Entertaining Lesbians: Celebrity, Sexuality, and Self-Invention

Before the rise of celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and k.d. lang, lesbians were rarely in the limelight and the few that were often did not fare well. Times have changed and today's famous lesbians are popular icons.Entertaining Lesbianscharts the rise of lesbians in the public eye, proposing that celebrity has never been a simple matter of opening closet doors, portraying "positive images," or becoming "role models." Stars from Melissa Etheridge to Rosie O'Donnell send the message that being out is now acceptable, but how much of the public's acceptance of these stars can be credited to their expertise in self-invention? Gever traces the history of lesbians in popular culture during the twentieth century, including Radclyffe Hall, Greta Garbo, Mercedes de Acosta, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Mae Brown, and Martina Navratilova, to explore the paradoxes inherent in lesbian celebrity. Original and provocative,Entertaining Lesbianstakes a groundbreaking look at the risk and rewards ofbeing not just out of the closet, but out in the public eye.