Love Stories: Sex between Men before Homosexuality 1st Edition

Jonathan Katz, who by now is one of the most respected scholars of gay history, has written another telling volume about same-sex love in America. This one centers around the nineteenth century. Well-known names appear in these pages, principally the towering figure of poet Walt Whitman, who not only espoused the ideal of love between men in his own life, but was a mentor and inspirational figure to others struggling with their desires for those of their own gender.Katz's overall point is that one cannot judge the sexual behavior of men of the past by today's standards and attitudes--for much of the nineteenth century, there existed no sharp dichotomy between man-woman (heterosexual) and man-man or woman-woman (homosexual) behavior. Rather, distinctions were made between _types_ of love, spiritual as opposed to carnal, and _types_ of erotic behavior, procreative as opposed to non-procreative. Even among acts judged early on to be immoral or wrong, some were more wrong than others--oral copulation for a long time was not regarded with the same revulsion as other penetrative acts, for example. Having delineated these basic arguments, Katz then tells the stories of individual men and specific incidents (trials, arrests, news reports, et al.) against this background, bringing a historical perspective of unusual lucidity to all of these disparate tales.Although he does not specifically attempt to tie his history toward attitudes and behavior of the present day, one of the beneficial effects of Katz's study is that the careful reader can discern where the frequently virulent prejudices against gays and lesbians that remain today got their start. The fact that many of these once did NOT exist, moreover, gives hope for the future. This is an unusual, valuable, candid and ultimately very moving chronicle.

An amazing collection of photos from 1850 through 1950. You can see the joy and love in each photo, but also sense the undercurrent of danger and loss. I wanted to know the back story on each and every image. This is an important book.

Was hoping for a variety stories about about a variety of people. Not so.Oh well...

Before Freud ruined so much of human relationships with his misguided and anti-human theory, people could have deep friendships across many, if not all, social and gender boundaries without fear of being labeled as deviate or shameful. In the mid-to-late 19th century, deep, and sometimes sexual relationships between men, found a common theme. Male/male love was now seen, by well-educated devotees, as a rediscovery of ancient Greek traditions. Britain and America thought themselves the heirs to the Greco-Roman legacy, and those platonic (or not) friendships were a part of that. The role that Walt Whitman played in giving the movement a voice and a testament gets thorough treatment here.Unfortunately, the book has three significant flaws, two of which could be solved by editing and the third of which should send Katz back to the library. First, the jacket subtitle is `Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality" which is misleading and needlessly provocative. The book is much more about deep male friendships; the sexual aspects are really secondary to the narrative. Secondly, the author indulges in far too many snickering, leering asides, such as "Could this have meant...?" "Were they really referring to (insert name of sexual act)?" To add insult, he feels compelled to explain the double -entendre of the word `tight'. One thinks he didn't know his audience. He should have just used a lot of emoticons!The third, and most serious flaw is the lack of context. Having carefully established the nature and wide range of these relationships, he omits any mention of Freud and other researchers into human sexuality who only succeeded in making everyone more uptight than they were. To judge from this book these Victorian proto-queens were only slightly bothered about the moral aspects of male-male sex, but after Freud, all that changed. Just a few pages about the difference in post-Freudian sexual anxieties would help the reader appreciate just how good most, if not all, of Katz's 19th century subjects had it.An important book that needs to get over itself in some ways, Love Stories needs just a few more minutes in the dressing room before going back to the cotillion.

This book provides a fascinating look at what life was like for men attracted to other men in the past - including some of the characters who helped define the current understanding of what it means to be gay. It also shows glimpses of norms that today we would find very strange - guests sharing beds with children and travelling companions shacking up together as examples. This all helps us understand the breadth of human experience on this topic and where we individually might fit within the spectrum.

Well written book about an intriguing topic. Seems that in the 1800's any man could have a gay experience that was not *actual sodomy* & it was tolerated. Many men in these relationships later entered a straight marriage. I guess we would say they behaved like men in prison where only a male partner is available to them & they indulged, only to later marry & have a family. The book is verydetailed & has photographs.

excellent