Today's American citizen-consumers, with their overwhelming bias toward expressing private identities and lifestyles through material purchases, are inured to viewing their sexualities as commodities. "[O]ur very images of our own body, our own selves, our own personal self-worth (or lack of it) is mediated by the omnipresent [commercialized] images of mass culture."⁸⁴ We have come to terms with our sexuality not only "as bio-political acts, drives, dysfunctions, 'the Big O,' health, pleasure, and happiness, but also with sexuality as commodities."⁸⁵ Hyper-masculine sexuality--with its stereotypes of dominant power, aggressive achievement, hard-hitting play, and mind-blowing orgasms--is defined by the avid use of male-identified products, whether tailored business suits, sleek sports utility vehicles, or fantasy-fulfilling pornography. As the thriving industries of fashion, cosmetics, interior design, and home appliances demonstrate, product consumption also reinforces traditional feminine sexuality, with its stereotypes of eye-catching beauty, flirtatious submission, and artful homemaking.⁸⁶

LesBiGay identities, too, are constituted as commodities. Though it may seem ironic that a counter-cultural sexual identity might exist primarily as a function of core-cultural commerce, American LesBiGay identity cannot be understood apart from commerce. Whether it be personal acknowledgement as a same-sex individual or collective recognition as a same-sex community, LesBiGay identity owes much of its historical origins and modern evolution to the capitalist economy and commercialized marketplace.