| Abstract: | This paper sets out to explore the construction of a market based on identity. The interest lies upon the emergence and present understanding of the gay male market. To achieve this, an understanding is percolated through social contructionism in general and the areas of ideology, language, and power in particular. The first section of the paper deals with the historical external understandings of homosexuality, which fit into three overlapping phases: the moral, social, and medical. Following on from this, these three phases are then reflected through film. The second section deals with internal formation and is tied into wider social changes. The assent and naturalization of homosexuality is outlined where the possibilities of a gay market emerge. This is then also reflected through film. The final section deals with one of the present preoccupations when dealing with the gay male market, which is the aspect of identity through consumption. This is shown to tie into present wider concerns with the dominance of consumption as the mediator of identity. |
