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dashadashahi's review against another edition
4.0
Mississippi has largely been left out of the literature on queer history, viewed as a monolith of repression which anyone with queer tendencies escaped from to move to urban centres. Indeed, Howard argues that identity-based networks existed outside of urban centres and demonstrates how class and race influenced the everyday experiences of same-sex desiring men in Mississippi and how their patterns were a part of, not away from, everyday spaces of community (p. 77). Howard aptly demonstrates how these men shaped and were shaped by their environment and were entrenched into the patterns of daily life. For example, men utilized the many desolate dirt paths as queer spaces that afforded them privacy (p. 81). To varying degrees, these men subverted religious and culturally-reinforced ideas about gender and sexuality. Finally, Howard demonstrates that progress does not move along in a linear fashion. Certainly, the Civil Rights Movement’s association with Queer Civil Rights activists brought repression down for both groups in the mid to late 1960s in contrast to the years previous.
michaelpadden's review
3.0
This was a good book. Howard's structure changes throughout which takes a little getting used to. It can be dry in places, but I found it an interesting depiction of gay live in southern rural cities. I think the most interesting take away was his discussion of how gay men and women weren't persecuted harshly in these communities until the started to align themselves with the civil rights movement. This book looks at Mississippi from 1945-1985. It ends right when HIV/AIDS enters the picture.
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