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Paperback
Publisher: Plume
A psychotherapist presents an innovative approach to confronting the discrimination faced by gay and lesbian individuals that reveals why people hate, how to channel anger, the origins of prejudice, and how to prevail in homophobic situations.
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| How to be proud and how to stand up for yourself |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Great book for people struggling with being gay and that have to deal with bigots.The book teaches you why people hate, anger management,true morality vs. christian morality,different ways to respond to anti-gay comments, points to bring up when you're dealing with homophobic family,friends, co-workers and strangers,dispelling gay myths and more. Excellent book.
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| Let's Give It Up for the Self-Esteem Diva! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Dr. Betty Berzon wrote a great book. Her passion and her sincerity have literally helped change lives. She was a psychotherapist who specialized in self-help for GLBT folk. It is a shame that she had to pass in 2006 at 78, as it was amazing to read and watch her work.
In this particular book of hers, she arms her readers with the ammunition to take homophobia head-on. First, she builds the reader's confidence in themselves and tries to get one to confront their own internalized homophobia. This is perhaps one of the most effective parts of the book.
From there, like a good psychotherapist, she proceeds to take us into the minds of the most common types of homophobes that we encounter in our daily lives. She deconstructs their motivations and desires and lets us know what they are really trying to say. We encounter everyone from the hateful Neo-Nazi to that adorable Aunt who loves you so much that she wants to save your soul from Hell.
Finally, she arms her readers with examples of what to say and how to say it. Some of her answers sound quite witty and are enough to silence even the professional homophobe. Though the rhetoric is indeed changing a bit, and new things will have to be invented to coincide with how vile and creative radical anti-gay groups like the American Family Association and Family Research Council are getting, I believe the fact that Berzon guides her reader down a path of self-confidence and in dealing with such people, proves more important than the timeliness of her suggested responses.
Though Berzon's book is not perfect and a little bit dated, I believe that it's a fabulous start and gets right to the nitty gritty, unlike some other GLBT-themed books which waste their their writing and re-writing fluff on the almost beat-to-death topics of coming-of-age and coming-out.
Whenever I'm feeling discouraged or depressed as a result of people giving me grief over being gay, I turn to Betty's book. She's a angel and her words serve to inspire so many. Even in death, she remains alive!
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| Sometimes snappy answers just aren't good enough |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Although some readers seem to have gotten a great benefit from Ms. Berzon's book, sometimes complicated questions deserve more complicated answers. At one point, she argues that a person very likely is born homosexual. And yet, at another, in disputing the use of the Bible to justify bigotry argues that the Bible never discusses sexual orientation. As she says, nothing was known of such things in the ancient world (apparently despite people having in-bred same-sex attractions). Missing is the extensive scholarship revealing how intimately homophobia relates to the development of modern capitalism.
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| Gay Empowerment At Its Finest |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I just finished reading this wonderful book by Dr. Berzon and I must say that it's gay empowerment at its finest! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is gay or knows someone who is gay but I recommend it even more to those who are unfamiliar with who and what gay really is. I'm now ordering a copy to be sent to my Christian mother. I wished all of our lawmakers would read this enlightend masterpiece!
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| Turn the argument around. |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I agree with all the comments (good and bad) that one reader made under the Amazon review heading "Usually helpful, but sometimes too brusque. March 11, 1999." However, I want to add that I love the way Berzon helps turn arguments around, forcing the attacker to not only examine his/her own words, but also why s/he would say them. Berzon uses her background in psychotherapy to help people search for the roots of bigotry. All gays and lesbians should read this book; their supporters should as well. Berzon offers knowledge, inspiration, and empowerment.
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