Doty argues that films, television, and other forms of mass culture consistently elicit a wide range of queer (sexually liminal) responses, and suggests an interpretive framework for understanding mass culture that stands as a corrective to many standard cultural approaches.

Alexander Doty teaches film and mass culture in the English department at Lehigh University He is the author of articles on film, mass culture, and queer studies, and is currently coediting an anthology on lesbian, gay, and queer mass culture theory and criticism.