Esther Newton Explained

Esther Newton
Birth Place:New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation:Author, anthropologist, professor
Known For:Anthropological studies of drag queens and ethnographies of the LGBT community

Esther Newton (born 1940, New York City) is an American cultural anthropologist who performed pioneering work on the ethnography of lesbian and gay communities in the United States.

Career

Newton studied history at the University of Michigan and received her BA with distinction in 1962 before starting graduate work in anthropology at the University of Chicago under David M. Schneider.[1]

Her PhD dissertation, "The drag queens; a study in urban anthropology" (1968), examined the experiences, social interactions, and culture of drag queens, or (mostly gay-identified) men who dressed and performed as women in various kinds of theatrical settings or as an expression/performance of their sexual identity. Later published in several articles and as Mother camp: female impersonators in America (1972), Newton's work represented the first major anthropological study of a homosexual community in the United States, and laid some of the groundwork for theorists such as Judith Butler, who would later explore the performative dimensions of sex and gender roles.[1]

Her second book, Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty years in America's first gay and lesbian town (1993), used oral history and ethnographic methods to document the changing dynamics of Cherry Grove, a beach resort on Fire Island, New York, and one of the oldest and most visible predominantly lesbian and gay male communities in the United States.

Newton is currently Professor Emerita of Anthropology and Kempner Distinguished Research Professor at Purchase College, State University of New York. She is also a lecturer in Women's Studies and American Culture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Personal life

Newton identifies as lesbian.[2] She is in a long-term relationship with lesbian-feminist performance artist Holly Hughes.[3] They married in 2015.[4]

Newton is the daughter of psychotherapist Saul B. Newton.[5]

Awards

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Rubin, Gayle (2002) "Studying Sexual Subcultures: excavating the ethnography of gay communities in urban North America." In Ellen Lewin & William Leap (Eds.), Out in Theory: the emergence of lesbian and gay anthropology. Pp: 17-68. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
  2. Newton, Esther (2000) Margaret Mead made me gay: personal essays, public ideas. Duke University Press.
  3. Web site: Levitt . Aimee . May 23, 2013 . Chicago Reader . Queer histories in the making .
  4. Book: Newton, Esther . 2018 . My Butch Career: A Memoir . Acknowledgements . Duke University Press . 9781478001294.
  5. News: Lambert . Bruce . December 23, 1991 . New York Times . Saul Newton, 85, Psychotherapist And Leader of Commune, Dies .
  6. Web site: Lecture Honors Esther Newton's Butch Career – CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies . 2022-05-15 . en-US.

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