a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
ecib  ·  4484 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A photo history of male intimacy

    The term “homosexuality” was in fact not coined until 1869, and before that time, the strict dichotomy between “gay” and “straight” did not yet exist. Attraction to, and sexual activity with other men was thought of as something you did, not something you were. It was a behavior — accepted by some cultures and considered sinful by others.

I just can't break out of this dichotomy. Every picture, I'm wondering "Am I looking at two olde-timey gay men, or at a different era where personal space and our conceptions of sexuality haven't conspired to keep us at a distance?"