Male to Male: Sexual Feeling Across the Boundaries of Identity

ISBN-13: 9781560239758 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 404 str.

Edward J. Tejirian

Opis

Explore the feelings of men toward other men without the pigeonholing found in terms like "gay" and "straight"

Male to Male: Sexual Feeling Across the Boundaries of Identity starts with the evidence that most studies on male sexuality have ignored--the same-sex feelings of men whose identities are heterosexual. Of the more than fifty men in this book, almost half were aware of some degree of same-sex feeling. But beyond percentages, the primary focus of Male to Male is the exploration--through their own words--of how these men experienced same-sex feelings, what these feelings meant to them, the fears surrounding them, and the consequences of the collision between their heterosexual identities and their same-sex feelings.

In addition to comparative data on women's same-sex feelings, as well as on what men say in regard to their feelings about women, Male to Male includes material from two in-depth case studies. The first is on Clark, an African-American man who moved into sex with men in prison. His story shows that the need to see gay men as feminine is really a cultural defense against the powerful pull toward the male-to-male bond, and points to the movement to fulfill that bond when this defense is dropped. The second is on Zack, a gay police officer. His story explores the different dimensions and meanings of the male-to-male bond as these unfolded in his own life, while telling about the heterosexually identified men who "came out" to him about their own same-sex feelings.

Male to Male will help you explore:

• same-sex feelings in heterosexual men and women
• same-sex feelings in the military
• prison culture and the "heterosexual role"
• the fear of domination
• the aesthetics of fear and power
• the dynamics of rape
• compassionate relationships between heterosexual-identified men . . . and much more

Male to Male provides evidence showing that the identity that really counts--constituting the deepest source from which men's sexual feelings for each other spring--is not specifically a gay or heterosexual identity. That source is, rather, a male identity, and--beyond that--a human identity.

Spis treści

Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Biological Essentialism, Social Constructionism, and the Individual
• The Individual in Psychological Research
• Acknowledgments
• Part I: Ordinary People
• Chapter 1: The Inner Boundary
• Same-Sex Feeling in Heterosexual Men and Women
• The Truth Is Out There
• Comparisons with Women
• The Institutional Culture
• Same-Sex Feeling and “Gender Atypicality”
• Chapter 2: Women at the Boundary
• Sexual Attraction As an Emotional Response
• Avenues of the Mind
• Image and Emotion
• Your Brain Is an Active Explorer
• Emotion As Change in the Body's “Landscape”
• Sexual Attraction As “Moving Toward”
• The Invitation
• Adolescence
• Chapter 3: “Moving Toward” and Resistance
• Seth
• Will
• Same-Sex Feeling and the Military
• Chapter 4: Men on Men: Image, Emotion, and Meaning
• The Image of the Male Body
• Men's Fears
• Adolescence and Identity
• Culture--Internalization and “Disidentification”
• Identity and the Divided Self
• Moving Toward Friends
• Bisexual Identity
• The Class Subculture
• The Emotional Fabric
• New Movement
• Spiritual Connections and the Sense of the Sacred
• Chapter 5: “Heterosexuality” versus “Moving Toward” Women
• Nick
• Tony
• Russ
• Oneness
• Chapter 6: Emotional Paths
• Colin
• Alex
• The One-to-One Bond
• Comparisons with Gay Men
• Psychological Rock Bottom
• Chapter 7: Identity Crises
• Johnny
• Carl
• Michael
• Part II: Clark
• Chapter 8: “A Man Like Myself”
• Sexual Identity
• Prison Culture and the Heterosexual Role
• The Fear of Domination
• The Image of the Male Body
• Movement Through Stages
• Relating to a Man--As a Man
• “I See Myself”
• The Aesthetics of Fear and Power
• Male Bonding and Sexual Love
• An Emotional Milestone
• Stepping Over the Cultural Barrier
• Chapter 9: Movement into a New Territory
• The Rape dynamics
• Sex As Dominance and Performance
• The Top of the Line
• The Two Emotions in the Rape
• The Rape
• Rejection in Rape
• Rejecting the Rapist Mentality
• “I Have a Choice”
• An Expression of Love
• Change in Fantasy Life and Identity
• Making Love with a Masculine Man
• Comparisons with Women
• Male to Male
• Rape Dynamics--Dissolution
• Twinning--Male Self, Male Other
• Part III: Zack
• Chapter 10: Cultural Confrontations and Identity
• The Institutional Culture: Early Encounters
• Early Movement
• Early Adolescent Explorations
• The Guide Dream
• Dream and Myth
• The Role of the “Carrier”
• Rites of Passage
• Joining the Police Force
• Suicide and the False Self
• The Turning Point
• Self-Disclosure--Family
• Self-Disclosure--Work
• Chapter 11: The Color Green
• Early Directions
• The Color Green
• The Dream of the Color Green
• The Image of the Double
• The Double in Conrad's The Secret Sharer (ital)
• Love in the Flesh
• Two Masculinities
• The Dream of the Young Man in the Cellar
• The God of Love
• The Third Meaning of the Dream of the Young Man in the Cellar and the Dream of the Cave
• Chapter 12: Boundary Crossings
• Zack As the Double
• “I Felt I Was Jewish”
• Fighting with Destiny
• Compassionate Relationships
• Boundary Crossings
• Conclusion: Identity and Beyond
• Appendix: David and Jonathan
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Reference Notes Included

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Edward Tejirian