Abstract
The affective turn in social and cultural studies has reorientated the study of queer subjectivity to the conditions of a history marked by shame and insult. Using textual sources from comedy sketch shows, The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain, this article presents a psychosocial reading of ‘shame’ and ‘insult’ in contemporary representations of gay male sexuality. This article illustrates how humour and comedy are used to regulate social norms and air contemporary anxieties about the changing social values in relation to sexuality in the UK context. The analysis is located within a critical reflection on the transformative politics of the Gay Shame movement as an alternative movement to Gay Pride. The article concludes by considering the distinction between a cultural ‘coming out’ of shame and the affective consequences that ‘shame’ can have in individual narratives of sexual identity formation and suicidal distress.
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Notes
I recognise the importance of LGB and T political coalitions and that trans people are also included in some studies of suicidal risk. However for the purpose of this paper my focus is on the intersection of accounts on shame and sexuality, and trans people are only mentioned when research specifically included them.
I am grateful to Catherine Tate and the producers at Tiger Aspect production for allowing the use of this transcript and image.
Given the visual nature of reading expressions of affect the reader is encouraged to view the sketches mentioned in order to give depth to the reading presented here.
I am grateful to Matt Lucas, David Walliams and the BBC for permitting the use of the following transcript.
The BBC has consistently defended Chris Moyles despite a number of sources noting the sensitivity of the age group he broadcasts to. See http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/gambaccini-chris-moyles-causes-human-suffering/2022741.article.
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