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Current debates on homosexuality claim to give voice to the voiceless but only target the youth whose concern for freedom and rights differ markedly from older, more traditional concerns. Recent debates on same-sexualities are framed in a modern discourse and leave no room for traditional epistemologies. This article argues that knowledge of same-sexualities in African communities requires a far more complex narrative that is inclusive of indigenous knowledge and culture and of the older generations that uphold them. South Africa has gone through many changes and there is a need for new knowledge to face new challenges that come with democracy. The assumption here is that some issues need attention in contemporary societies which have never been properly investigated. One such issue is African same-sexualities. Although there is a need to interrogate the issue of freedom of speech from Western theoretical impositions, same-sexuality research needs to be contextualised and analysed through the eyes of indigenous societies. This could be achieved by creating space for debates between traditional and modern communities. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article addresses African indigenous same-sexualities using indigenous ways of knowing to unpack the practice. The article suggests a different approach on African same-sex practice based on ancestral knowledge found in African traditional religion and in African culture. It will further demonstrate how this practice relates to issues of gender and religion in the South African context. It also disapproves Western discourse on African sexuality based on human rights approaches and transformation that ignore African cultural practice that affirm life.
The earliest known book-length biography about an African woman, writ-ten in 1672 in the Gəˁəz language, The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Wälättä P̣eṭros, features a life-long partnership between two women and same-sex sexuality among nuns. Revered Ethiopian Orthodox Täwaḥədo Church leader Wälättä P̣ eṭros (1592–1642) and another nun, ḫətä Krəstos, “lived together in mutual love, like soul and body” until death. Other nuns are depicted as “being lustful” with each other. Interpreting the women’s relationships in this Ethiopian text requires different reading protocols, merging surface and symptomatic reading as well as attending to Ethiopian authorial and interpretive practices, protocols for which queer theory pro-vides useful warnings and tools. This is the first scholarly article proffering a queer reading of pre-twentieth-century sub-Saharan African literature. By foregrounding a text in an African language, this article alerts us to the dimensions of and possibilities for queer experiences outside of the arena of twentieth-century Europhone African literatures.
Arguably, family sociology has witnessed a paradigm shift from a general view of family as a monolithic entity to recognising family pluralism in the last few decades. Recognition and appreciation of diversities such as race, class and gender are at the forefront of this change. This shift includes the construction of day-to-day lives of same-sex households. It should be mentioned that feminist scholars have made important contributions to the role and position of women in families, but lesser contribution has been made to same-sex families' research. Similarly, it has been argued that same-sex family research is one of the important aspects of family scholarship that has not been adequately explored and it is yet to make a serious impact in family studies. In recognition of this gap in family sociology, this study contributes to the existing literature on the emerging familial construction of same-sex households. This study explores the political transition that led to the current visibility of gay identity and interracial intimate relationships that were previously subjugated during apartheid in South Africa. The study is based on an eight-month fieldwork and data were collected through in-depth interviews from 10 interracial gay partners (comprising of 20 gay men). The study found that there is a growing formation of gay men's romantic relationships that transcend colour in post-apartheid South Africa, given the previous history of racial segregation and criminalisation of same-sex attractions as the ‘other’ in the country. The two common ways in which gay men who participated in this study form their household are through face-to-face and computer-mediated relationships.
This article employs the film Skoonheid (Beauty) to explore the manner in which normative, white Afrikaner masculinity still operates to expel gayness from its self-definition. What is particularly vexing to this investigation, however, is the occurrence of behavioural homosexuality among white Afrikaner men who possess a compartmentalised identity constructed from notions of nationalism, puritanism, patriarchy and homophobia. Oliver Hermanus's Skoonheid casts its main character, Francois van Heerden, as the archetypal disenfranchised white Afrikaner man, whose repressed homosexuality amplifies the anxiety and disempowerment he experiences in a post-apartheid world. His masculine identity is constantly under threat from racial and sexual 'Others', who highlight the hypocrisy and constructedness of the outmoded model of patriarchy that he reveres. The goal of this critique is ultimately to position such representations of 'ideal' Afrikaner masculinity (and its problematic relationship with homosexuality) in popular visual culture as indicative of related sociological issues that permeate the South African landscape. The article, for example, also briefly considers virtual or 'online' communities such as Kaalgat 24 (Buck Naked 24) that exist on the peripheries of mainstream culture and serve to facilitate connections among white, 'heterosexual' Afrikaner men who have sex with men (MSM). Ultimately, the author sets out to illustrate that for men like Francois homosexual behaviour is categorically disconnected from gayness, whether in terms of a commercial 'lifestyle' or sexual orientation: The act of having sex with men, in no way suggests belonging to the gay community or buying into any particular lifestyle. Homosexuality (or stereotypical, imagined ideas surrounding it) is still treated contemptuously in certain contexts, resulting in acts of expulsion and violence that re-inscribe the stigmas associated with 'faggots' in traditional Afrikaner, heteronormative rhetoric.
The assertion “homosexuality is un-African” is widely viewed as an expression of homophobia. However, without knowledge of what homosexuality and “Africanness” mean in a given context, any understanding of how to shift the prejudices associated with this assertion remains limited. Research conducted in 2010 with police, high school learners (students), and a sample of more than one thousand residents from two urban townships in South Africa contributes to this understanding. This article draws on data from the research to explore the significance of cultural translation when considering what constitutes same-sex prejudice and how it may relate to notions of authenticity or “real Africanness.” While the research provides evidence of same-sex prejudice, there is also evidence of qualified acceptance of same-sex sexuality and of efforts to combat prejudice. Opportunities for change are discussed with reference to the data.
Lesbian and gay studies emerged in the late 1950s and provided what several academics considered a homogeneous representation of the lesbian and gay community. Based on the critique of this view, queer theory came to the fore during the early 1990s, as a political initiative to highlight the diverse nature of homosexual experiences. Both paradigms heralded indefatigable insights into the lives of these two sexual minorities, yet without a necessary bridge between the homogeneous and the heterogeneous. The objective of the article is to provide a theoretical contemplation of how the manner in which the principles that lesbian and gay studies and queer theory respectively exude, may complement each other so as to offer a link between the ‘homogeneous’ and the ‘diverse’, pertaining to the lived experiences of gay men and lesbian women.
In this paper, I explore the waves of homophobia that seem to be sweeping the African continent. I present evidence that homophobia is not only publicly approved by African leaders, but relies on unsubstantiated claims of an imposed homosexual identity, contradictory ideas on morality, and the use of outdated laws. I argue that these claims represent a façade that serves to entrench patriarchy and heteronormativity as legitimate and fixed in African societies. I show that the key difference between the West and Africa is not the presence or absence of same-sex desire, but its different social construction. Finally, I argue for an intersectional approach, which recognizes the intersections between sexism and homophobia, and assert that the situation calls for more focused organizing by Africans themselves in addressing the recent increase in expressions of homophobia.
We review four topics which have dominated the research on homosexuality in the last decade. First, we address the question of etiology which is now best described as the essentialist/constructionist debate. Second, we review the research on the relationship between sexuality and gender role nonconformity. Third, we critique the studies of intimate relationships. Finally, we present a summary of the research on the gay community, including the impact of AIDS on gay male culture. We critique much of the previous literature for presuming sexual desire can be used to categorize human beings into homosexual versus heterosexual types. We suggest instead that the term “homosexual” is more appropriately used as an adjective rather than a noun. Future research needs to begin the arduous task of developing a more general sociology of desire.
This article explores the absence of dialogue about bisexuality in South Africa and in the African continent. While South Africa's new Constitution explicitly vouchsafes protection on the grounds of “sexual orientation,” leaders in a number of other African countries have called homosexuality un-African. I discuss the lack of a bisexual discourse in South Africa, and the prejudices and hostility directed towards bisexuals by lesbians and gays. I also examine a recent text, Boy-wives and female husbands: Studies of African homosexualities, edited by Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, which debunks the myth that same-sex behavior is alien to Africa. There, bisexuality is treated dismissively despite the fact that those who have same-sex relations are frequently heterosexually married. I discuss the text as a feminist literary critic, commenting on the “techniques of neutralization” it employs. I argue that a sensitive definition of bisexuality would disrupt the impasse of binary categories while it would provide an appropriate framework to analyze sexualities in Africa and to better explore the experience of black women.
This article explored the discursive production of a major disjuncture in sexual identity in adult life: women's accounts of transitions to lesbianism after a substantial period of heterosexuality. 80 semistructured interviews with self-identified lesbians, all with at least 10 yrs prior heterosexual experience (plus additional materials drawn from published autobiographical sources), were analyzed within a social constructionist framework. The article examined the creation of contexts in which sexual identity transitions become possible, explored how such transitions are defined and marked, identified the consequences, and detailed the continuing development of lesbian identity posttransition. In conclusion, the article reflected on the status and salience of such data in supporting the social constructionist position, particularly in the face of the continuing popularity of essentialist theories of sexual identity development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This is the first study evaluating the desire to marry and attitudes towards same-sex family legalization in an Italian sample of lesbians and gay males from 18 to 35 years of age. Even though the majority of participants reported a positive attitude towards same-sex family legalization, gay men expressed a lower desire to marry than lesbian participants.
Participants with a high level of internalized sexual stigma were less likely to want to marry and to recognize the positive effects of the legal recognition of the same-sex family. Regression analyses showed the relevance of ISS, self-disclosure to family, political progressivism, and higher education to predict a desire to marry and a more positive attitude towards same-sex family legalization. The results point to the necessity of social policy reform to eliminate social and structural inequalities surrounding the pursuit of intimacy to reduce disparities in intimacy-related stressors of lesbians and gay men.
Lesbians and gays have gone from "coming out," to "acting up," to "outing," meanwhile radically redefining society's views on sexuality and gender. The essays in Inside/Out employ a variety of approaches (psychoanalysis, deconstruction, semiotics, and discourse theory) to investigate representations of sex and sexual difference in literature, film, video, music, and photography. Engaging the figures of divas, dykes, vampires and queens, the contributors address issues such as AIDS, pornography, pedagogy, authorship, and activism. Inside/Out shifts the focus from sex to sexual orientation, provoking a reconsideration of the concepts of the sexual and the political. © 1991 by Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book provides an in-depth account of a qualitative study on the familial arrangements and domestic settings shaping interracial gay partnerships in the South African context, and it offers both empirical and theoretical insights on the topic. While heterosexual intimate relationships, particularly mixed-race couples, have attracted societal and scholarly attention in South Africa due to the country’s past history of racial segregation, it is, however, striking how little emphasis is placed on understanding same-sex unions in a transforming South Africa. This book is timely and important because it explores the vignettes, complexities and dynamics of interracial gay intimate relationships, an area that hardly gets the scholarly attention it deserves. The book addresses the intersectionality, and the question of how sexuality, gender, racial identity and personal resources influence the relationship as well as the way resilience strategies are drawn upon to sustain the partnership.
In his discussion of power, Foucault establishes a new, interpretation that challenges the typical view of power as a possession held by certain people and groups in a society. Foucault argues that it is the set of force relations that constitute a perpetual struggle among people as well as the strategies that people employ as they attempt to control the behavior of others. This differs from previous views of power in that it sees power as existing everywhere and deriving from everywhere. No person holds power. Rather, power is expressed in relationships between people. Related to this view is Foucault's argument that resistance is inextricably linked with power and also exists everywhere. No single point of power or resistance can be found. Each point at where power is exercised also reveals a point of resistance. Power is also intimately connected with discourse because discourse becomes a mechanism of power. Not only is discourse both an instrument and an effect of power, but discourse can serve both to liberate and oppress.
This interdisciplinary volume of thirty original essays engages with four key concerns of queer theoretical work - identity, discourse, normativity and relationality. A combination of distinguished and emerging scholars from a wide range of international locations, put the terms 'queer' and 'theory' under interrogation in and effort to map the relations and disjunctions between them. These contributors are especially attendant to the many theoretical discourses intersecting with queer theory - feminist theory, LGBT studies, postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis, disability studies, Marxism, poststructuralism, critical race studies and posthumanism to name a few. This Companion provides an up to the minute snapshot of queer scholarship from the past two decades, identifies many current directions queer theorizing is taking, while also signposts several fruitful avenues for future research. This book is both an invaluable and authoritative resource for scholars and an indispensable teaching tool for use in the classroom. © Noreen Giffney and Michael O'Rourke 2009. All rights reserved.
An exploration of the character and evolution of disgust and the role this emotion plays in our social and moral lives.
People can be disgusted by the concrete and by the abstract—by an object they find physically repellent or by an ideology or value system they find morally abhorrent. Different things will disgust different people, depending on individual sensibilities or cultural backgrounds. In Yuck!, Daniel Kelly investigates the character and evolution of disgust, with an emphasis on understanding the role this emotion has come to play in our social and moral lives.
Disgust has recently been riding a swell of scholarly attention, especially from those in the cognitive sciences and those in the humanities in the midst of the "affective turn." Kelly proposes a cognitive model that can accommodate what we now know about disgust. He offers a new account of the evolution of disgust that builds on the model and argues that expressions of disgust are part of a sophisticated but largely automatic signaling system that humans use to transmit information about what to avoid in the local environment. He shows that many of the puzzling features of moral repugnance tinged with disgust are by-products of the imperfect fit between a cognitive system that evolved to protect against poisons and parasites and the social and moral issues on which it has been brought to bear. Kelly's account of this emotion provides a powerful argument against invoking disgust in the service of moral justification.
Bradford Books imprint
To examine the extent to which the family relations of lesbians and gay men are integrated into the family literature, we reviewed over 8,000 articles published between 1980 and 1993 in nine journals that publish family research. Our review shows that research on lesbian and gay families is quite limited, and that, where these families have been studied, they have been problematized and their diversity has been overlooked. We describe and define lesbian and gay families, illustrating their diversity and challenging the neglect of this population in family studies. We direct researchers' attention toward a social ecologies model that incorporates the dynamics of family relationships. We discuss theoretical implications of studying lesbian and gay families, and propose research directions to improve our knowledge of these families and families in general.
The term queer has recently come into wide use to designate distinctive emphases in the politics and the intellectual study of sexuality. This article explores the unfortunate irony that most work falling under the rubric of queer theory has been undertaken largely at some remove from the discipline of sociology, despite the pioneering role that an earlier generation of sociologists played in formulating influential conceptions of the social construction of sexuality. The article suggests important continuities between the earlier sociological theories and recent queer theory, but also analyzes the new challenges that queer theorists have posed by insisting on the indispensability of questions of sexual "marginality" to the larger understanding of social and cultural organization. The article concludes by suggesting how sociologists might engage with such a project.
Cet article presente les avancees de la « queer theory », theorie de l'homosexualite differente des etudes « gay » et lesbiennes, dans le sens ou elle sort les differences sexuelles de leur ghetto. Si la « queer theory » est redevable a la sociologie de son approche constructionniste, les AA. se demandent comment la sociologie peut integrer le phenomene homosexuel sans le marginaliser. L'originalite de la« queer theory »est de remplacer une strategie de droits civils par une strategie anti-assimilationniste de deconstruction, en offrant une approche globale des rapports de pouvoir sexuel a tous les niveaux de la societe
This paper outlines the main tenets of poststructuralism and considers how they are applied by practitioners of queer theory. Drawing on both Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, queer theory explores the ways in which homosexual subjectivity is at once produced and excluded within culture, both inside and outside its borders. This approach is contrasted with more sociological studies of sexuality (labeling theory, social constructionism). Whereas queer theory investigates the relations between heterosexuality and homosexuality, sociologists tend to examine homosexual identities and communities, paradoxically ignoring the social construction of heterosexuality. Poststructuralism can inform a sociological approach to sexuality by emphasizing the generative character of all sexual identities. A sociological study of sexuality which is informed by poststructuralism would examine the exclusions implicit in a heterosexual/homosexual opposition. In this process, bisexual and transgender identities can become viable cultural possibilities, and a broad-based political coalition established. Whereas mainstream sociology focuses on the ways in which homosexuals are outside social norms, and whereas queer theory exploits the ways in which this outside is already inside, this perspective suggests that a critical sexual politics seeks to move beyond an inside/outside model.
This essay attempts to identify the prominent problems of a strictly so-cial constructionist theory as it pertains to homosexuality. One's sexuality is neither explicitly innate and immutable, nor as plastic and changeable as switching a dial. Social constructionist theories on homosexuality -and, in-deed on sexuality in general -have concentrated on the latter in a milieu of social control. And while it is easier to understand the labelling and cate-gorising of humans through historical study of the methods of social control, for laws controlling human actions, specifically sexual conduct, are written in well kept records, there is a lot to be gained by switching the focus to the victim in such cases, rather than exclusively focusing on the offenders. What I propose is a partial redirection of the studies on "Queer" theory from the offender, the homophobe, to the victim, the homosexual. While maintaining the percept of cultural and temporal factors, we can explore the existence of a homosexual identity if we look towards the subject (the homosexual) in order to gain an understanding of his world view. Further this partial redirection leads us to unify a moderate Social Constructionist theory with a moderate essentialist theory.
According to Steven Seidman, analysts of institutionalized heterosexuality have ‘focused exclusively on its role in regulating homosexuality’ and, while queer approaches theorize how ‘homosexuality gains its coherence in relation to heterosexuality, the impact of regimes of normative heterosexuality on heterosexuality has largely been ignored’ (2005: 40). Over the last decade and more, however, feminists have been analysing how normative heterosexuality affects the lives of heterosexuals (see Wilkinson and Kitzinger, 1993; Richardson, 1996; Jackson, 1999; Ingraham, 1996, 1999). In so doing they have drawn on earlier feminists, such as Charlotte Bunch (1975), Adrienne Rich (1980) and Monique Wittig (1992), who related
heterosexuality to the perpetuation of gendered divisions of labour and male appropriation of women’s productive and reproductive capacities. Indeed, Rich’s concept of ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ could be seen as a
forerunner of ‘heteronormativity’ and I would like to preserve an often neglected legacy of the former concept: that institutionalized, normative heterosexuality regulates those kept within its boundaries as well as marginalizing and sanctioning those outside them. The term ‘heteronormativity’ has not always captured this double-sided social regulation. Feminists have a vested interest in what goes on within heterosexual
relations because we are concerned with the ways in which heterosexuality depends upon and guarantees gender division. Heterosexuality, however, is not a singular, monolithic entity – it exists in many variants. As Seidman points out there are hierarchies of respectability and good
citizenship among heterosexuals, and what tends to be valorized as ‘normative’ is a very particular form founded on traditional gender arrangements and lifelong monogamy (see Seidman, 2005: 59–60; see also Seidman, 2002). Thus the analysis of heteronormativity needs to be rethought in terms of what is subject to regulation on both sides of the
normatively prescribed boundaries of heterosexuality: both sexuality and gender. With this in mind, this article re-examines the intersections between gender, sexuality in general and heterosexuality in particular. How these
terms are defined is clearly consequential for any analysis of linkages between them. There is no consensus on the question of definition, in large part because gender, sexuality and heterosexuality are approached from a variety of perspectives focusing on different dimensions of the social. It is not a case of some having a clearer view than others, but rather that the social is many-faceted and what is seen from one angle may be obscured from another. Sexuality, gender and heterosexuality intersect in variable ways within and between different dimensions of the social – and these intersections are also, of course, subject to historical change along with cultural and contextual variability. Hence before I go any further some conceptual clarification is needed to explain, first, how I am using the terms gender, sexuality and heterosexuality, and then what I mean by different dimensions of the social. I will then go on to outline some of the intersections that should be explored further if we are to appreciate the complexity of heteronormative social relations. In so doing I am certainly not claiming some privileged all-seeing perspective, but merely making some tentative suggestions on what might be seen from different vantage points.
Current research on publicly communicating one’s sexual orientation (heretofore referred to as “coming-out”) and sexual identity formation models are examined within the two prevalent theoretical orientations: essentialism and social constructionism. Aspects of both theories find support in the empirical literature reviewed. Carrion and Lock’s stage model of sexual identity formation is described and used as a template. The discovery process will be discussed and three coming-out audiences identified. Relationships between the individual coming out and the identified audiences exist in a dynamic and fluid environment. Data suggest that perceptions of the relationship climate can affect the coming-out process. Implications for family therapists and couples counselors are provided in the conclusion of the article. More research with diverse samples is needed to further understand the process of coming-out and identity formation.
It is widely believed that lesbianism and homosexuality are foreign concepts and colonial imports to Sub-Saharan Africa. This popular view is not unconnected with hegemonic heterosexual orientation of the society. The pitfall of heterosexual orientation, which hinges on politics of sexual representation, is worth an academic investigation. Therefore, this study seeks to close the analytical gap by examining Yorùbá oral literature, which is regarded as the repertoire of their traditional and cultural beliefs and nuances, to unravel the subject of lesbianism and homosexuality from a sociological approach. Drawing on interviews and oral literature, this article examines the vital ideas of lesbianism and gay culture among the Yorùbá people of southwestern Nigeria. This article argues that the preconceived obscenity of lesbianism and homosexuality among the Yorùbá hinges on the culture of silence within the cultural milieu of the people. The study concludes that the representation of lesbianism and gay in diverse oral literature, as the repertoire of people's experiences and worldview, rubberstamped its presence and practices in the Yorùbá society.
This paper presents a synthesis of lessons learned from field experiences in HIV prevention, treatment and care services for men who have sex with men in the four contiguous West African countries of the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Senegal. Service provision for men who have sex with men in these countries is contextualised by the epidemiology of HIV, as well as the socio-political environment. These countries share notable commonalities in terms of social structures and culture, though past approaches to the needs of men who have sex with men have varied greatly. This synthesis includes three distinct components. The first focuses on what is known about HIV epidemiology among men who have sex with men in these countries and provides an overview of the data gaps affecting the quality of service provision. The second aspect describes the HIV prevention and treatment services currently available and how organisations and strategies have evolved in their approach to working with men who have sex with men. Finally, an examination of the political and cultural climate highlights socio-cultural factors that enable or impede HIV prevention and treatment efforts for men who have sex with men. The review concludes with a series of recommendations for impactful research, advocacy and service provision to improve the health and human rights context for men who have sex with men in West Africa.
Argues that the application of the scripting paradigm to sex research suggests that all social behavior is scripted, including encounters between researchers and Ss in sex research and between therapists and patients in sex therapy and authors writing about sexuality. It is also suggested that sexuality is more than individual behavior, and what happens in the sexual arena in any society is a consequence of culture and the structure of sexual and nonsexual opportunities that exist prior to any individual. Sexual scripts exist at the levels of the individual, the interactional, and the cultural. The performance of sexual acts draws upon scripts at all 3 levels, and potential changes in sexual conduct can emerge from changes at any level of scripting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article attempts to clarify two alternative understandings of gender—the essentialist and the constructionist—and to discuss the implications of each for feminist psychology. Essentialist construals of gender, represented by recent “cultural feminist” positions, are critiqued for the theoretical, empirical, and political concerns they raise. A constructionist position is offered as ameliorative, and lingering questions raised by this analysis are discussed.
This case study from Dakar, Senegal, suggests that gender and sexual identities in Africa reveal more diversity than typically suggested in the literature on sexuality and AIDS in Africa. Furthermore, this flexibility indicates a greater variety of sexual behaviors than the extensive prior work on heterosexual transmission of HIV suggests. Secrecy is a key to understanding the variation; much diversity is not obvious because it is kept from public scrutiny. Long-term ethnographic investigations of sexual identities and behavior are invaluable to discovering and interpreting this diversity in African societies.
Heterosexual Africa? The History of an Idea from the Age of Exploration to the Age of AIDS builds from Marc Epprechtâs previous book, Hungochani (which focuses expli citly on same-sex desire in southern Africa) to explore the historical processes by which a singular, heterosexual identity for Africa was constructed—by anthropologists, ethnopsychologists, colonial officials, African elites, and most recently, health care workers seeking to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is an eloquently written, accessible book, based on a rich and diverse range of sources, that will find enthusiastic audiences in classrooms and in the general public. Epprecht argues that Africans, just like people all over the world, have always had a range of sexualities and sexual identities. Over the course of the last two centuries, however, African societies south of the Sahara have come to be viewed as singularly heterosexual. Epprecht carefully traces the many routes by which this singularity, this heteronormativity, became a dominant culture. A fascinating story that will surely generate lively debate Epprecht makes his project speak to a range of literatures—queer theory, the new imperial history, African social history, queer and womenâs studies, and biomedical literature on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He does this with a light enough hand that his story is not bogged down by endless references to particular debates. Heterosexual Africa? aims to understand an enduring stereotype about Africa and Africans. It asks how Africa came to be defined as a âhomosexual-free zoneâ during the colonial era, and how this idea not only survived the transition to independence but flourished under conditions of globalization and early panicky responses to HIV/AIDS.
In this long-awaited book, David M. Halperin revisits and refines the argument he put forward in his classic One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: that hetero- and homosexuality are not biologically constituted but are, instead, historically and culturally produced. How to Do the History of Homosexuality expands on this view, updates it, answers its critics, and makes greater allowance for continuities in the history of sexuality. Above all, Halperin offers a vigorous defense of the historicist approach to the construction of sexuality, an approach that sets a premium on the description of other societies in all their irreducible specificity and does not force them to fit our own conceptions of what sexuality is or ought to be. Dealing both with male homosexuality and with lesbianism, this study imparts to the history of sexuality a renewed sense of adventure and daring. It recovers the radical design of Michel Foucault's epochal work, salvaging Foucault's insights from common misapprehensions and making them newly available to historians, so that they can once again provide a powerful impetus for innovation in the field. Far from having exhausted Foucault's revolutionary ideas, Halperin maintains that we have yet to come to terms with their startling implications. Exploring the broader significance of historicizing desire, Halperin questions the tendency among scholars to reduce the history of sexuality to a mere history of sexual classifications instead of a history of human subjectivity itself. Finally, in a theoretical tour de force, Halperin offers an altogether new strategy for approaching the history of homosexualityâone that can accommodate both ruptures and continuities, both identity and difference in sexual experiences across time and space. Impassioned but judicious, controversial but deeply informed, How to Do the History of Homosexuality is a book rich in suggestive propositions as well as eye-opening details. It will prove to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of sexuality.
Homosexuality has been considered a form of mental illness, morally wrong and socially deviant. The purpose of this paper is to present both sides of the homosexuality issue from a religious standpoint: opponents of homosexuality versus supporters of homosexuality. It is proposed that how one interprets the morality of homosexuality will depend upon one's level of moral development according to Kohlberg's theory. Ten churches in the Raleigh area of North Carolina completed a questionnaire designed to ascertain the church's position on the issue of homosexuality. Specifically, questions were asked to ascertain the church's level of moral development.
The existing developmental stage models of homosexual identity do not consider the diversity of human sexual experience. The stage models stem from an essentialist perspective, in which the process of homosexual identity formation is largely a matter of becoming aware of one's underlying, or real, sexual orientation. Once homosexual orientation is identified, the only legitimate outcome is to develop homosexual identity and eventually incorporate that identity as one aspect of the total self. In this paper, we are concerned with those people for whom the stage models are inadequate in describing their experience of sexual identity development. The social constructionist perspective holds that the process of identity formation is a continual, two-way interactive process between the individual and the social environment, and that the meanings the individual gives to these factors influence the development of self-constructs and identity. Sexual identity develops within this contextual framework and, because it is influenced by continual interaction, is fluid over time and experience, throughout one's life. Our model does not rely on the existing developmental models of homosexual identity; rather, our model looks at desire, behavior, and identity as three separate constructs related to sexual identity. We posit that from the social constructionist viewpoint, there is in fact no true endpoint to sexual identity development.
This essay explores the notion that bisexuality and contemporary bisexual political movements both align and trouble canons of queer theories of sexuality and gender. This project provides an historical review and assessment of recent bisexual theorizing to highlight key themes in its evolution as well as a discussion of how these themes have shaped the relationship of bisexuality and queer theory. Drawing on this assessment and a wider discussion of GLBT scholarship, we invite critical inquiry regarding the implications of bisexual theorizing on queer theory and vice versa. We address questions of bisexual epistemologies, its discursive roles within queer theory, and its impact on queer politics and organizing. Noting bisexuality's absence in much of this research and scholarship, we suggest these projects have been limited in their ability to fully and effectively address sexual subjectivity both in theory and in its everyday lived experience.
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