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Toward the Margins: Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Popular Discourse

Gregory M. Pflugfelder

in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950

In a cultural environment, where knowledge spread faster and more authoritatively than ever through the medium of print, the effectiveness of a “civilized” regime of sexuality depended in no small ... More

In a cultural environment, where knowledge spread faster and more authoritatively than ever through the medium of print, the effectiveness of a “civilized” regime of sexuality depended in no small measure upon its view becoming as much a part of popular as of official discourse. This chapter traces the marginalization process. Its starting point is the changing representation of male-male sexuality in the genre of senryū verse, in which the tempo of marginalization reveals itself clearly. Next to be considered are the ways in which popular discourse helped to marginalize the cultural status of male-male sexuality by associating its “civilization's” borders. Lastly and at greater length the chapter explores turn-of-the-century newspaper accounts of male-male sexual assaults by student “roughnecks.”Less

Doctoring Love: Male-Male Sexuality in Medical Discourse from the Edo Period Through the Early Twentieth Century

Gregory M. Pflugfelder

in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950

Chinese medical discourse assigned an important place to “matters of the bedchamber,” in situating the sexual. This aspect of Chinese learning was circulated to Japan at least early as the tenth ... More

Chinese medical discourse assigned an important place to “matters of the bedchamber,” in situating the sexual. This aspect of Chinese learning was circulated to Japan at least early as the tenth century. By the Edo-period, “bedchamber” medicine was familiar not only to Sinophiles but to a broad segment of the general population, its terminology invoked even in popular genres — senryū. As considered in Sino-Japanese medicine, the “bedchamber” was exclusively the site of male-female sexuality. Sexual relations between males might theoretically be understood as violating the yin-yang order. Chinese medical discourse was by and large concerned with their physiological implications, much less those of female-female sexual behavior.Less

Policing the Perisexual: Male-Male Sexuality in Edo-Period Legal Discourse

Gregory M. Pflugfelder

in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950

This chapter explores the realm of legal discourse — the framework of pronouncements and silences by means of which political authorities of the Edo-period sought to establish and maintain control ... More

This chapter explores the realm of legal discourse — the framework of pronouncements and silences by means of which political authorities of the Edo-period sought to establish and maintain control over the significance of male-male sexuality. Through the codification and enforcement of various types of legislation, the era's warriors-turned-bureaucrats attempted to limit shudō within parameters that would serve their own interests and secure the functioning of the communities in their charge. In contrast to the profit motive of the publishing industry, the concerns of legislators were centered on hierarchy and stability. As with popular discourse, the legal construction of male-male sexuality was by no means uniform, varying significantly with geographic locale and chronological era, as the subsequent discussion should sufficiently illustrate.Less

Authorizing Pleasure: male-male Sexuality in Edo-Period popular discourse

Gregory M. Pflugfelder

in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950

In the Edo-period, for the Japanese, “homosexuality” was an unfamiliar and unimaginable concept. People of this era never engaged in sexual practices with nor experienced erotic desires toward ... More

In the Edo-period, for the Japanese, “homosexuality” was an unfamiliar and unimaginable concept. People of this era never engaged in sexual practices with nor experienced erotic desires toward individuals of the same sex. This period's sexual vocabulary offered various expressions that could be used to refer to erotic activities between males or females so that even finding an appropriate name for it would pose a considerable challenge. Writings on male-male sexuality possessed an indigenous textual tradition, with its own vocabulary and commercial market. The “sexuality” of “homosexuality” was quite the same as the “love” of “male love”Less

‘The Spontaneous Feeling of Shame’: Masturbation and Freud 1930–1940

Hera Cook

in The Long Sexual Revolution: English Women, Sex, and Contraception 1800-1975

The anxiety regarding masturbation peaked in the early interwar period at which time shame was regarded as a natural result of the practice of masturbation even by sexual reformers. In this period, ... More

The anxiety regarding masturbation peaked in the early interwar period at which time shame was regarded as a natural result of the practice of masturbation even by sexual reformers. In this period, any manual contact with the genital of the self or a sexual partner was defined as masturbation in the sex manuals. Male sexual dominance was the norm and Freudian concepts of the shift from clitoral to vaginal sexual responsiveness in women were deployed to reconstruct a new account of women's sexuality as active but still oriented toward sexual intercourse. A contemporary response to D. H. Lawrence is considered.Less

‘Thought Control’: Conjugal Rights and Vaginal Orgasms 1940s—1960s

Hera Cook

in The Long Sexual Revolution: English Women, Sex, and Contraception 1800-1975

From the 1940s, the sex manuals reflected a slow acceptance by society of varied physical sexual practices. There was a contradictory and contested re-emergence of male domination, justified by ... More

From the 1940s, the sex manuals reflected a slow acceptance by society of varied physical sexual practices. There was a contradictory and contested re-emergence of male domination, justified by popular interpretations of psychoanalysis, within the genre as the influence of first wave feminism and the need for sexual continence to control fertility receded into the past.Less

Introduction

Gregory M. Pflugfelder

in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950

This book describes the constructionist analysis of sexual cartographies. It offers a personal mapping of other people's mappings and investigates the construction of erotic desires and practices ... More

This book describes the constructionist analysis of sexual cartographies. It offers a personal mapping of other people's mappings and investigates the construction of erotic desires and practices between males which is referred to as “male-male sexuality.” For the Japanese as in Western cultures, male-male relationships have been a key site over which sexual meanings have been challenged, although in historically distinct ways. The strikingness of male-male behavior within Japanese cultural ontology is illustrated by the fact that literally hundreds of categories and signifiers have emerged around it in the native languages over the centuries.Less

‘Conferring a Premium on the Destruction of Female Morals’: Fertility Control and Sexuality in the Early to Mid-Nineteenth Century

Hera Cook

in The Long Sexual Revolution: English Women, Sex, and Contraception 1800-1975

This chapter explores the interaction between the need for fertility control, male and female sexual desire, and the vulnerability created by the dependent economic status of mothers. In the 19th ... More

This chapter explores the interaction between the need for fertility control, male and female sexual desire, and the vulnerability created by the dependent economic status of mothers. In the 19th century, women's economic position relative to men of their own class declined, and their need to support their children made them vulnerable to male insistence on female chastity. Few women encountered information about birth control, and those who did seemed to have little to gain from the practice. It is probable that the majority of middle-class men who wanted to control their fertility relied upon prostitution.Less

Introduction

Hera Cook

in The Long Sexual Revolution: English Women, Sex, and Contraception 1800-1975

This introductory chapter outlines the discussions presented in the book, namely the extent and ways in which male and female sexuality in England has been transformed from the late 1700s to the ... More

This introductory chapter outlines the discussions presented in the book, namely the extent and ways in which male and female sexuality in England has been transformed from the late 1700s to the latter quarter of the last century. The chapter also describes the author's motivation for writing the book.Less

Introduction

Peter Boag

in Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest

This chapter argues that Portland's modern “gay” male subculture first emerge within a middle-class and white racial framework, largely separate from the working classes and the racial and ethnic ... More

This chapter argues that Portland's modern “gay” male subculture first emerge within a middle-class and white racial framework, largely separate from the working classes and the racial and ethnic minority communities. It also considers the dynamics of same-sex desire and activities in the rural setting, investigating how these have significantly influenced sexuality in the city. Portland's story of varied male same-sex sexual systems and social responses to homosexuality is in a sense regional. Part 1 of this book addresses working-class male-male sexuality as manifest both in the Northwest's hinterlands and in major urban centers. Part 2 considers the same-sex affairs in middle-class people. Part 3 explores the 1912 scandal's impact on local and regional legal systems, on reformers' activities, and on broader cultural responses to homosexuality. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is given.Less

Sexual behaviour and sexual response

Alan F. Dixson

in Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans

This chapter discusses the difference between male sexuality and female sexuality among primates. It explores patterns of pre-copulatory and copulatory behaviour that brings both sexes into proximity ... More

This chapter discusses the difference between male sexuality and female sexuality among primates. It explores patterns of pre-copulatory and copulatory behaviour that brings both sexes into proximity regarding their postures, movements, and sexual responses. It gives an overview of the evolution of copulatory postures and the evolution of intromission and ejaculatory patterns. Autoerotic behaviour is also explained, as well as abnormal forms of sexual activity. It also addresses some conceptual issues in human sexuality, particularly gender identity and gender role.Less

Masculinity in Indonesia: Genders, Sexualities, and Identities in a Changing Society

Richard Parker, Regina Maria Barbosa, and Peter Aggleton

in Framing the Sexual Subject: The Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Power

This chapter discusses male sexualities and sexual cultures in Indonesia. It studies the complex ways the construction of masculinity takes place, not only in relation to women and femininity, but ... More

This chapter discusses male sexualities and sexual cultures in Indonesia. It studies the complex ways the construction of masculinity takes place, not only in relation to women and femininity, but also in relation to the waria gender category. It also expands on the significant attention given to “third gender” categories in recent anthropological and cross-cultural research. Finally, the chapter shows the extent to which gender power and sexual domination are not a function of gender differences in “the mainstream sense,” but are actually functions of class distinctions, age differences, and unequal power relations in society.Less

Hormones and sexual behaviour in the adult male

Alan F. Dixson

in Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans

This chapter discusses the seasonal changes in hormones and sexual behaviour of male primates. It examines the effects of castration, testosterone replacement, anti-androgens, and metabolites on male ... More

This chapter discusses the seasonal changes in hormones and sexual behaviour of male primates. It examines the effects of castration, testosterone replacement, anti-androgens, and metabolites on male primates. Sexually experienced males castrated in adulthood rarely mount females and fail to intromit when observed six to twelve months after surgery. The chapter also explores the sources of individual variability in sexual behaviour such as individual differences in circulating androgen levels, the role of previous sexual experience and the role of the female partner. It addresses the difference between the peripheral and central effects of androgens upon male sexuality; and discusses the factors that impinge hypothalamic mechanisms.Less

Phantom Faggots

Stephen Amico

in Roll Over, Tchaikovsky!: Russian Popular Music and Post-Soviet Homosexuality

This chapter examines a seeming contradiction in post-Soviet Russian popular musics: the existence of widespread homophobia and the relatively large number of popular music performers whose sexual ... More

This chapter examines a seeming contradiction in post-Soviet Russian popular musics: the existence of widespread homophobia and the relatively large number of popular music performers whose sexual orientation has been questioned, both by those in the general public and the (yellow) press. Focusing on the work of three male performers—singers Boris Moiseev, Valerii Leont'ev, and Andrei Danilko (who assumes the drag persona Verka Serdiuchka)—the chapter analyzes the ways in which certain texts of theirs may be read as suggesting male–male sexuality. To situate historically and corporeally, and help explain, this contemporary efflorescence of relatively visible/audible homosexuality, the chapter considers the phenomenon of the phantom limb. More specifically, it explores how homosexuality, through its gendered connections to disease and infection, is viewed as a danger. Finally, it discusses the persistence of stereotypical gender roles in the post-Soviet era, and particularly the ways that masculinity is linked to the male and femininity to the female.Less

Introduction

in French Post-Modern Masculinities: From Neuromatrices to Seropositivity

This book explores changes in the representations and depictions of masculinity and masculine sexualities in contemporary France. It looks at the manifestation of post-modern masculinity and male ... More

This book explores changes in the representations and depictions of masculinity and masculine sexualities in contemporary France. It looks at the manifestation of post-modern masculinity and male sexuality in the French context by analysing the works of Marc-Édouard Nabe, Michel Houellebecq, Maurice Dantec, and Fabrice Neaud. In addition, the book considers Nicolas Jones-Gorlin's novel, Rose Bonbon, which deals with the forbidden sexuality of pedophilia, as well as works by Guillaume Dustan and Erik Rémès to see how notions of HIV infection and the practices associated with the choices of bareback or unsafe sex contribute to subject-formation in some contemporary queer literature.Less

“[W]‌ithout the assistance of any girls”: Queer Sex and the Shock of the New

Penny Farfan

in Performing Queer Modernism

This chapter focuses on Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun (1912) to consider how modernist performance could queer sex without representing same-sex relations and in the process become a focal ... More

This chapter focuses on Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun (1912) to consider how modernist performance could queer sex without representing same-sex relations and in the process become a focal point for sexually dissident spectatorship. In the ballet, the Faun bypasses a group of nymphs in favor of a solitary sexual experience. In doing so, he thwarts narrative expectations, foregrounding an autonomous male sexuality that was thrown into relief by the two-dimensionality of Nijinsky’s choreography. This relationship between modernist form and queer content produced a representation of male sexuality that was neither conventionally masculine nor effeminate. Afternoon of a Faun’s significance as a key work of queer modernism is underscored by its role in the historical emergence of an identifiably gay and lesbian audience, as well as by the mythologization of Nijinsky as the Faun as both an enabling and cautionary figure of queer sexuality.Less

Out of the Attic: Gender, Captivity, And Asylum Exposés

in Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture

This chapter explores some of the cultural forces and gendered dynamics that contributed to the downfall of the moral treatment movement. Much of the focus is on the successful reform efforts of ... More

This chapter explores some of the cultural forces and gendered dynamics that contributed to the downfall of the moral treatment movement. Much of the focus is on the successful reform efforts of Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard, a former patient whose exposés of her treatment called attention to the plight of women who were wrongfully incarcerated at the will of their husbands. Packard's twin political goals were to overturn marriage laws that made women defenseless against unscrupulous husbands and to weaken the authority of (male) asylum superintendents to admit patients against their will. The chapter asks why these two movements became linked, and why—in the following century's feminist historiography—psychiatry came so often to be viewed as a tool of patriarchy to silence non-conforming women. It sets Packard's text against a background of male- and female-authored asylum memoirs, popular fiction detailing the figure of the woman captive to psychiatry, and doctors' writings on the dangers of male sexuality. The chapter concludes with a reading of Herman Melville's story, “Bartleby the Scrivener.”Less