Esther Newton (born 1940,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portman ...

who did pioneering work on the

ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

communities in the United States.

Career

Newton studied history at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and received her BA with distinction in 1962 before starting graduate work in anthropology at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

under

David M. Schneider David Murray Schneider (November 11, 1918, Brooklyn, New York – October 30, 1995, Santa Cruz, California) was an American cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology app ...

.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. Her PhD dissertation, "The drag queens; a study in urban anthropology" (1968), examined the experiences, social interactions, and culture of

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

s, 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 Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

community in the United States, and laid some of the groundwork for theorists such as

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...

, who would later explore the performative dimensions of sex and gender roles. 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 Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long ...

, and one of the oldest and most visible predominantly lesbian and gay male communities in the United States. Newton is currently

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Anthropology and Kempner Distinguished Research Professor at

Purchase College Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

. 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. She is in a long-term relationship with lesbian-feminist performance artist Holly Hughes. They married in 2015. Newton is the daughter of

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

Saul B. Newton.

Awards

* 1994:

Ruth Benedict Prize The Ruth Benedict Prize is an award given annually by the American Anthropological Association's "to acknowledge excellence in a scholarly book written from an anthropological perspective about a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender topic". The aw ...

for ''Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America's First Gay and Lesbian Town'' (1993). * 1995: David R. Kessler Award for LGBTQ Studies, CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies * 2000: Ruth Benedict Prize for ''Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas'' (2000).

Bibliography

* * * (co-editor) * (co-authored with Shirley Walton) * * * * * * (Lesbian History project,

) *

References

External links

*
Esther Newton
faculty profile,

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Esther 1940 births American anthropologists American women anthropologists Lesbian academics American lesbian writers LGBT anthropologists University of Michigan alumni Living people 21st-century American women