Straight Jacket

Ive read “The Velvet Rage” by Alan Downs and by and large i found this book built on the ideas covered there. I found much of the stories to be impactful and at times quite troubling. Being gay in a heteronormative society is not easy, but add the macho aggression found here in Australia and it changes it to a very bleak place.

I was at times affected and effected by the plight of the people discussed in the book. It brought back many many memories from my past, not all bad but mainly painful.

My criticism of the book is that the honest portrayal of gay life could well terrify young readers. It did paint a pretty bleak picture, it was honest and accurate but ....

My only other observation was that the first 2/3 of the book explore the issues and really brought up some strong feelings for me. The final part outlines places to seek help (in the Uk) and some ideas for solutions. My problem here is that the solutions posted often were in relation to drug or alcohol related issues. If your issues are in relation to just mental health the suggestions were a lot more limited and sadly less helpful.

As i said to my therapist when discussing how upset parts of the book made me, i really hoped the book would give some innovative new insights to help me. It did a great job of highlighting issues and getting you to consider how these issues impact on your life. It just didn't seem to follow through with solutions from a mental health perspective.