Abstract

David M. Halperin's "How to be Gay" (2012) can be read as an attempt to show the weakness of heteronormativity when it is subjected to the critical reflection by those who do not conform to its regime. Halperin introduces a number of arguments which are of great relevance not only for a better understanding of what he terms «gay culture», but also for the wider debate on the struggle against heteronormativity and its strategies. In this article I firstly discuss the notion of gay culture, to consider, secondly, the implications of Halperin's assumption according to which «femininity» can be considered as a «proxy identity» for gay men. In the last section, I show what the relevant aspects are of Halperin's positions for current feminist debates.