Esther Newton

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Esther Newton
Born1940 (age 84–85)
New York, New York, U.S.
Education
Occupation Anthropologist
Employers
Known forAnthropological studies of drag queens and ethnographies of the LGBT community

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

Contents

Career

Newton studied history at the University of Michigan and received her Bachelor of Arts 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. 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 gay communities in the United States. [2]

Newton is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and was the 1998-2000 Kempner Distinguished Research Professor at Purchase College. [3] She was also a professor in Women's Studies and American Culture at the University of Michigan. [4]

Personal life

Newton is a lesbian. [5] She is in a long-term relationship with performance artist Holly Hughes. [6] They married in 2015. [7]

Newton is the daughter of psychotherapist Saul B. Newton. [8]

Awards

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Rubin, Gayle (January 2012). "Studying Sexual Subcultures: Excavating the Ethnography of Gay Communities in Urban North America". Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader. Duke University Press. doi:10.1215/9780822394068-014. ISBN   978-0-8223-9406-8.
  2. ↑ Newton, Esther (1993). Cherry Grove, Fire Island : sixty years in America's first gay and lesbian town. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN   978-0-8070-7926-3.
  3. ↑ "Esther Newton". Purchase College. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Esther Newton". U-M LSA Women's and Gender Studies. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  5. ↑ Newton, Esther (2000). Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas. Duke University Press. doi:10.1215/9780822381341. ISBN   978-0-8223-2604-5.
  6. ↑ Levitt, Aimee (May 23, 2013). "Queer histories in the making". Chicago Reader.
  7. ↑ Newton, Esther (2018). "Acknowledgements". My Butch Career: A Memoir. Duke University Press. p. x. doi:10.1215/9781478002727. ISBN   978-1-4780-0272-7.
  8. ↑ Lambert, Bruce (December 23, 1991). "Saul Newton, 85, Psychotherapist And Leader of Commune, Dies". New York Times.
  9. ↑ "The Ruth Benedict Prize". Association for Queer Anthropology (AQA). Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Lecture Honors Esther Newton's Butch Career – CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies" . Retrieved 2022-05-15.
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