Peter M. Nardi

Children of Alcoholics: A Role-Theoretical Perspective

Summary A review of the literature on children of alcoholics demonstrates a need for a social-psychological study assessing the processes and outcomes of growing up in an alcoholic family. A research strategy was developed using the concepts of role theory and focusing on role conflict, sex-role development, and the acquisition of coping roles. It is believed that viewing the issue from this perspective leads to a sharper analysis of the dynamics of growing up in an alcoholic family than is currently available. It also presents a clearer perspective as to how so many children of alcoholics become alcoholic themselves and suggests strategies for research, treatment, and prevention.

THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE GAY & LESBIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL MOVEMENT: Some Observations about Europe with a Focus on Italy

The emergence of new social movements focused on gay and lesbian issues during the past 25 years has been well documented in American society. The diffusion of a gay and lesbian socio-political movement in other Western cultures and many developing societies has been the subject of more recent inquiries. This article assesses the globalization of the international gay and lesbian social movement by focusing on Europe and Italy, in particular, and raises questions about the socio-political conditions that might be necessary for the development of a new social movement—one based on sexual orientation identity concepts rather than one based on age-structured or gender-structured relationships. Historical information about social and legal changes in Italy and in the rest of Europe is presented along with current issues facing the increasingly visible gay movement in Italy. What emerges is a portrait of a culture changing and questioning its relationship to traditional patriarchal, religious, and gender concepts while becoming interconnected with global gay and lesbian communities and issues.

The social world of magicians: Gender and conjuring

This paper discusses the relationship of gender to magic. It explores sociological and social-psychological reasons, both historically and in contemporary society, for the dearth of women magicians. Such factors as the social-structural dimensions of the magic profession, the socialization of gender roles in play and communications, the nature of magic, and the role of power and control in a performance are discussed. The uses of magic as a metaphor for an analysis of gender roles in everyday life are proposed in the concluding section.

Sociology at Play, or Truth in the Pleasant Disguise of Illusion 2006 Presidential Address to the Pacific Sociological Association

Teaching sociology can involve the creative use of play, illusion, and truth. Building on ideas of Postman and Weingartners Teaching as a Subversive Activity and Paolo Freires Pedagogy of the Oppressed, this presidential address illustrates how making meaning out of play, using illusions and myths in courses, and seeking truth through praxis in advocacy research and public sociology can challenge our students to higher levels of critical thinking.

“Fruits,” “Fags,” and “Dykes”: The Portrayal of Gay/Lesbian Identity in “Nance” Jokes of the ’50s and ’60s

ABSTRACT What is humorous and how it is interpreted very much depends on the norms and values of a culture at a particular point in time, the characteristics of who is telling jokes, and the makeup of the audience. This article presents archival material and an analysis of an outsiders jokes about gays and lesbians. These were told to primarily heterosexual audiences by a heterosexual comic. They reveal the assumptions Americans held about gays and lesbians throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and a few years into the mid-1970s, when most of these jokes were compiled. Although generalizations about gay/lesbian humor in that period cannot be made from one persons private collection of nearly 1,000 jokes, they do reveal several clear patterns: Much of the humor about male homosexuality is used to debase men and their masculinity, by making them passive, feminine, or weak, except for their hypersexuality. The women are also depicted in the jokes as sexually eager, especially to give oral sex to possibly straight women or acting in the male insertor role. Rarely were the gay/lesbian jokes focused on political issues of discrimination, oppression, or romantic relationships.