Wasn't This Means War a hoot and a half? Went to see it for The Pine, of course. I loved how there was no slut-shaming (even on the men), and the boyz were soooo obviously in loooove. Now I'm waiting for the DVD because I want to hear the girlfriend really go at it without a PG-13 rating. :-)
:cough: well, aside from homosexuality being fairly ignored in WW2 amongst soldiers on battlefield (lot of accounts, easy to find)
Steve grew up in Brooklyn and the poorer areas on New York. These were havens for young, single men. And a lot of activity went on there. Drag balls. you weren't allowed to wear *anything* in the swimming pools of the YMCA. http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/1021629.html#cutid1 - this link goes through 'Gay New York' by Chauncey, with scans, which covers 1920s and 1930s.
Ah, you beat me to it, on Chauncey. But I second the recommendation.
Helenish, as Chauncey tells us, the white, working-class Brooklyn of Steve's childhood would still have seen lots of queerness in lots of ways, mostly pretty accepted. And Freudian thinking might not yet have been popularized, at least not at where it would have entered the consciousness of working-class high-school boys. (No Hitchcock movies yet, right?)
You might also want to read J. Katz, The Invention of Heterosexuality which gives a pretty good sense of the range of ideas about sexuality available to people in the US between WWI and WW II. And there's a great book about gay men and lesbians in the US armed forces during and after WW II, John D'Emilio's Coming Out Under Fire which suggests that wartime was a great time to be gay in the military
( ... )
Comments 24
Reply
Reply
Dang but this is a lovely glimps into a mifght have been.
Reply
Reply
Reply
my god
.........are you saying that plot bunny is up for adoption because o_O
Reply
Reply
Reply
Steve grew up in Brooklyn and the poorer areas on New York. These were havens for young, single men. And a lot of activity went on there. Drag balls. you weren't allowed to wear *anything* in the swimming pools of the YMCA. http://indeedsir.livejournal.com/1021629.html#cutid1 - this link goes through 'Gay New York' by Chauncey, with scans, which covers 1920s and 1930s.
Trust me. Steve wouldn't bat an eyelid.
Reply
Helenish, as Chauncey tells us, the white, working-class Brooklyn of Steve's childhood would still have seen lots of queerness in lots of ways, mostly pretty accepted. And Freudian thinking might not yet have been popularized, at least not at where it would have entered the consciousness of working-class high-school boys. (No Hitchcock movies yet, right?)
You might also want to read J. Katz, The Invention of Heterosexuality which gives a pretty good sense of the range of ideas about sexuality available to people in the US between WWI and WW II. And there's a great book about gay men and lesbians in the US armed forces during and after WW II, John D'Emilio's Coming Out Under Fire which suggests that wartime was a great time to be gay in the military ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment