LESBIANISM ••• cont. A shaky case could be built for (I am not implying that this tradi- the other major rationale against tion is valid, o.vly that it has erist- homosexuality, that acceptance of ed,) ' the homosexual by society would Moving from the physical to the reduce the vitality of group pro- social aspects of homoSexuality, creation. Thus, in times past, there is little relief to be found in when to 11be fruitful and multiply" attitudes toward the male homosex- was a mandate of group survival, ual. First, the homosexual is seen some of the prejudice may have been as one who has rejected (he is as - functionally based and therefore sumed to have made a choic·e) both (if we are to believe the functional- women and the marital state, a ists) socially valid. Yet other feat capable of inspiring much wrath. conditions of sexual non-product- Second, (as homosexuality is gener - ivity, for example, celibacy, have ally seen as an expression of the been equally dysfunctional yet far desire to be of the opposite sex) for more tolerated and even idealized. a man to wish to be a woman, or The argument that homosexuality to behave like a woman, is general- is non-productive is not--and never ly seen as incomprehensible and was--sufficient to explain the in- despicable. In this respect, the tensity of its disrepute. dagger of oppression has been much Where else can we look for the sharper for the homosexual than for sources of prejudice against the ho- the lesbian- -where contempt made mos exual condition? We can look at rancid by men 1 s fear of their own P hoto by Darlene HI ng1e the components of this condition and feminity--is heaped upon the gay assess known or probable responses IN GROUPS, for a thorough, if man. The 11 homosexual panic" and to each. Of what is homoseXual-'· sentimental, analysis of head homo- its resultant bigotry, is the back- ity comprised, and how does societ"{ sexuality through the years). side of male supremacy. view this? At this point it is neces- I will now turn at last to lesbian- Is there, then, anywhere our.gay ism with this perspective, attempt- sary to discuss separately male ho- brothers can turn for solace; is mosexuality and lesbiansim, for ting_ to sift through those specific there a palliative to be found in this these two states differ, and have dif- responses which comprise the gen- unfriendly world? The answer, re- fered, as radically as the hetero- e r al attitude of condemnation dir- soundingly, is Yes. It is to be found aexual states of man and woman. ected against it, The lesbian, as throughout the history of thought, in Because I intend to return to les- the male homosexual, suffers a folklore, in literature, in the themes .bianism as an issue rather than a overall burden of contempt. Where problematic condition, my emphasis of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, does it fall most heavily, and wher~ will be on social perceptions of homo- Whitman, Lawrence, Hesse and mo.st lightly? sexuality. Rolland, in "Midnight Cowboy" • Seeking attitudes toward the phy- First, the male homosexual. It is "Becket", even in "Women in Love", sical aspect of lesbian behavior, I to be assumed that he has engaged and, last but not least, in the the find more ample material to for some time in those physical acts subject matter of anthropologist, explore. There is an erotic tradition which presently constitute his sexual- Lionel Tiger. The 'male bond', to of lesbianism in literature and, by ity. Yet an erotic tradition of male use the words of Tiger, the broth- an large, it is not a tradition of homosexual behavior has been ob- erhood of man, the tradition of disgust. In thew ritings of Sappho scure and limited, even in modern platonic love, are all expressions and early novels like Fanny Hill, in times, mostly to hard core porno- testifying to the dignity of man's Guy de Maupassant and Collette graphy. To the degree to which this love for man, Anyone who would and in the prevalence of soft core quibble that this brother! y love was lesbian pornography, there is a gr tradition exists, it tends to be neg- intended generically to include all erally tender treatment of sexuar ative. Andre Gide 1 s explicit descrip- of humankind will have difficulty between women- tions of homosexual behavior were in explaining, first, its twin tradi~ There is even a tradition of a chronicle of degradation, erotic tion of misogny ·as typified by the ~ 1 pu rity11 regarding l esbian love , one only in the most negative sense. writings of (notably) St. Paul, which relates subtly to the treat- Baldwin was the first serious writer Rabelais, Schoepenhauer, Strinberg, ment of male homosexual relations who dealt with the sexuality of Nietsche, et al, and, second, the as "dirt;". 11 This tradition arises male partners in a positive man- absense of one example of its man- from the perspective that heterosex•· ifestation in women in all the pages ual relations are degrading to wo- The male body, as the female of adelphic literature. men, as were Gide 1 s homosexual body has been erotically treated "Head homosexuality" is a tradi- acts depicted as degrading to the in art, especially in sculpture. Yet tion of the highest order . Accord- passive partner, and hints t hat les- while theMuses and nymphs have ingly, there is virtually no philos- bian relationships involve les~ been depicted in various stages ophical aversion , nor surprise, 11 contaminationll, attached to the possibility a union Lesbian eroticism is often pre- fondling, the Laocoon grouping of men could exist to the exclusion sented as a sweet yet sterile pre- is portrayed in struggle, and of women, face to real sex, which occurs David stands solitary, small and This theoretical support for male with me~subsequent chapters. still, with no hint of a companion. bonding has been firmly based in (See especially Colette). It is I must conclude from this that the reality. The whole structure of viewed as inconsequential, as well physical component of male homo- it might be, since its political im- patriarchy, with its its wars and sexuality Pas been either avoided, hunting trips, its politics and na~ plications have been nil. Neverthe- or. viewed with popular revulsion. tion building, and its bowling, has less, it is generally approached as lent a helping hand to "men who a high and not qnpleasant form of 10 court men 11 (see Lionel Tiger, MEN continued on pa9e 12