Older males in the Greek upper class system took on the role of training the younger males in order so that they may enter into society as the most valuable citizens. A part of this training, however, revolved around the concept of the older males being the instructors and the younger males being obedient pupils. Not too surprisingly, sex was involved in this submissive role playing like structure. In order to maintain a social order within this community, these males would have sex with each other, but it was for nothing to do with sexual pleasure. This act was done so that the older males would establish their positions of power; The older male would always be the ones to, as Fausto-Sterling puts it, mount while the younger male would always be the one mounted.
I found this particularly interesting this first time I was learning about it within my class in Ireland because how these citizens used and administered sex was very foreign to me. I never thought of the act as anything but sexual (with the exception of any violent sexual acts such as rape). What was funny to me was as I first started reading Dueling Dualisms, this lecture instantly came to mind and later on in the chapter Fausto-Sterling even mentions this fact about males in ancient Greece. She does not expand on it, but does identify that the homosexual behavior here was not due to biology, but to social construction (13). I think about this debate a lot, that is, whether one's sexuality is determined genetically or through our social upbringing and outside influences. I think a lot of people have thought about this question as the topics of sex and sexuality are brought up in discussion. Unfortunately the answer is not black and white, as is the case with gender, and so the debate continues.
Being a Fellow Classical Studies major at Colgate, the area of ancient gender relations and sexual practices is very interesting to me. I think you bring up a great point by highlighting the role of the older male in a homosexual relationship to be one of a teacher-like figure. I think that not only were the ancient Greeks (and Romans) highly open about their sexual proclivity within ones gender, but I think it is important to note that a homosexual relationships were reserved for men. Women, even when being used for male entertainment, were rarely depicted as engaging sexually with each other. Prostitutes in Rome, for example, would often have lists of their services, and as far as I have discovered, same sex unions were not an option. I think it is also important to note that male homosexual relations were also restricted to a grown man and a younger boy. In my readings/experiences studying the ancient world, it seems that there was a stigma placed on men of the same age engaging in sexual activities.
ReplyDeleteWhile i think that this is an often over-looked area when discussing sexual relations in the classical world, i think it is an interesting and important caveat to note. Clearly, as a society, male homosexuality, although practiced, was not a subject that went without some factor of being a taboo.
Kendall-
ReplyDeleteBeing a neuroscience major (and thus someone who knows nothing about Greek/ Roman history), learning about this ancient social construction through your post was highly enlightening for me. I find it interesting that sex was used as a mode of climbing the social ladder in this age. Moreover, I think that Hillary's contribution to the post is noteworthy in that male (as opposed to female) homosexuality was the only form that was accepted at this time. Similarly, I think that in today's world, homosexuality as a whole is becoming more and more widely accepted in popular culture. However, I also tend to see more examples of male homosexuality rather than female homosexuality in the media (i.e. in Queer Eye for the Strait Guy, Modern Family, Glee, Perez Hilton, etc.) Can this be viewed as yet another way that women are made lesser than men (in both ancient Greek and current culture)?