COMMUNITIES, COMMODITIES, CULTURAL SPACE, AND STYLE

This article explores the interconnections between queer communities a nd cultural space(s) in the context of style, Visibility issues and po litics have become important to gay communities in the U.S. Gays and l esbians use clothing and appearance style to signal membership in or s eparation from specific cultures or communities. Within commodity capi tal, the heuristic categories of 'subculture' and 'target market' desc ribe space or spaces that gays and lesbians occupy, and often occupy d ifferently, based on self positionality within gay cultures, within co mmodity capital, and in relation to gender-specific discourse. Based o n in-depth interviews with 60 lesbians and gays, this paper illuminate s the ambivalences gays and lesbians express in embracing 'subculture' and 'target market' as categories to establish differences and fashio n identities within the current cultural economy.