Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Hey, that's pretty interesting. Thanks, Nolan, my reference resource. (Are you a reference librarian?)
That article contains a number of terms I've never encountered before, all of which would make cool band names:
1. "Daddy Tank"
2. the "lash" (what is that? -- VD or something?)
3. "Sea Pussy"
That article contains a number of terms I've never encountered before, all of which would make cool band names:
1. "Daddy Tank"
2. the "lash" (what is that? -- VD or something?)
3. "Sea Pussy"
I didn't take the Civil War class with you and Adam, but I actually read something about homosexuality during wartime fairly recently. I can't remember where I read it, but the article talked about homosexual sex as being fairly common among soldiers in wars throughout history. The one phrase he used that I remember is "situational homosexuality." This is what you are talking about I think. Basically, gay sex is more common when there are fewer (or no) people of the opposite sex around. So, it's not surprising that soldiers at war, prisoners, and, yes, even cowboys out on the range engage in homosexual acts. I had a little time at work today, so I actually checked out our online resources to see if we had anything on "situational homosexuality." I actually found a really on point entry in the Gale Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered History in America. Sorry if this is a long entry, but I thought it was interesting - especially the paragraph on the British Navy.
SITUATIONAL HOMOSEXUALITY
Situational homosexuality, sometimes called transient homosexuality or circumstantial homosexuality, refers to widespread same-sex sexual behavior in institutions where no partners of the other sex are available. Whether the term is valid or not has become a matter of some debate. Jonathan Katz, for example, argues that all homosexuality is situational, influenced and given meaning and character by its location in time and space. The term itself was invented in the middle of the twentieth century, when the boundary between homosexuality and heterosexuality was held to be hard and fast. Regina Kunzel describes the use of the term as a rhetorical maneuver by social scientists to contain the disruptive meanings of same-sex sexual acts apparently unlinked to, and therefore unsettling to, sexual identity.
The behavior implied by the term is most noted and studied in jails, prisons, and reformatories, where the inmates are there involuntarily. But it has also been described as existing in monasteries, nunneries, ships that spend long periods of time at sea, the military, sexsegregated schools, isolated all-male mining and lumber camps, and similar places and institutions where participation in such activities is more freely chosen.
The term has also been applied to same-sex sexual relations that are tolerated, if not encouraged, during late adolescence and early adulthood, in many areas of the world and many historical periods where the sexes are so strictly segregated that little contact between them is possible until marriage. The assumption behind such toleration is often that individuals who engaged in such behavior will revert to heterosexuality when their situation changes. This may be true at least in part, although it is also clear that a significant number of those who engage in situational homosexuality may continue to prefer their own sex even after other options become available. It is also true that many people, perhaps even the majority, who spend significant time in sex-segregated institutions never voluntarily engage in homosexual acts no matter how long or how intense their deprivation from heterosexual contacts.
Estimates of male prisoners who take part willingly or often unwillingly in same-sex sexual relations while serving in U. S. prisons range from 15 to 86 percent, with most experts putting the figures at the higher end. This is despite the fact that prison policy usually has been to separate the more obvious homosexuals from other prisoners, with a "daddy tank" for the more masculine lesbians and a "queens tank" for the more effeminate men.
In female prisons, it has been claimed that the majority of women engage in same-sex sexual relations but with much less coercion, and much more affection is displayed by women than men. For a time in the 1950s and 1960s female homosexuality behind bars was widely hinted at and even featured in pulp fiction, while the topic of male homosexuality was ignored. Scores of semi-pornographic novels depicted innocent young women being exploited by both brutish guards and butch lesbian prisoners. Interestingly, current research has tended to demonstrate that butch lesbians were more likely to be victims of prison violence and least likely to commit violent acts. The criminologist Karlene Faith concludes that most lesbian relations in prisons involve mutual, non-coercive intimacy.
The so-called sea shanty songs, which go back to the nineteenth century and perhaps earlier in both the United States and England, reflect a casual acceptance of sex among sailors, although while in port the heterosexual activities are emphasized. In the period between 1806 and 1816, the first decade of the Napoleonic wars, 28.6 percent of all executions in the British Navy were for buggery. Winston Churchill is said to have remarked that the three traditions of the British Navy were "rum, sodomy, and the lash."Sailor slang characterized the passive homosexual partner on ships as "sea pussy," a legitimate substitute for females while on board ship. Herman Melville in his novel White Jacket (1850) has a character declare that "sailors as a class, entertain most liberal notions concerning morality …or rather, they take their own views of such matters."
What seems clear in any discussion of situational homosexuality is that no matter how it is defined there are many issues involved. Some of it, especially among adolescents, develops out of homosociality during this stage of life, and is usually replaced by heterosexuality at a later phase. But it is also clear that situational homosexuality emphasizes the bisexual element that exists in so many of us, and many people wanting intimacy, friendship, or some form of sexual release engage in situational same-sex sexual relationships as an alternative to heterosexuality. At the very least, the use of such a term implies that sexual identity does not necessarily have the hard and fast boundaries that current society may have tried to erect between heterosexuality and homosexuality.
Situational Homosexuality. Vern L. Bullough. Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America. Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p122-123. 3 vols.
SITUATIONAL HOMOSEXUALITY
Situational homosexuality, sometimes called transient homosexuality or circumstantial homosexuality, refers to widespread same-sex sexual behavior in institutions where no partners of the other sex are available. Whether the term is valid or not has become a matter of some debate. Jonathan Katz, for example, argues that all homosexuality is situational, influenced and given meaning and character by its location in time and space. The term itself was invented in the middle of the twentieth century, when the boundary between homosexuality and heterosexuality was held to be hard and fast. Regina Kunzel describes the use of the term as a rhetorical maneuver by social scientists to contain the disruptive meanings of same-sex sexual acts apparently unlinked to, and therefore unsettling to, sexual identity.
The behavior implied by the term is most noted and studied in jails, prisons, and reformatories, where the inmates are there involuntarily. But it has also been described as existing in monasteries, nunneries, ships that spend long periods of time at sea, the military, sexsegregated schools, isolated all-male mining and lumber camps, and similar places and institutions where participation in such activities is more freely chosen.
The term has also been applied to same-sex sexual relations that are tolerated, if not encouraged, during late adolescence and early adulthood, in many areas of the world and many historical periods where the sexes are so strictly segregated that little contact between them is possible until marriage. The assumption behind such toleration is often that individuals who engaged in such behavior will revert to heterosexuality when their situation changes. This may be true at least in part, although it is also clear that a significant number of those who engage in situational homosexuality may continue to prefer their own sex even after other options become available. It is also true that many people, perhaps even the majority, who spend significant time in sex-segregated institutions never voluntarily engage in homosexual acts no matter how long or how intense their deprivation from heterosexual contacts.
Estimates of male prisoners who take part willingly or often unwillingly in same-sex sexual relations while serving in U. S. prisons range from 15 to 86 percent, with most experts putting the figures at the higher end. This is despite the fact that prison policy usually has been to separate the more obvious homosexuals from other prisoners, with a "daddy tank" for the more masculine lesbians and a "queens tank" for the more effeminate men.
In female prisons, it has been claimed that the majority of women engage in same-sex sexual relations but with much less coercion, and much more affection is displayed by women than men. For a time in the 1950s and 1960s female homosexuality behind bars was widely hinted at and even featured in pulp fiction, while the topic of male homosexuality was ignored. Scores of semi-pornographic novels depicted innocent young women being exploited by both brutish guards and butch lesbian prisoners. Interestingly, current research has tended to demonstrate that butch lesbians were more likely to be victims of prison violence and least likely to commit violent acts. The criminologist Karlene Faith concludes that most lesbian relations in prisons involve mutual, non-coercive intimacy.
The so-called sea shanty songs, which go back to the nineteenth century and perhaps earlier in both the United States and England, reflect a casual acceptance of sex among sailors, although while in port the heterosexual activities are emphasized. In the period between 1806 and 1816, the first decade of the Napoleonic wars, 28.6 percent of all executions in the British Navy were for buggery. Winston Churchill is said to have remarked that the three traditions of the British Navy were "rum, sodomy, and the lash."Sailor slang characterized the passive homosexual partner on ships as "sea pussy," a legitimate substitute for females while on board ship. Herman Melville in his novel White Jacket (1850) has a character declare that "sailors as a class, entertain most liberal notions concerning morality …or rather, they take their own views of such matters."
What seems clear in any discussion of situational homosexuality is that no matter how it is defined there are many issues involved. Some of it, especially among adolescents, develops out of homosociality during this stage of life, and is usually replaced by heterosexuality at a later phase. But it is also clear that situational homosexuality emphasizes the bisexual element that exists in so many of us, and many people wanting intimacy, friendship, or some form of sexual release engage in situational same-sex sexual relationships as an alternative to heterosexuality. At the very least, the use of such a term implies that sexual identity does not necessarily have the hard and fast boundaries that current society may have tried to erect between heterosexuality and homosexuality.
Situational Homosexuality. Vern L. Bullough. Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America. Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p122-123. 3 vols.
Enjoying the top 10 posts. Good stuff. I'll add to it soon.
1. Andrew Bird. I saw Andrew Bird in concert. He is AMAZING. That guy is crazy talented (e.g., he can whistle like nobody's business!).
2. Brokeback. Saw Brokeback Mountain this weekend. It was very good. Not totally awesome, but really, really good.
The only thing that kept me from completely loving it was the believability factor. I don't find it hard to believe that there were homosexual cowboys (or, more accurately, sheepherders). I guess I find that quite believable.
But I do find it hard to believe that they were so comfortable with homosexuality. Those guys displayed virtually no guilt about their "high altitude f*cking" (as they put it). I would have thought that the movie would have dealt more with the internal conflict of being a "gay cowboy"/"cowboy that engages in homosexual acts."
Relatedly, I remember taking a civil war class from Kimball (Adam, did I take that with you?) where he intimated that homosexual acts were common among the soldiers, and that those acts were considered normal and not homosexual. Purely to advance my own sophist agenda, I'd like to know more about that. Anyone remember that? It may not have been the civil war class, now that I think of it.
3. Baker's Dozen. Has everyone seen the "Lazy Sunday" video from SNL? If not, do a google search for "Lazy Sunday" and watch the video. Top-notch comedy. ("I told you that I'm crazy 'bout those cupcakes, cousin!")
1. Andrew Bird. I saw Andrew Bird in concert. He is AMAZING. That guy is crazy talented (e.g., he can whistle like nobody's business!).
2. Brokeback. Saw Brokeback Mountain this weekend. It was very good. Not totally awesome, but really, really good.
The only thing that kept me from completely loving it was the believability factor. I don't find it hard to believe that there were homosexual cowboys (or, more accurately, sheepherders). I guess I find that quite believable.
But I do find it hard to believe that they were so comfortable with homosexuality. Those guys displayed virtually no guilt about their "high altitude f*cking" (as they put it). I would have thought that the movie would have dealt more with the internal conflict of being a "gay cowboy"/"cowboy that engages in homosexual acts."
Relatedly, I remember taking a civil war class from Kimball (Adam, did I take that with you?) where he intimated that homosexual acts were common among the soldiers, and that those acts were considered normal and not homosexual. Purely to advance my own sophist agenda, I'd like to know more about that. Anyone remember that? It may not have been the civil war class, now that I think of it.
3. Baker's Dozen. Has everyone seen the "Lazy Sunday" video from SNL? If not, do a google search for "Lazy Sunday" and watch the video. Top-notch comedy. ("I told you that I'm crazy 'bout those cupcakes, cousin!")
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Top 7 Albums of 2005
Yeah, that's right. Top 7. I could have made a top 10, but I don't think any of the other albums I bought were worthy of a best-of-the-year list.
1. The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
This is another love it or hate it album mostly because of the vocals. I’m so used to Craig Finn’s voice by now that it didn’t even bother me at all though. I can’t remember where I read this, but it’s funny that one reviewer said the guitarist played “Killebrew-sized riffs” on Separation Sunday.
2. Low – The Great Destroyer
Critics all claimed that this was a much faster and sped-up version of Low. The album does have a few songs with a quicker pace, but there are also a bunch of songs that are still very much slo-core (or whatever you want to call the genre). Whatever the pace, the album is good.
3. Spoon – Gimme Fiction
Spoon continues to put out great music. The simplicity of the songs is part of what makes them so catchy. I only went to a handful of concerts this past year, but the Spoon show at First Ave. was definitely one of the top 2 (the other show was the Pixies reunion show).
4. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
Too much like Modest Mouse. Too much like Arcade Fire. Both complaints are legitimate. But you could be compared to much worse.
5. Hockey Night – Keep Guessin’
Again, too much like Pavement is the complaint I can hear people saying over and over. But, again, you could be compared to worse.
6. The Evens – The Evens
I agree that this could’ve been a good Fugazi album, but it still sounds good as a duet.
7. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
The best album they’ve made musically (well at least of the albums I own), but the vocals still make me cringe at times. I’m all for non-traditional vocals (how else could I put the Hold Steady on this list), but only if they don’t take away from the music. Still, an album I listen to a lot if I’m in the mood.
Yeah, that's right. Top 7. I could have made a top 10, but I don't think any of the other albums I bought were worthy of a best-of-the-year list.
1. The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
This is another love it or hate it album mostly because of the vocals. I’m so used to Craig Finn’s voice by now that it didn’t even bother me at all though. I can’t remember where I read this, but it’s funny that one reviewer said the guitarist played “Killebrew-sized riffs” on Separation Sunday.
2. Low – The Great Destroyer
Critics all claimed that this was a much faster and sped-up version of Low. The album does have a few songs with a quicker pace, but there are also a bunch of songs that are still very much slo-core (or whatever you want to call the genre). Whatever the pace, the album is good.
3. Spoon – Gimme Fiction
Spoon continues to put out great music. The simplicity of the songs is part of what makes them so catchy. I only went to a handful of concerts this past year, but the Spoon show at First Ave. was definitely one of the top 2 (the other show was the Pixies reunion show).
4. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
Too much like Modest Mouse. Too much like Arcade Fire. Both complaints are legitimate. But you could be compared to much worse.
5. Hockey Night – Keep Guessin’
Again, too much like Pavement is the complaint I can hear people saying over and over. But, again, you could be compared to worse.
6. The Evens – The Evens
I agree that this could’ve been a good Fugazi album, but it still sounds good as a duet.
7. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
The best album they’ve made musically (well at least of the albums I own), but the vocals still make me cringe at times. I’m all for non-traditional vocals (how else could I put the Hold Steady on this list), but only if they don’t take away from the music. Still, an album I listen to a lot if I’m in the mood.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Nice list, Adam. I will have one up shortly.
Do you think I would like the Sam Prekop album? I'm guessing not.
Do you think I would like the Sam Prekop album? I'm guessing not.
