John Howard (5) (1962–)

Men Like That focuses on Mississippi, 1945-1985. It occasionally spills over into other southern states, and I feel the title is accurate, but it’s about one southern queer history in particular. It essentially functions as a summary of queer history in that time, because southern/rural queerness had been pretty much ignored in favor of the big, more-easily-studied coastal cities. Further, Howard’s argument is “men like that” in Mississippi didn’t fit into the traditional urban show more narrative. They didn’t “come out” in the same way, they didn’t generally find liberation by migrating to the cities, and they largely didn’t partake in identity politics at all during this time period. However, that doesn’t mean they were exactly “closeted” or even “oppressed” in the way we might think. They were actually incredibly active, just not in the same way as queer men in the cities. They had their own networks and systems and ways of being, and it’s those activities Howard will describe.

The book is separated into two parts. The first uses oral histories to narrate a loose history, an impression of the time period as a whole for queer men. He frankly discusses the limits of this type of history, the types of narratives received when a historian asks for queer interviewees — you miss out on the huge pool of men who “liked that,” but weren’t “like that.” Still, even though it’s limited, it’s useful. The second part of the book, larger in size, deals with more traditional historical methods. It’s more chronological, and covers such history-ish things as laws, activist organizing, public backlash, the civil rights movement, and fictional representations (not in that order).

Full review: https://hannahgivens.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/book-review-men-like-that-a-southe... show less