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Homosexual behavior
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It is undeniable that Andre Gide's The Immoralist, first published in 1902 in an edition of 300 copies, is at the very least, a novel predominantly dealing with Michel, the protagonist, and his search for his true authentic self amidst social and moral conventions and the subsequent consequences of deviating from these principles. It is also undeniable that it is a novel unfolding Michel's journey from a married heterosexual to a widowed homosexual. Throughout the novel Gide uses ambiguous homoerotic references to create a powerful juxtaposition of themes. The two themes collide to give the reader the complex task of ascertaining exactly how much of Michel's search is a momentous quest for a deeper understanding of his identity and how much is a disastrous facade undertaken to entertain his obvious but understated homosexual inclination.
We are first introduced to Michel on his honeymoon in a self-professed loveless marriage to Marceline. He subsequently battles Tuberculosis and emerges victorious with a will to live; it is here we see the beginnings of Michel's latent homosexuality in his obsession with the local Arab boys. Michel insists his assiduity to the young boys is merely a fascination with their heath. He remarks at one point, "when he laughed he showed his brilliant white teeth, then licked the wound with delight: his tongue pink as a cat's. How healthy he was! That was what beguiled me about him: health. The health of that little body was beautiful." The sexual tone is defined... an indistinct, vague reference, nonetheless laced with pedastry, concealed in layers of Michel's self-deceit. This formless sexuality remains constant throughout the novel just as Michel continually vacillates between his love and devotion to Marceline and his desire to be free.
Michel continues with the rebirth of his new self while he abandons all previous social contracts and begins the steady annihilation of his character as well as his marriage to Marceline. What arises from this "rebirth" is a literary quandary for the reader. Michel denounces his current heterosexual principles, but fails to choose a new, enlightened, homosexual self for the reader to identify with. In one critical essay regarding this subject, Rictor Norton contends that " Marceline is partly a symbol of society-at-large and partly the tragic figure of a woman who marries a homosexual man.... Readers simply reject her; because Gide has omitted all homosexual facts from the narrative, we do not see that Michel rejects her in favor of something or someone else".
The first people introduced are a couple, Agustin and Marcelo, that has been well established in Chicago, Illinois. Marcelo explained his struggle of being both gay and staying catholic because as a kid he prayed to god for a miracle to change him to be “normal”. Marcelo has accepted himself and continues to practice the religion even though Catholicism prohibits being gay. Another man named David described being teased in his school career for kissing another boy in the third grade because of his sexuality. He moved to New York City to get away from his childhood and to finally be happy in a place where he isn’t judged. This homophobia from young kids instigates violence in school that is learned from parents and from the community of others. The last person introduced in the film was a man who transitioned to be a woman that was rejected by her family and had to move out of her home for coming home with hair extensions. This form of violence caused Gabriela to abuse drugs and alcohol to deal with the pain of rejection. These three examples show how people have overcome the cultural normality, but have experienced all sorts of different
From the beginning, Robert Cohn’s name defines himself-he is essentially a conehead in a society where concealing insecurities and projecting masculinity is paramount. Although he tries in vain to act stereotypically male, Cohn’s submissive attitude and romantic beliefs ultimately do little to cover up the pitiful truth; he is nothing more than a degenerate shadow of masculinity, doomed for isolation by society. In the incriminating eyes of people around him, Cohn is a picture-perfect representation of a failure as a man. Through Cohn, Hemingway delineates not only the complications of attaining virility, but also the reveal of another “lost” generation within the Lost Generation: those living without masculinity and the consequences they thus face.
Marcello became a conformist to conceal his homosexuality. He is sexually awkward with his very attractive wife and compensates for it by bragging about his sex life with male companions, such as Italo. When Italo asks Marcello why he is marrying the simple-minded woman, he tells him “normalcy, stability, and security”. When Marcello spoke with the priest about how he’s pursuing a normal life he told the priest he is marrying a woman who is “all bed and kitchen”. He knows he is different from others and this
Within the many layers of Montag lay several opposite sides. For example, Montag is a fireman who burns books for a living but at home, spends time reading novels, poetry, and other written material. Although Montag could be called a hypocrite, he does not enjoy both the reading and the burning at the same time; he goes through a change that causes him to love books. Humans have the power to change and grow from one extreme to another, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. In addition, when Mildred is with Montag, Montag does not have feelings for her but thinks of her as she is killed by the bombs. He possesses both the knowledge that Mildred does not love him and the heart that truly cares, but he knows not how to deal with this. His feelings are oppressed; it takes a major event (the bomb) to jolt them from hibernation.
2.Chenier,Elise. “The Benality of Evil.” History 115: Introduction to the History of Sexuality. Class lecture at Simon Fraser Univerity, Burnaby,BC,September 11,2013
Irigaray, Luce. “That Sex Which is Not One.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998. 1467-1471.
Warner, M. The trouble with normal, sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Harvard
The article “The Invention of Homosexuality and Heterosexuality” addresses how homosexuality was invented and how society accepted this new form of sexual orientation. Homosexuality is more socially acceptable in modern times. However, dating back to the nineteen century homosexually was classified as a disease that had to be cured. In the nineteen century, homosexuals diverted from the “norm” thus, they were seen a disability. Mann and Susan Archer state that “Foucault argued that the invention of the reviled "homosexual" is one of the most significant and enduring legacies of this period in sexual history as well as a classic example of the way in which assorted sexual acts were re-conceptualized in the late nineteenth century from fleeting practices to symptoms of permanent disorder and sexual personage.” This article adopts concepts of normalcy, and race in relation to heterosexuality.
Delany, Samuel. "Aversion/Perversion/Diversion." Longer Views: Extended Essays. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996
These men are punished for sexual behaviors and gender identification that society punishes unfoundedly while also serving as a message to those within this small community as an inspiring piece to give context to feelings unexplored and, perhaps more importantly for the sake of this essay, to reclaim a heritage that they may not be aware they possess. In this pursuit Werther identifies several historical figures, from conquerers to playwrights, that could have identified with the community or cultures where the traits that they are often supressed for posessing are celebrated or accepted with the intent of inspiring and informing his
This essay will analyze and critique Michel Foucault’s (1984) essay The Use of Pleasure in order to reveal certain internal weaknesses it contains and propose modifications that would strengthen his reading of sexuality as a domain of moral self-formation. In order to do so, it will present a threefold critique of his work. Firstly, it will argue that that his focus on solely the metric of pleasure divorced from its political manifestations underemphasizes state power as a structuring principle of sexuality. Secondly, it will posit that his attention to classical morality privileges written works by male elites and fails to account for the subtexts that would demonstrate other forms of morality. Finally, it will argue that the nature of actors’ resistance to moral codes, explicated through Butler’s concept of iterability and signification, is an important factor that should also be considered. As a result of this critique, this essay
In this attempt to put the critics of religious morals to the acid test, Johnson begins with Rousseau, highlighting his self-centeredness, sexual perversity (“liked to be spanked” and was a public exhibitionist of his “bottom”), his ironic abandonment of his own children at birth, and his naive political status.
Homosexuality has been the topic of constant conflict today. Homosexuality is defined as, a romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. In addition, homosexuality has been accepted more today, however, it is still frowned upon by many. Consequently, there are many challenges on the views of homosexuality. Some may think that this is an abnormal behavior, to have an attraction to the same sex. On the contrary, there are many who defend that the feelings that homosexual has, are feelings that are normal, not to mention, homosexuals believe that they were in fact born this way. Furthermore, in this essay, it will look at the challenges that are presented on this topic, and look at the conflict that is between society, homosexuals, and the church.
For John Hnery MacKay the term “Nameless” derived form the highly publicized Oscar Wilde obscenity trials was the root for his later description of same-sex and man-boy love by calling it “nameless/namenlose.” MacKay asserted that the love between a man and a boy could not be named, nor pathologized by medical science or sexology. MacKay’s disdain for these terms, led him to describe his homosexual desire as to be without a name because of the stigmas attached to these terms and how there were used in Weimar German society in the political and legal system to criminalize and punish same-sex desire. In order to make this more clear in his literature, MacKay’s Sagitta writings BNL and Puppenjunge serve as examples of MacKay’s own search to explain something that cannot or should not be named.