Hardcover
Publisher: Routledge
Previously hard-to-find information on homosexuality in early America—now in a convenient single volume! Few of us are familiar with the gay men on General Washington’s staff or among the leaders of the new republic. Now, in the same way that Alex Haley’s Roots provided a generation of African Americans with an appreciation of their history, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships will give many gay readers their first glimpse of homosexuality as a theme in early American history.
Male-Male Intimacy in Early America is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the role of homosexual activity among American men in the early years of American history. This single source brings together information that has until now been widely scattered in journals and distant archives. The book draws on personal letters, diaries, court records, and contemporary publications to examine the role of homosexual activity in the lives of American men in the colonial period and in the early years of the new republic. The author scoured research that was published in contemporary journals and also conducted his own research in over a dozen US archives, ranging from the Library of Congress to the Huntington Library, from the United Military Academy Archives to the Missouri Historical Society.
Male-Male Intimacy in Early America explores:
the role of the open frontier and the unregulated seas as places of refuge for men who would not enter into heterosexual relationships
the sexual lives of American Indians—particularly the berdache tradition—and how the stereotypes associated with American Indian sexuality molded white America’s attitudes toward homosexuality
homosexuality in slave narratives—and the homosexual subtexts of racist minstrel show lyrics
the formation of European gay communities during American colonial times, with an emphasis on Berlin, Paris, and London—with English translations of material previously available only in German or French!
homosexuality as presented in eighteenth-century novels popular with American readers, plus information on homosexuality that was published in medical treatises of the period
United States Army and Navy courts-martial that focused on sodomy
the sublimation of homosexuality by religious revival movements of the early nineteenth century, particularly among Quakers, Mormons, and Oneida Perfectionists
social groups as a perceived cover for homosexual activity, with an emphasis on the Masonic Order
non-procreative sexuality as a theme and as a threat during the American revolution
the West in American literary tradition—and the role of popular writers such as James Fenimore Cooper and Davy Crockett in creating the myth of individual sexual freedom on the margins of American society Author William Benemann rejects Foucault’s contention that homosexuality is an artificial construct created by medico-legal authorities in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He recognizes that men have been sexually attracted to other men throughout American history, and in this book, examines their historical options for expressing that attraction. He also addresses related issues surrounding race and gender expectations, population and migration patterns, vocational choice, and information exchange. Written in a straightforward style that can easily be understood by lay readers, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America is an ideal choice for educators, students, and individuals interested in this unexplored area of American history and sexuality studies.
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| A Remarkable Study |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Benemann, William. "Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships", Routledge, 2006.
A Remarkable Study
Amos Lassen
Many of us are unfamiliar with the history of gay men in Colonial America. "Male-Male Intimacy in Early America" gives readers a look at homosexuality in early America. Much of the information in the book has never been classified before and was found in journals and archives as well as personal letters, court records and publications of the period. Benemann
researched wherever he had a lead from the Library of Congress, the Huntington Library, the Archives of the United States Military Academy and the Missouri Historical Society. He shows us that homosexuality has been with us throughout the history of this country, He shows us how this was expressed and looks at race and gender and their roles in the building of America. This is quite a study yet it is written in language that all of us can understand.
There is a great deal of information in this book and it gives a unique face to our history but as I have always felt, is it really necessary to have separate histories--African American History, Irish American history, gay American history. We can only hope that there will come a day when labels will not be used and history will be simply history.
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| Things you never knew |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I have found this work very informative and extremely well researched, if at times a bit longwinded in the prose.
Nevertheless, it offers an invaluable source for those who wish to gain a more complete picture on the emergence of homosexuality as a 'condition' of but also to researchers due to its copious source material.
It brings up the question too whether we, in our time, aren't just putting too many labels on too many things, and whether we wouldn't be better off sometimes not to pigeonhole everything. After all most of our divisions into emotional categories are artificial. We are composed of everything and evenly capable of everything.
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