Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 The History of the History of Sexuality
- 2 The History of Sexuality and Anthropology
- 3 The History of Sexuality and Women’s History
- 4 The History of Sexuality and LGBTQ+ History
- 5 The Impact of Sigmund Freud on the History of Sexuality
- 6 Michel Foucault’s Influence on the History of Sexuality
- 7 Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality
- 8 The Sexual Body in History
- 9 Marriage and Families in the History of Sexuality
- 10 Class in the History of Sexuality
- 11 Sexuality and Race: Representations, Regulations, and Sentiments
- 12 Male Homoerotic Relations in History
- 13 Desire, Love, and Sex between Women in Global History
- 14 Trans and Gender Variant Sexualities in History
- 15 The Sale of Sex in History
- 16 Sexual Violence in History
- 17 Sexual Science in History
- 18 Sexuality and Emotion
- 19 Erotic Art in World History
- 20 Erotic Literature in History
- 21 The Material Culture of the History of Sexuality
- 22 Public History and Sexuality
- Index
- CONTENTS TO VOLUMES II, III, AND IV
- References
12 - Male Homoerotic Relations in History
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2024
Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 The History of the History of Sexuality
- 2 The History of Sexuality and Anthropology
- 3 The History of Sexuality and Women’s History
- 4 The History of Sexuality and LGBTQ+ History
- 5 The Impact of Sigmund Freud on the History of Sexuality
- 6 Michel Foucault’s Influence on the History of Sexuality
- 7 Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality
- 8 The Sexual Body in History
- 9 Marriage and Families in the History of Sexuality
- 10 Class in the History of Sexuality
- 11 Sexuality and Race: Representations, Regulations, and Sentiments
- 12 Male Homoerotic Relations in History
- 13 Desire, Love, and Sex between Women in Global History
- 14 Trans and Gender Variant Sexualities in History
- 15 The Sale of Sex in History
- 16 Sexual Violence in History
- 17 Sexual Science in History
- 18 Sexuality and Emotion
- 19 Erotic Art in World History
- 20 Erotic Literature in History
- 21 The Material Culture of the History of Sexuality
- 22 Public History and Sexuality
- Index
- CONTENTS TO VOLUMES II, III, AND IV
- References
Summary
This chapter explores male homoerotic desire, whether idealised, romanticised, visualised or physically enacted. Male homoerotic practices and relations have sometimes been structured around notions of difference between two males who were thought to be respectively masculine and feminine, active and passive, free and slave, or older and younger. The last pairing was particularly important in classical European antiquity where it was, typically, regarded as compatible with heterosexual marriage and reproduction. This should alert us to the fact that many societies across the globe have not viewed male homoerotic relations according to the set of sexualised identities that emerged from nineteenth century western medical science, and which have since been contested by gay liberationists and queer activists. Western imperial practice has produced an abundance of evidence concerning the legal and religious regulation of ‘sodomy’. This invites comparison with records from other cultures which have often been, in their various ways, more positive in their attitudes to same-sex desire. The chapter, therefore, includes a consideration of globally diverse patterns of male homoerotic relations that acknowledges the complexity of cultural responses to same-sex desire.
Keywords
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities , pp. 252 - 272Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
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