicide. Homosexuality has existed throughout human history and therefore sexual orientation is linked to genetics and is not a script. That said, the traits that society has linked to sexual orientation is a script. Society instills a notion that heterosexual males and homosexual males must act Volume 16, 2000 5 Alternate Routes in a radically different way, but this behaviour is grounded in gender roles and not sexual orientation. It could be argued that experimentation with gentler roles is the most elementary form of societal script defiance but the rebellion has been progressively organized to form a convenient distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals. The celebration of homosexuality through the rise of 'gay' culture has coded new conven- tions of behaviour for the homosexual.The shift from the 'closeted' life- style to the 'out of the closet' lifestyle has created a new context for gay males, where distinct cultural recognition has become crucial for social and relational life. Concurrently, society creates a script for gay males that becomes the antithesis of the script for 'straight' males. More spe- cifically, the script for gay males becomes congruent with the script for the female gender role. Gay males who abide by the script tend to be bound to stereotypically effeminate social behaviour. The behaviour is recognized in the context of social situations and functionally provides a type of relation filtering. In essence, the creation of contrasting scripts is a social effort to segregate between the heterosexual and the homo- sexual. Modern African American culture has also been written an underly- ing script. Societal perceptions of the 'Afrocentric' male are bound to traits of rebelliousness, vigor, power, athleticism and, consequently, the idyllic notion of masculinity. Recalling that the script for the gay male is essentially the repelling of masculinity, it is no wonder that 'afrocen- tricity' and homosexuality do not have a symbiotic relationship. Build- ing on this tension, a report conducted by Adams Jr. and Kimmel (1997) suggests that gay culture is dismissed as a "white phenomena" within the African American Community. This notion may be reinforced due to the fact that gay black men are much more likely to have an interra- cial partner than heterosexual black men. A study by Peplau et al. (1997) showed that 42% of the men involved in her research were engaged in an interracial relationship, predominately with white men. This can lead to a perception that black gay males are conforming to 'white culture' and simultaneously abandoning their 'Black roots.' The danger in this theory, among other things, is the aligning of sexual orien- tation with 'authentic ethnicity.' Wallace (1979) suggests in her book, lil