SWMS 210mgw Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Pederasty, Sexology, Sexual Identity
Document Summary
Same-sex desire associated with effeminacy is a relatively modern construct. Same-sex love portrayed in the iliad: patroklos and achilles. Pederasty: intergenerational sexual relationships between adult men and young boys. 19th century sexology: sexual practice as identities, psychic sexual perversions. Freud: opportunity for homosexuality (armies, prisons) where there aren"t proper women . 1901: birth of heterosexuality, too much sexuality for the opposite sex. Homosexuality: too much attraction to the same sex. Freud (1930): civilization as the conflict between pleasure (erotic desire) and reality (improved civilization) principles. Need to balance pleasure and reality, but too much controlling pleasure results in repression, unwanted sexual behaviors such as homosexuality. Too much indulgence leads to perversion (masturbating) Adult normal sexuality is heterosexuality, other sexualities come from wrong development. Moving away from the idea of sexuality as religious sin, but a pathology. Ellis: gay men at ny clubs had women to choose from, but were still gay.
