Rainbow Jews: Jewish and Gay Identity in the Performing Arts

by Jonathan C. Friedman

Overview

Rainbow Jews deals with the intersection of gay and Jewish identity in American and Israeli film and theater, from the 1960s to the present. Its main area of interest is the extent to which Jewish creative voices in the performing arts have constructed multidimensional images of, and a welcoming public space for, the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community as a whole. Through a close reading of the texts of numerous American and Israeli plays and films (some famous, but mostly lesser known), the author evaluates some of the key conventions and tropes that have been employed to construct, critique, and reflect the social reality of the connection between Jewishness and gay identity in the United States and Israel. Secondarily, the author explores ways in which gay-Jewish playwrights and filmmakers have assisted the re-evaluation of sexual norms within Judaism over the past three decades, inspiring and reinforcing measures across the spectrum of belief geared towards integrating Jewish members of the GLBT community into the overall Jewish historical narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739114476
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	03/26/2007
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	6.33(w) x 9.35(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Jonathan C. Friedman is associate professor of history at West Chester University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Homophobia and Tolerance in Judaism
Chapter 2 Jews, Homosexuality, and the Performing Arts in the United States: The Evolution of a Sensibility, 1890-1969
Chapter 3 Gay Jewish Voices "Come Out": Plays and Films, 1969-1982
Chapter 4 Kaddish: AIDS, Jews, and the Performing Arts
Chapter 5 The 'Great Work' Continues: Gay Jewish Representations in American Film and Theater, 1990 to the Present
Chapter 6 A Minority within Several Minorites: Jewish-Lesbian Films and Plays
Chapter 7 Queer in the Holy Land: Gay and Lesbian Cinema in Israel