Female Homosexuality: A Brief Overview
You know what really, really bugs me? Those homophobic individuals who cry out against male homosexuality as gross or unnatural, but applaud and fantasize about female homosexuality. Our society often sends the message that homosexuality is OK as long as it’s female. What’s up with that?
Society’s odd treatment of female homosexuality has a long and, for lack of a better word, weird history. In ancient Greece, where male homosexuality was honored, romanticized, and expected (because of course, women were the intellectual inferiors of men and thus a man could not have a true relationship with them), female homosexuality was quietly accepted. Most famous for her passionate loves, raunchy poetry, and cultivation of a group of cultured women to rival any group of men, was the poet Sappho. Sappho was quite famous for an ancient Greek woman – her fame both in ancient and modern times actually rivals Homer’s. Residing on the island of Lesbos (yup, this is where we get “lesbian” from!), she surrounded herself with like-minded women and spent as much time lusting after them as she did writing poetry. Probably my favorite poem of hers is Hymn to Aphrodite:
O immortal Aphrodite of the many-colored throne
child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I beseech you,
do not overwhelm me in my heart
with anguish and pain, O Mistress,
But come hither, if ever at another time
hearing my cries from afar
you heeded them, and leaving the home of your father
came, yoking your golden
Chariot: beautiful, swift sparrows
drew you above the black earth
whirling their wings thick and fast,
from heaven’s ether through mid-air.
Suddenly they had arrived; but you, O Blessed Lady,
with a smile on your immortal face,
asked what I had suffered again and
why I was calling again
And what I was most wanting to happen for me
in my frenzied hears: “Whom again shall I persuade
to come back into friendship with you? Who,
O Sappho, does you injustice?
“For if indeed she flees, soon will she pursue,
and though she receives not your gifts, she will give them,
and if she loves not now, soon she will love,
even against her will.”
Come to me now also, release me from
harsh cares; accomplish as many things as my heart desires
to accomplish; and you yourself
be my fellow soldier
The Romans didn’t share the Greek’s flair for same-sex relations. While the status of women generally didn’t improve, homosexuality of all kinds was looked down upon. This increased, of course, when the Roman Empire became Christian. And their homophobia couldn’t hold a candle to that of medieval Europe. Ruled by the church, homosexuality became punishable by death in most countries…kinda.
See, the status of women still hadn’t changed. The idea that two women would find anything sexually attractive in each other was not a part of the thought process of medieval lawmakers. They literally could not imagine it. So while men were fairly often tried and executed for sodomy and being homosexual, women often were not. From the medieval and pre-modern eras there are very few records of cases of women charged with homosexuality and sodomy. Of those cases, most occurred when one woman dressed and lived as a man and preformed intercourse with the aid of dildo; the phallocentric medieval world couldn’t envision sex as anything other than penetration. Other cases in which there was no penetration, homosexuality is often an after-thought type charge – one more charge in a long list of more serious charges (as an aside, this is actually an area I plan to write about much more in-depth in the future).
This societal treatment of female homosexuality was more or less the status quo until much more recently. Which brings us back to this frat boy mentality of it being gross when two dudes get it on but totally hot when two chicks do. Which still makes no sense in even an historical context. What is up with that???
Sources:
DiCaprio, Lisa., & Wiesner, Merry E. (2000). Lives and voices: sources in european women’s history. Houghton Mifflin Co..
1Subliminal
wrote on 4 November 2009 at 4:16
What a cool post, thanks for sharing.
2aj
wrote on 4 November 2009 at 12:22
excellent historical analysis. I definitely have quite a disdain for this cultural obsession with girl on girl action. Such a commodification of lesbian desire. Ugh, frat boys are so frustrating.
3freewomyn
wrote on 4 November 2009 at 17:57
Love this, Manda. You are making this ancient history stuff actually interesting! Keep ‘em coming!
4Shanman
wrote on 5 November 2009 at 12:27
This is my favorite Sappho poem
He seems to me equal to gods that man
whoever he is who opposite you
sits and listens close
to your sweet speaking
and lovely laughing—oh it
puts the heart in my chest on wings
for when I look at you, even a moment, no speaking
is left in me
no: tongue breaks and thin
fire is racing under skin
and in eyes no sight and drumming
fills ears
and cold sweat holds me and shaking
grips me all, greener than grass
I am and dead—or almost
I seem to me.
But all is to be dared, because even a person of poverty
5Liz_Az
wrote on 7 November 2009 at 17:24
It’s incorrect to say that “Romans didn’t share the Greek’s flair for same-sex relations”. It is more accurate to state that Roman homosexuality was practiced differently than in ancient Greece, cultural differences being what they are. All it takes is a tour of Pompeii to view the many frescos and graffiti depicting homosexual and bisexual activities. The Romans also placed great value in large penises, as opposed to the Greeks, who did not. There is also ample evidence that Roman male homosexuals married.
Perhaps you meant to state that the Romans didn’t share the same “flair” for lesbian relations? For man-on-man action, the Romans were just as much eager as the Greeks. It’s just that Roman culture had what appears to be a general distaste for lesbianism. But then, so did Greek society. They just happen to have a bit more tolerance toward us lesbians. Regardless, lesbianism was frowned upon in the ancient world.
Unlike AJ however, I find the cultural “obsession” with girl-on-girl action to be refreshing, because it allows a window of opportunity for females to openly declare and embrace their sexuality that doesn’t fit within the “straight, barefoot & pregnant” cultural pardigm. We should be applauding the independence of action and the liberty of choice.
One last note: the word “phallocentric” is so 1992. The only time I hear the word being used is when it’s uttered by college students. you hardly ever hear that word being used in real life outside of academia.
Sources:
Williams, Craig Arthur (1999) Roman Homosexuality: ideologies of masculinity in classical antiquity. Oxford University Press
Hallett, Judith P., & Skinner, Marilyn B, eds. (1997) Roman Sexualities. Princeton University Press
6Manda
wrote on 7 November 2009 at 19:45
Homosexuality in ancient Rome was HIGHLY stigmatized. The frescoes of Pompeii depict the activity of slaves being penetrated by masters as a means of punishment and humiliation. Romans saw homosexuality, particularly male, as demeaning, especially if you were a bottom. They had very “macho” ideas when it came to masculinity (one might theorize they are the root of ideas on masculinity throughout history, even still up to our present times), and to be treated like a woman was the ultimate insult and humiliation.
).
That’s not to say homosexuality didn’t occur, that’s not even to say it wasn’t somewhat common – just that it was highly stigmatized by society (this was a brief overview, after all
My issues with the cultural obsession over lesbian sex is two-fold. Firstly, I don’t think we should be promoting one type of homosexual sex and insulting another in nearly the same breath. Human sexuality is a beautiful thing, and I think we should be celebrating female-only AND male-only couplings. Secondly, the frat boy-mentality that “heh heh, two chicks doing each other is totally HOT” perverts the act, and makes “females to openly declaring and embracing their sexuality” only acceptable because it’s been male-approved.
As for my use of the word “phallocentric”…um…I guess I don’t understand the point of even bringing it up…I hear and see the word used quite often myself, and as it’s been used in a completely appropriate context, I guess I don’t get what your issue with my usage is.
7Liz_Az
wrote on 8 November 2009 at 20:30
Rational thinking alert, Manda: if homosexuality was highly stigmatized, then why would they depict homosexual acts on frescos? Why would homosexuals publicly flaunt their sexuality? The fact is that male homosexuality in Rome was NOT viewed as an aberrant act. It WAS practiced, regardless if it was used in a “master/slave” relationship or consentually.
Perhaps we just see things differently. I am a lesbian who has gotten over her obsession with “male domination” and patriarchal this and that. It just made me hostile and bitter. I can still be a feminist, but still accept the differences between genders. That is a reason why I object to the use of “phallocentric”. It just comes off as anti-male, which is a mistake our feminist forebears made. We have to accept biology for what it is and make changes to the culture by treating everyone equally, not using words that divide. Go ahead and use such words, but to make change, you’ll need men on your side. You can’t get them on your side if you make them feel hostile. I’m fighting for marriage equality, but am realistic to know we need straights on our side. That’s why you won’t catch me using words like “heterocentric”.
8Manda
wrote on 9 November 2009 at 14:32
We could go back and forth on this forever – everything I’ve read and researched indicates homosexuality was stigmatized in ancient Rome…clearly everything you’ve read and researched indicates the opposite.
If you go back and read my use of the word “phallocentric” in context, I believe you’ll see that it’s used as a descriptor, not as divisive language. To say that the medieval world was phallocentric IS historically accurate; as I said in my article, they couldn’t even imagine sex as anything but a penis (or a penis-like object) penetrating an orifice. I call medieval Europe phallocentric because it was phallocentric, not because I’m hostile towards men.