Books and Selected Scholarly Articles
The Tolerance Trap
How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality
by Suzanna Danuta Walters
NYU Press (June 3, 2014)
From Glee to gay marriage, from lesbian senators to out gay Marines, we have undoubtedly experienced a seismic shift in attitudes about gays in American politics and culture. Our reigning national story is that a new era of rainbow acceptance is at hand. But dig a bit deeper, and this seemingly brave new gay world is disappointing. For all of the undeniable changes, the plea for tolerance has sabotaged the full integration of gays into American life. Same-sex marriage is unrecognized and unpopular in the vast majority of states, hate crimes proliferate, and even in the much-vaunted “gay friendly” world of Hollywood and celebrity culture, precious few stars are openly gay.
In The Tolerance Trap, Suzanna Walters takes on received wisdom about gay identities and gay rights, arguing that we are not “almost there,” but on the contrary have settled for a watered-down goal of tolerance and acceptance rather than a robust claim to comprehensive civil rights. Indeed, we tolerate unpleasant realities: medicine with strong side effects, a long commute, an annoying relative. Drawing on a vast array of sources and sharing her own personal journey, Walters shows how the low bar of tolerance demeans rather than ennobles both gays and straights alike. Her fascinating examination covers the gains in political inclusion and the persistence of anti-gay laws, the easy-out sexual freedom of queer youth, and the suicides and murders of those in decidedly intolerant environments. She challenges both “born this way” story lines, which root civil rights in biology, and “God made me this way” arguments, which similarly situate sexuality as innate and impervious to decisions we make to shape it.
A sharp and provocative cultural critique, this book deftly argues that a too-soon declaration of victory short-circuits full equality and deprives us all of the transformative possibilities of deep integration. Tolerance is not the end goal, but a dead end. In The Tolerance Trap, Walters presents a complicated snapshot of a world-shifting moment in American history—one that is both a wake-up call and a call to arms for anyone seeking genuine equality.
Praise for The Tolerance Trap
“Finally, a writer and critical thinker has treated queerness with true insight, and proper respect for its complexities and contradictions. Thank you, Suzanna Walters, for bringing so much rigor and balance; such ardent, subtle questioning; such respect for genuine human rights to the horrifically over-simplified term ‘tolerance.’”
Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
“The Tolerance Trap brilliantly and boldly goes where few have gone before. It rattles the cage of tolerance in pursuit of true gay liberation. For gays and straights alike, it challenges us to be more our quirky, original, sexual, gorgeous selves and to settle for nothing less than radical love and freedom.”
Eve Ensler, playwright and creator of The Vagina Monologues
“The last decade has brought astonishing changes in the arena of lesbian and gay rights, culture, and everyday life, but The Tolerance Trap—part memoir, part polemic, part sociological analysis—uncovers the troubling dilemmas inside of them. Walters brings her formidable brain, disarming humor, and sharp tongue to bear on the question of why it just sucks to be tolerated.”
Joshua Gamson, author of Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America
“Walters has a wicked sense of humor, and in The Tolerance Trap she wields it to argue against tolerance. This is a beautifully written and provocative brief for the integration of queer difference in U.S. society. Combining personal stories with analysis of popular culture, public opinion, movement activism, and trends in gay life today, Walters evaluates where we are in this contemporary moment, showing that we have both come a long way and have a long way to go. And tolerance, she insists, is not the way to get there. After reading this book, you’ll never want to be tolerated again.”
Leila J. Rupp, author of Sapphistries: A History of Love between Women
Selected Reviews for The Tolerance Trap
What happened to the Kick-Ass Gay Rights Movement? | The Guardian reviews The Tolerance Trap
Lambda Literary reviews The Tolerance Trap
Kirkus reviews The Tolerance Trap
Should the Gay Community Aim for ‘Normality’? | The Independent reviews The Tolerance Trap
A Dark Side of the Focus on Gay Marriage | NPR reviews The Tolerance Trap
The Tolerance Trap Interviews and Book Tour
Interviews:
- Ideaspehere with Guy Rathbun | PRX | March 14, 2014
- Guy Rathbun with KCBX | March 14, 2014
- Wedding Bells in Little Rock | Suzi Parker with TakePart.com | May 12, 2014
- Will This Gay Marriage Fight Be the One that Goes to the Supreme Court? | Hayley Fox with TakePart.com | May 14, 2014
- Smart People Podcast | May 18, 2014
- Specific Gravity with Jeff Schectman | May 23, 2014
- The Peter Collins Show | May 29, 2014
- The Matthew Filipowicz Show | Progressive Political Talk | May 29, 2014
- Author Questions Culture on Tolerance in New Book | Philadelphia Gay News | Larry Nichols May 29, 2014
- The Anita Rufus Show | June 1, 2014
- Conversations with Peter Solomon | WIP AM/FM | June 1, 2014
- The David Pakman Show | June 3, 2014
- Behind the News with Don Henwood | KPFA | June 5, 2014
- Thinking Out Loud with Charlotte Crockford | Feminist Edition | WUML | June 6, 2014
- The Liberal Fix with Keith Brekhus and Naomi Minogue | Blogtalk Radio | June 7, 2014
- Conversations Live! with Cyrus Webb | June 10, 2014
- Conversation with Doug Henwood | Left Business Observer News | June 12, 2014
- 3Qs with Professor Suzanna Walters | Northeastern CSSH, Jason Kornwitz | June 13, 2014
- Chuck Morse Speaks | June 15, 2014
- Uprising Radio with Sonali Kolhatkar, Part 1 | June 16, 2014
- The Matthew Filipowicz Show | Progressive Political Talk | June 17, 2014
- RAG Radio Friday | KOOP | June 19, 2014
- Professor Not Interested in State Validation of Her Relationship | Speak Out! MSNBC | June 20, 2014
- Interview on Outbeat News In Depth | June 22, 2014
- The Bill Newman Show | WHMP | June 23, 2014
- Why We’re Not a Post-Gay Society | WGBH with Alison Bruzek and Catherine Whelan | June 23, 2014
- Northeast Public Radio with Joe Donahue | WAMC | June 24, 2014
- Pride Q & A – From the Square | NYU Press Blog | June 30, 2014
- The Rag Blog with Thorne Dreyer | RAG Radio | June 30, 2014
- The Joy Cardin Show | Wisconsin Public Radio | July 2, 2014
- Through the Eyes of Women Radio with Emma Breacain | KHSU | July 14, 2014
- The Focus Group with John T. Knash | Sirius FM | July 19, 2014
Mentions:
- Author Dr. Suzanna Danuta Walters Challenges Gay Orthodoxies at Rice Lecture in February | Brandon Wolf | Out Smart | January 8, 2016
Book Tour Speaking Engagements:
- Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT | April 17, 2014
- University of Vermont, Burlington, VT | April 18, 2014
- Out Professionals at NYU, NY | June 4, 2014
- Barnes & Noble, New York City, NY | June 5, 2014
- Book Soup, Los Angeles, CA | June 10, 2014
- Books Inc. at Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CA | June 11, 2014
- US Attorney General’s Office Reading, Washington D.C. | June 17, 2014
- Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA | June 19, 2014
- See full video here!
- The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL | June 21, 2014
- Provincetown Public Library, Provincetown, MA | June 26, 2014
- Mensa Annual Gathering, Boston, MA | July 2, 2014
- William Way Center, Philadelphia, PA | July 3, 2014
- Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown, MA | July 30, 2014
- National Women’s Studies Association Annual Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico | Nov. 15, 2014
Buy The Tolerance Trap
Earlier Books by Professor Walters
All the Rage
The Story of Gay Visibility in America
University of Chicago Press
From the public outing of Ellen DeGeneres and the success of Will and Grace to the vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, recent years have seen gay lives and images move onto the center stage of American public life. In this incisive and authoritative guide to the new gay visibility, Suzanna Danuta Walters argues that we now live in a time when gays are seen, but not necessarily known.
Material Girls
Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory
University of California Press
Madonna, Murphy Brown, Thelma and Louise: These much-discussed media icons are the starting points of Suzanna Walter’s brilliant, much-needed introduction to feminist cultural theory. Accessible yet theoretically sophisticated, up-to-date and entertaining, Material Girls acquaints readers with the major theories, debates, and concepts in this new and exciting field.
Lives Together/Worlds Apart
Mothers and Daughters in Popular Culture
University of California Press
In a discussion of popular media ranging from themes of maternal martyrdom to maternal malevolence, Walters shows that since World War II, mainstream culture has generally represented the mother/daughter relationship as one of never-ending conflict and thus promoted an “ideology of separation” as necessary to the daughter’s emancipation and maturity.