Homosexual Politics in Britain - Essay Example

An Invaluable Study with Slight Setbacks A Review of Weeks' Coming Out In Coming out: Homosexual Politics in Britain, from theNineteenth Century to the Present, Jeffrey Weeks tackles the objective of providing an overarching view of the tribulations suffered and victories achieved by homosexual men and women in Britain during the last century. The groundwork for this book had been suggested by a 1968 essay that Mary McIntosh wrote about "the homosexual role" in England. Weeks applies this perspective of a "homosexual" role in Coming Out to create an invaluable study in gay history, which revolving around establishing the difference between homosexual behavior, which has always been in existence, and homosexual identity, which is a social construct. A closer examination, however, of how specific social events influenced homosexual identity would have greatly aided in creating an understanding of the relationship and origins homosexual identity has in British society. Thus, Weeks emphasizes the structural existence of homosexuality, while failing to consider the forces that might have established this structure. Weeks revolves Coming Out around the argument that the concept of a "homosexual" is a socially constructed term which has aided in creation a negatively viewed sub-culture. "We tend to think now that the word 'homosexual' has an unvarying meaning, beyond time and history." Weeks writes. "In fact it is itself a product of history, a cultural artifact designed to express a particular concept." (3) Often who we define as a homosexual runs no further than the sexual acts in which a person engages. The basis of this definition, however, fails to consider what type of person is or is not a homosexual. Weeks suggests that the reasons for crafting this shallow connotation towards homosexuality appears to have been to provide a standard on which to label permissible and impressible behavior and also to limit the number of those who are viewed as untraditional. In addition to carefully describing the differences between historical and social aspects of homosexuality, Weeks makes sure to describe the differences in treatment towards various types of "homosexuals." Weeks pays particular consideration towards Lesbians, who Weeks describes as "invisible women" (80) and who debatably may have suffered even more hardships than homosexual men. Like most gender studies, Weeks also tackles the objective of showing that although the idea of "homosexuality" is a product of specific circumstances, homosexuality is wide ranging and alludes any historical or cultural constructs. After the introductory section of this book, these two objectives are placed in the background as tools for understanding the history of homosexuality in Britain. As Weeks linearly traces the development of homosexual struggles in England, he crafts the notion that the acceptance of homosexuality in England is growing significantly. Thus, homosexuality appears to be escaping the negative conceptions with which it has previously been associated. Weeks primarily bases his argument that the acceptance of homosexuality in England is growing by citing the increasing number of gay rights supporters. After levels of prejudice against homosexual rose to peak levels after World War II, radical movements in the 1970's by the Gay Liberation Front resulted in stagger numbers of supporters and gay badge wearers. Furthermore, Weeks makes a slight mention that homosexuality was once even more confined than is has been over the course of the previous centuries. Although homosexuality was prevalent, occurring in "knightly orders," "medieval scandals," and certain "monarch courts" (35), it was always confined. In Weeks's portrait of the widening acceptance of homosexuality throughout the previous century, he fails to create an in-depth portrait of how England's various cultural and economic transitions helped to impact perspectives of homosexuality. The book is not without its failures. I believe that Weeks is too interested in detaching the stigmas associated with homosexuality and not focused enough on understanding the reasons why or specifics of how homosexual has shifted in context since the eighteenth century. Weeks could have added significant power to his argument that gay identity is historically specific by suggesting which changes have occurred in England during the last century, particularly when the reader considers the significant political and economic changes which have occurred within the country. As such, it becomes difficult to understand exactly why Weeks has chosen the previous century to perform his studies. It is possible, however, that Weeks consciously thought to downplay the effects that society had on crafting a gay identity because he believes that is nearly impossible to attribute the creation of sexuality identity with political or economic events. After all, Weeks suggests throughout the book that homosexuality is far more than a product of various social or economic stimulants. The problem in Weeks' lack of historical analysis, however, lies in understanding what outside motives may have influenced people towards accepting homosexuals within England. Nevertheless, Weeks often leaves the impression that his examination is much more confined than it needs to be. As such, Coming Out provides the impression that is under researched in regards to its description of historical events. Subsequently, Weeks attempts to argue that the social concept of "homosexuality" first developed in late nineteenth-century Europe, due largely in part to medical and scientific studies which suggested that homosexuality was a disease. Weeks also implies that the Oscar Wilde trials "underscored the web of casual contacts and monetary exchanges that dominated the nineteenth-century homosexual world." While these reasons certainly aided in crafting an image of homosexuality as an unknown other, it is difficult to accept that this was the creation of a negative social attitude towards homosexuality without a more thorough investigation of the social attitudes that existed beforehand. Furthermore, Weeks does not provide any statistical back for his argument that these "monetary exchanges" dominated the nineteenth century's homosexual population. Both of these criticisms, however, are directed towards the idea that Weeks could have provided a larger examination of homosexuality in British society. Because the book's main setbacks are failures to include additional information, rather than problems based around the book's thesis, I do not believe that there are many things that Weeks could do to further strengthen his argument. Rather, while Coming Out may be limited in certain respects, in the way that McIntosh's essay inspired Weeks creation of the book, this work presents a strong stepping stone and invitation for further examinations of historical and cultural relationship to homosexuality. Thus, Jeffrey Weeks has succeeded in creating a book that traces the progression of homosexual acceptance and rights throughout the previous century. Although Weeks fails to provide a Marxist perspective in regards to the rise of a homosexual identity, the book provides an in-depth look at gay history in Britain and invites other authors in other countries to follow his research. If Weeks had included a better examination of what events had subverted homosexuality in British, however, the book would have provided a better framework for understanding homosexuality in a larger social context. Nonetheless, Weeks has created a powerful examination of the role that homosexuality has played throughout modern British history. Works Cited Weeks, Jeffrey Coming Out: Homosexual Politics in Britain, from the Nineteenth Century to the Present. London: Quartet, 1977. Read More