The
following is in brief the history of politics around human Gender
identities that have resulted in the modern Western concepts of
homosexuality and heterosexuality:
ANCIENT WORLD:
In the ancient world, humans were divided into three distinct gender identities:
1. Man: (predominantly, not exclusively, masculine males)
2. Women: (predominantly feminine females)
3. Third Gender: (Both male and female at the sametime, including, Feminine males; Masculine females; hermaphrodites, etc.)
Sexual preferences or orientation was just not an issue in determining these identities. you could be a man and sexually desire anyone or anything, you'd remain one of the 'men'... ditto for Third Gender.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDDLE AGES
Around the middle ages, Gender identities became politicized in order to force 'Men' to get bound into marriage and reproduce more than they do naturally -- by restricting male-male sexual/ romantic bonds.
The formal definitions of gender identities were changed as follows, by bringing in the element of sexual acts in the definitions (but not sexual orientation):
1. Man: Male who penetrates
2. Woman: Females (they get penetrated)
3. Third Gender: (males/ eunuchs/ hermaphrodites who seek to be penetrated by men)
The practical definitions of gender identities essentially remained the same (as humans basically tend to associate, relate and identify on the basis of their biological gender, not anything else): i.e. men were essentially masculine gendered males, but they took on the 'penetrator' roles (not identities) in sex, and disowned an interest in receiving penetration from anyone. In fact, they competed to prove a repulsion towards being penetrated.
The Third sex, continued to be essentially feminine gendered males, who now took on the role of receiving penetration from men. Masculine males who were caught having receptive sex were seen as 'lesser males' but not really third sex.
Third gender that desired women went completely underground, because the society didn't want to give them any space or recognition, in order to portray man-woman vaginal intercourse as 'manly'.
With this, through intense social engineering in middle ages, the third gender, which was once the most revered of human genders, now became extremely marginalized and stigmatized, and men started to avoid anything that was associated with them, in order to avoid being labeled as 'half-males/ half-females'. The worst dishonor for a man, for which he was justified to kill another, was to call him a 'third gender' (e.g. a Catamite in ancient Greece, or a Hijra in India).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MODERN WEST
In the beginning of the modern era... with the advent of science, the forces which were empowered by the above mentioned politics and were now ruling the society (Forces of Heterosexualization), initiated the following reorganisation of society:
1. Destroying men's spaces and heterosexualizing them, often in the name of 'women's liberation'. This made men and their bonds especially vulnerable -- as it was already a love that could not speak its name.
2. Science started to call the third sex (which was called by various local names, such as mollies, queers, faggots, etc. which all meant (like Hijras) the feminine gendered males who had receptive sex with men)... they labeled these members of the third sex as "men who liked men". You see, science did not recognize human gender (masculinity/ femininity) as a valid trait distinct from human sex (male/ female), so they called these half-males/ half-females people as 'men', something that was used only for 'masculine gendered males' earlier.
But that did not mean that in reality, these gender traits stopped making a difference. In reality gender continued to be the basis of human identities. Only it now started to be confused with 'sexuality'.
3. When science so redefined the third gender, men started to disown any kind of liking for another men like plague, in order to escape being identified as a half-male/ half-female. Thus they started to be seen as exclusively heterosexual, whether or not they really liked women, since being masculine, they were under intense pressure to prove their 'penetrating' status, which was now changed into a proof of desire for women.
However, men never wanted this pressure to be converted into an identity.. and they themselves never called themselves 'heterosexuals'. Straight men are always the ones who have a direct stake in keeping male sexuality as fluid.
It were the newly empowered third gender, which were now being called the 'homosexuals', who imposed upon the 'men' the 'heterosexual' identity, which they called 'straight' (i.e. normal/ regular guys). As you can see, 'normal', 'regular' male has the connotation of gender, i.e. being masculine, but it was seen as synonymous with being heterosexual (sexuality).
Even today, the 'Men' call themselves 'heterosexual' or 'straight' only when forced to do so, in order to distinguish themselves from the queers (gays). Otherwise they just call themselves 'men'.
4. The male Gender identities have been redefined by the modern West as follows:
a). Man: (now called Straight/ heterosexual male): Male who has a constant and exclusive sexual desire for women.
b). Third gender: (now called Gay/ homosexual/bisexual 'man'): Male who has any kind of sexual desire for men.
5. The practical definitions of gender identities still remain essentially the same (as humans basically tend to associate, relate and identify on the basis of their biological gender, not anything else): Thus 'Men'-- now 'Straight males' -- are still essentially masculine gendered males, but they now take on heterosexual roles and claim to have exclusive and constant sexual need for women. In fact, they compete to prove a repulsion against male eroticism and against the desire for men itself.
6. CONFUSING GENDER WITH SEXUALITY: The Gender identities are now known in the West as Sexual identities (as human gender and sexual identities and traits are confused as 'one' -- Heterosexuality constituting 'Manhood', while 'Homosexuality' constituting 'Queerhood').
To like men is now supposed to indicate an effeminate streak in a male, no matter how 'manly' he tries to behave. There are times when someone refers to a man who exhibits a sexual interest in another man as 'masculine', but it is more as a patronising thing, or an exception, never considered real. Yet it was not so in the pre-sexual orientation days. As long as liking men will be associated with the queer identity/ space, men who acknowledge their sexual interest in men will have to struggle to be counted or seen as 'men' or as 'masculine males' (also known as Real men in the West).
Even Western science conducts experiment on the queers and claims that "Men who like men" have biological constituents of females (like a female like brain).
Similarly to like women is to have proved one's manhood. No further proofs needed. If you become insecure about your manhood, just exhibit even a fake interest in girls, and you will gain back your confidence as a man, and your social image as a 'man'.
No matter, how much some gays may deny it, but its true that both within the gay world and outside, 'gay' and 'effeminate' is used interchangably both within gay world and outside, as in "you're looking so gay", or "you don't look gay". Its the gays who have stigmatized the entire range of male to male desire, by defining themselves as 'men who like men'.
The third gendered male is today also referred to as a 'man', but he is known as a lesser 'man', a queer 'man', a gay 'man', an effeminate 'man', a different 'man'.
The Western society has so much done away with Gender as a trait and confused those traits with 'sexual preferences' that, today, Gender is thought to be non-existent... and it is sexuality that is supposed to distinguish between normal, regular, masculine guys from the 'different', alternative', effeminate or less manly guys. That is why gays so much insist on defining straight as heterosexual, while claiming at the same time that both hetero and homo can be masculine.
7) The original stigma that was attached earlier to Third sex, and male effeminacy is now transferred to what is called 'gay' or homosexuality. But slowly as people forget the concept of gender, this hatred and stigma continues and grows, and has male effeminacy as its base, but, is now seen totally in terms of a desire for another male. The hatred is transferred from the trait of effeminacy to the trait of liking men, which has become extremely stigmatized.
However, in the straight world, if you're straight (i.e. normal, masculine) and you desire another male quietly without acknowledging it, they will not only accept you as one of them, they'll even seek you to fulfill their own suppressed sexual feelings for men. The line between straight and gay as far as straights are concerned is 'acknowledging' the need.
ANCIENT WORLD:
In the ancient world, humans were divided into three distinct gender identities:
1. Man: (predominantly, not exclusively, masculine males)
2. Women: (predominantly feminine females)
3. Third Gender: (Both male and female at the sametime, including, Feminine males; Masculine females; hermaphrodites, etc.)
Sexual preferences or orientation was just not an issue in determining these identities. you could be a man and sexually desire anyone or anything, you'd remain one of the 'men'... ditto for Third Gender.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDDLE AGES
Around the middle ages, Gender identities became politicized in order to force 'Men' to get bound into marriage and reproduce more than they do naturally -- by restricting male-male sexual/ romantic bonds.
The formal definitions of gender identities were changed as follows, by bringing in the element of sexual acts in the definitions (but not sexual orientation):
1. Man: Male who penetrates
2. Woman: Females (they get penetrated)
3. Third Gender: (males/ eunuchs/ hermaphrodites who seek to be penetrated by men)
The practical definitions of gender identities essentially remained the same (as humans basically tend to associate, relate and identify on the basis of their biological gender, not anything else): i.e. men were essentially masculine gendered males, but they took on the 'penetrator' roles (not identities) in sex, and disowned an interest in receiving penetration from anyone. In fact, they competed to prove a repulsion towards being penetrated.
The Third sex, continued to be essentially feminine gendered males, who now took on the role of receiving penetration from men. Masculine males who were caught having receptive sex were seen as 'lesser males' but not really third sex.
Third gender that desired women went completely underground, because the society didn't want to give them any space or recognition, in order to portray man-woman vaginal intercourse as 'manly'.
With this, through intense social engineering in middle ages, the third gender, which was once the most revered of human genders, now became extremely marginalized and stigmatized, and men started to avoid anything that was associated with them, in order to avoid being labeled as 'half-males/ half-females'. The worst dishonor for a man, for which he was justified to kill another, was to call him a 'third gender' (e.g. a Catamite in ancient Greece, or a Hijra in India).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MODERN WEST
In the beginning of the modern era... with the advent of science, the forces which were empowered by the above mentioned politics and were now ruling the society (Forces of Heterosexualization), initiated the following reorganisation of society:
1. Destroying men's spaces and heterosexualizing them, often in the name of 'women's liberation'. This made men and their bonds especially vulnerable -- as it was already a love that could not speak its name.
2. Science started to call the third sex (which was called by various local names, such as mollies, queers, faggots, etc. which all meant (like Hijras) the feminine gendered males who had receptive sex with men)... they labeled these members of the third sex as "men who liked men". You see, science did not recognize human gender (masculinity/ femininity) as a valid trait distinct from human sex (male/ female), so they called these half-males/ half-females people as 'men', something that was used only for 'masculine gendered males' earlier.
But that did not mean that in reality, these gender traits stopped making a difference. In reality gender continued to be the basis of human identities. Only it now started to be confused with 'sexuality'.
3. When science so redefined the third gender, men started to disown any kind of liking for another men like plague, in order to escape being identified as a half-male/ half-female. Thus they started to be seen as exclusively heterosexual, whether or not they really liked women, since being masculine, they were under intense pressure to prove their 'penetrating' status, which was now changed into a proof of desire for women.
However, men never wanted this pressure to be converted into an identity.. and they themselves never called themselves 'heterosexuals'. Straight men are always the ones who have a direct stake in keeping male sexuality as fluid.
It were the newly empowered third gender, which were now being called the 'homosexuals', who imposed upon the 'men' the 'heterosexual' identity, which they called 'straight' (i.e. normal/ regular guys). As you can see, 'normal', 'regular' male has the connotation of gender, i.e. being masculine, but it was seen as synonymous with being heterosexual (sexuality).
Even today, the 'Men' call themselves 'heterosexual' or 'straight' only when forced to do so, in order to distinguish themselves from the queers (gays). Otherwise they just call themselves 'men'.
4. The male Gender identities have been redefined by the modern West as follows:
a). Man: (now called Straight/ heterosexual male): Male who has a constant and exclusive sexual desire for women.
b). Third gender: (now called Gay/ homosexual/bisexual 'man'): Male who has any kind of sexual desire for men.
5. The practical definitions of gender identities still remain essentially the same (as humans basically tend to associate, relate and identify on the basis of their biological gender, not anything else): Thus 'Men'-- now 'Straight males' -- are still essentially masculine gendered males, but they now take on heterosexual roles and claim to have exclusive and constant sexual need for women. In fact, they compete to prove a repulsion against male eroticism and against the desire for men itself.
6. CONFUSING GENDER WITH SEXUALITY: The Gender identities are now known in the West as Sexual identities (as human gender and sexual identities and traits are confused as 'one' -- Heterosexuality constituting 'Manhood', while 'Homosexuality' constituting 'Queerhood').
To like men is now supposed to indicate an effeminate streak in a male, no matter how 'manly' he tries to behave. There are times when someone refers to a man who exhibits a sexual interest in another man as 'masculine', but it is more as a patronising thing, or an exception, never considered real. Yet it was not so in the pre-sexual orientation days. As long as liking men will be associated with the queer identity/ space, men who acknowledge their sexual interest in men will have to struggle to be counted or seen as 'men' or as 'masculine males' (also known as Real men in the West).
Even Western science conducts experiment on the queers and claims that "Men who like men" have biological constituents of females (like a female like brain).
Similarly to like women is to have proved one's manhood. No further proofs needed. If you become insecure about your manhood, just exhibit even a fake interest in girls, and you will gain back your confidence as a man, and your social image as a 'man'.
No matter, how much some gays may deny it, but its true that both within the gay world and outside, 'gay' and 'effeminate' is used interchangably both within gay world and outside, as in "you're looking so gay", or "you don't look gay". Its the gays who have stigmatized the entire range of male to male desire, by defining themselves as 'men who like men'.
The third gendered male is today also referred to as a 'man', but he is known as a lesser 'man', a queer 'man', a gay 'man', an effeminate 'man', a different 'man'.
The Western society has so much done away with Gender as a trait and confused those traits with 'sexual preferences' that, today, Gender is thought to be non-existent... and it is sexuality that is supposed to distinguish between normal, regular, masculine guys from the 'different', alternative', effeminate or less manly guys. That is why gays so much insist on defining straight as heterosexual, while claiming at the same time that both hetero and homo can be masculine.
7) The original stigma that was attached earlier to Third sex, and male effeminacy is now transferred to what is called 'gay' or homosexuality. But slowly as people forget the concept of gender, this hatred and stigma continues and grows, and has male effeminacy as its base, but, is now seen totally in terms of a desire for another male. The hatred is transferred from the trait of effeminacy to the trait of liking men, which has become extremely stigmatized.
However, in the straight world, if you're straight (i.e. normal, masculine) and you desire another male quietly without acknowledging it, they will not only accept you as one of them, they'll even seek you to fulfill their own suppressed sexual feelings for men. The line between straight and gay as far as straights are concerned is 'acknowledging' the need.
No comments:
Post a Comment