Construction of Sexual and Cultural Identities

Constantinos N. Phellas, Dr, Senior Lecturer of Social Research Methods, Department of Sociology, South Bank University, London. He was previously a Research Fellow of Health Promotion & Evaluation at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has also been actively involved in gay men's counselling and gay organisations over the past 15 years.

• Contents: Zorba the gay Greek man; Identities, stigma and the control of disclosure; Three worlds in collision; Cypriot culture and homosexuality; Methodological issues; The gay Greek-Cypriot man in Britain: a profile; Epilogue; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

’Cypriot gay men stand in a crucial relationship to two contrasting forms of sexual division - Mediterranean or ancient ( where being the penetrator - of whichever gender - makes the man) and modern western where the gender of the partner marks the distinction between hetero - and homo-sexuality. Here Dr Phellas presents us with a unique sociological and empathic study of these men, as they encounter and respond to London’s cosmopolitan life. It could not be a more important and timely contribution to our understanding of the varied faces of sexualities in the modern world and to how diverse the range of their responses is.’ Professor Tony Coxon, University of Essex, UK