WMS 70 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: World War I, Homosociality
Document Summary
Christian brotherhood or sexual perversion? by george chauncey. Chauncey examines the same-sex relationships within the navy and tells the narrative of the legal investigation of suspected homosexual men. He uses the clergy and the newport scandal to analyze identification and differentiations between christian brotherhood and the naval base. Chauncey explores the question of how much men are allowed to love other men before it crosses the line of homosexuality, and thus becomes a crime. The complex social structure within the navy affected the ways in which the men self-identified and interpreted their own behaviors in the homosocial environment of the navy, which is heavily influenced by traditional masculine norms and expectations. Yet after analyzing the testimonies, most everyone who engaged in homosexual acts was considered gay and could be prosecuted for their crime. In the conclusion, chauncey states that medical discourse was exaggerated in the newport case.
