In this book, part of Oxford University Press' series ‘Studies in language, gender, and sexuality’, Rusty Barrett takes us on a fascinating ethnographic journey through the language practices of various gay male subcultures in the United States. These are respectively drag queens, radical faeries, bears, circuit boys, barebackers, and leathermen. Barrett sets out to show how gay men within these different subcultures construct identities through semiotic systems of both gender and sexuality, as well as systems of social class and race. In doing so, he succeeds in challenging conventional notions of a monolithic ‘gay identity’ to demonstrate the plurality of gay male subjectivities through a detailed analysis of the indexical meanings conveyed by the language they use.

The first chapter covers the theoretical background to his analysis, where he explains the concepts of performativity, indexicality, and language ideology, and importantly introduces the notion of indexical disjuncture, defined as the use of indexical signs that are ‘counter to normative expectations of the relationship between context and form’ (17). An example of indexical disjuncture given here would be when African American drag queens use linguistic forms that index white, middle-class women. Barrett explains that linguistic disjuncture is especially relevant for understanding gay male subcultures as it is a way of indicating (sub)cultural distinctiveness.

The following chapters focus on each subculture in turn. Chapter 2 examines the language used in the performances of African American drag queens. The analysis challenges many of the assumptions associated with drag, such as the idea that drag queens desire to be women, as well as the feminist notion of drag as politically liberating, because the performances may often sustain forms of misogyny and sexism. In chapter 3, we learn how a radical faerie identity emerges from the intersections of indexical signs that relate to understandings of gender from various religions and cultures, and at different times and places. Chapter 4 looks at bear identity through the indexical disjunctures of language that indexes masculinities associated with southern US working-class men but also that which is associated with camp performances of sophistication. In contrast, the circuit boys of chapter 5 use camp to underscore cultural differences between gay and straight forms of masculinity. This sustains an ideology in which circuit boys perceive themselves to be superior to straight men. Barebacker identity in chapter 6 is shown to be constructed through interactional stances that challenge dominant ideologies of sexual morality. Finally, the leathermen in chapter 7 likewise construct the persona of ‘sexual outlaws’, but their performances of masculinity also index the imagined characteristics of good American citizens, for example, of self-discipline and patriotism.

The analysis conducted throughout these chapters thus demonstrates how language is used to construct sexual identities far beyond normative ideas of what it means to identify as a gay man. As such, this book is essential reading for anyone with in interest in how a linguistic approach can be used to better understand the intersections between gender/sexuality and other social systems.