The “Closet” and “Out of the Closet” versus “Private Space” and “Public Space”: Indigenous Knowledge System as the Key to Understanding Same-Sex Sexualities in Rural Communities

This paper is produced from the author’s Ph.D. project on indigenous same-sex sexualities. It interrogates the way same-sex sexualities or homosexuality is understood in the West and how the Western interpretations of sexualities and genders are imposed on African rural communities. The paper argues that such Western impositions impede our understanding of same-sex relationships, and it threatens any attempt made to bring sexual orientation awareness programmes to rural areas. The study is framed on African indigenous knowledge systems to accommodate African indigenous perspectives on same-sex sexualities. This approach introduces indigenised same-sex discourse into contemporary discourses. The study was conducted in rural communities of Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN), where families of same-sex individuals (SSI) reside. The research employed a qualitative methodology that involved SSI, families, traditional and Church leaders. Triangulation methods involve individual interviews, focus groups, and workshops, this method is meant to validate research findings. The results reveal that, before Western debates on African same-sex sexualities, the idea of the “closet or out of the closet” did not exist, instead people lived a private life. Meaning, approaching sexual discourse by respecting this choice gives people of different sexualities the privacy they want, and this is regarded as a “safe place” for them.

Transcripts of Gender, Intimacy, and Islam in Southeast Asia: The “Outrageous” Texts of Raja Ali Haji and Khatijah Terung

It is generally perceived that Malays—who are predominantly Muslims—are comparable with the notion of politeness, aligned with moral axioms, and behave in ways copiously guided by religion. Casual sex and other forms of sexual “deviance” are typically attributed to foreign influences, most popularly, Westernisation. New social trends among this community, such as the emphasis on male dominance, changing prescriptions about the functions and expectations of sex, receptiveness towards the body and emotion, exposure to sex education, and openness to sexual discourse are often attributed to the “immoral” West. Yet, forms of sexual behaviours depicted in the writings of notable Malay religious and literary personages reveal surprising insights into the Malay-Muslim milieu of 19th-century Riau. A variety of sexual practices and relations are expressed through these writings. This article adopts a historical-sociological framework to examine the “artisan tools” of textual materials as in the Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa (Book of Linguistic Knowledge) by Raja Ali Haji and Perhimpunan Gunawan bagi Laki-Laki dan Perempuan (A Compendium of Charms for Men and Women) by Khatijah Terung. The “outrageous” sexual depictions in these texts are discussed and analysed, in part to debunk the idea of a “sexual revolution” or “sexual licentiousness” as emanating from an external culture.

Sex(ology) Sells

This chapter points out the persistence of early modern genres and technologies in turn-of-the-century markets for sexual depictions. It shows that existing ways of thinking about licentiousness among urban Chinese consumers, merchants, and law enforcement helped novel media content and forms take root in early twentieth-century China. The chapter focuses on the simultaneity of novel material developments and long-standing trends in the markets for and regulation of sexual representations. It also describes the distance between the letter of the law and its enforcement, arguing that grassroots law enforcement's definitions of transgressiveness directly, powerfully shaped what counted as pornographic. The chapter dissects the most dramatic example of Chinese early modern sexual culture's enduring power: its assimilation of the self-consciously modern genre of sexual science. Existing sexual discourse and print economies absorbed sexological treatises so that, in the eyes of buyers, sellers, producers, and police, sexology became difficult to separate from licentious xiaoshuo and lyric books. It then examines continuities and changes in the perceptions and lived experiences of those on the demand and supply sides of the market. Ultimately, the chapter discusses the case of Zhang Jingsheng's rebranding as “Dr. Sexology,” and the assimilation of sexology into existing markets and vocabularies for eroticism.

Lights, Action, Naughty Bits: A Thematic Analysis of New Zealanders’ Attitudes to Naked Attraction

The sexualisation of culture has generated much debate in western discourse around its effect on the normalisation of nudity and sexual activity. The reality television show Naked Attraction has increased the dialogue around this debate after its airing, originally in the UK, and then in international territories. The show has been applauded for profiling diverse people, whether that be concerning sexual orientation, body image, gender or ethnicity. However, it has also been accused of showcasing pornography. To explore where New Zealanders’ attitudes were positioned on the show, we thematically analysed online comments from two local media entities and found that New Zealanders were positive on its nudity and approach to sexual discourse.

Vocabula Amatoria: A Glossary of French Culinary Sex Terms

John Stephen Farmer’s Vocabula Amatoria, published in 1896, is a French-English erotic dictionary that is a gold mine of popular sexual discourse. Farmer, editor of a seven-volume dictionary of English slang, based Vocabula Amatoria on three French erotic dictionaries published between 1861 and 1869 by Auguste Scheler, Alfred Delvau, and Jules Choux. The first of the three drew on literary sources, but Delvau’s and Choux’s dictionaries incorporated vernacular that they encountered in Paris’s cafés, cabarets, theaters, and brothels. Farmer’s translations also integrated English slang from the late nineteenth century that he either had collected for his dictionaries or had learned through his work as a journalist and editor living on the margins of respectability. Many of the French sexual idioms collected in Vocabula Amatoria incorporate food metaphors—for example, likening the penis to root vegetables, or the vagina to cooking tools. The English idioms are less food focused. Farmer’s dictionary is a valuable source for understanding the differences between French and English popular attitudes toward food and sex in the late nineteenth century.

Sex and Power in Cassius Dio’s Roman History

This article contributes to our understanding of Dio’s technique of using sexual discourse as a useful tool of characterisation and ethical and historical interpretation. It also aims to advance our understanding of the role of sexual-moral critique in ancient historiography more generally. In the first part, it argues that comments on sexual matters in Dio’s history contribute to the construction of imperial portraits and the evaluation of an emperor. Sexual transgressions regularly coalesce with other bad characteristics of a ruler and his overall tyrannical behaviour. In the second part it is suggested that Dio’s representation of Elagabalus is considerably peculiar in terms of both its narrative technique and content, including themes and stories that unfold in significantly different and unexpected ways. Sexual misconduct is not simply associated with other vices, but is also used as a significant stand-alone category in the historian’s assessment of Elagabalus’ character and reign. This understanding of Dio’s technique, it is proposed, makes not only a historiographical point, but also a significant historical one about Elagabalus, his rule, and the state of the Roman Empire at the time.

Science, Sin, and Sexuality in Roman-Catholic Discourses in the German-Speaking Area, 1870s to 1930s

Even though there is a substantive body of research on the emergence of sexual science and the overall scientification of sexuality that in Europe took place around 1900, we lack studies that focus on Roman-Catholic responses. This article addresses this gap by analyzing the Roman-Catholic discourse on sexuality between the 1870s and 1930s in the German-speaking area. Investigating papal encyclicals, pastoral letters, prayer, devotion, and instruction booklets, this paper argues that Roman-Catholic authors adopted scientific rhetoric and argumentation patterns in order to justify the Catholic sexual morality anew under the conditions of a society that became increasingly secularized. This adoption changed the Catholic evaluation of sexuality itself as well: Originally seen as a phenomenon of personal moral conduct, sexuality’s societal and political importance in terms of a nation’s health was increasingly acknowledged since the outbreak of World War I. Scientific concepts of health and disease increasingly replaced the formerly all-pervading theological notion of sinfulness. Furthermore, the Catholic sexual discourse was markedly gendered. By primarily discussing female sexuality, Catholic authors hoped to support the traditional Catholic family ideal that had come under pressure due to the increased secularization of society.