BOOKISH: Tree-hugging Catholics, straight people history and philly's poet laureate!

Each week, Nina Willbach keeps you "lit" like a hot air balloon. This week: tree-hugging Catholics, the history of straight people, and philly's very own poet laureate Sonia Sanchez!

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BOOKISH: Tree-hugging Catholics, straight people history and philly's poet laureate!

POSTED: Friday, April 13, 2012, 11:00 AM

Filed Under: Events Books

Each week, Nina Willbach puts together a rundown of book-centric events. This week:tree-hugging Catholics, the history of straight people and Sonia Sanchez!

Friday, April 13

The History of Straight People

Most of the discussion surrounding queer identity has to do with creating specific words for this or that sexual leaning. What used to be the “gay” community became the “LGBT” community. After further discussion, this already long string of letters got a “Q” and sometimes an “A” tagged on to include just about everyone who's not a self-proclaimed homophobe. In the search for appropriate terminology among a minority community, there's a lot of defining in opposition to the perceived mainstream: if we're not straight, we're gay. If we're not heterosexual, then we must be some other sort of sexual. But at what point did a straight identity become synonymous with the mainstream? This is the question asked by Hanne Blank in her newest book Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality. The book chronicles the term “heterosexual”, from its invention in the 1860s, to its subsequent influence on Western laws and culture. She explores why, in a world where men and women had been procreating for years, the term surfaced as a distinct word for a lifestyle that many would come to know as “normal”. In this little-known history, Blank paints a vivid picture of the intersection between language, culture, and sexuality that continues to shape our world.

5:30 p.m., free, Giovanni's Room, 345 S. 12th St., giovannisroom.com.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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