#jens rydström

[forislynx]

Man kan säga att osynlighet är något som präglat HBT-personer i den svenska historien. Under långa tider har det varit en aktiv hållning från det svenska samhället att inte prata om könsöverskridare eller personer som ville leva i samkönade relationer.

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[thoughts-of-a-heathen]

Some thoughts on the homophobic bias that exists within certain sections of the heathen community:

Just because a concept exists within several cultures, it doesn't mean that all of these cultures have the same, or even a similar, understanding of said concept.

The understanding of a concept might also change quite drastically over time, even within a single culture.

For example, the law against "unnatural fornication" ("otukt som mot naturen är," 1864) is sometimes referred to as Sweden's "anti gay law." But in reality, the law was used to control sexual activity that was deemed unacceptable (like anal penetration, and beastiality).

In the 19th century, the law was mainly used to prosecute people for actions that would still have been illegal today (like CSA). The gender of the people involved was of less importance than the action itself. Sodomy wasn't deemed any more acceptable because it involved a man and a woman. Similarly, consent didn't matter. (What mattered was the perceived damage that the action had caused to society's "morals").

As some of you may have already figured out, the way the law was applied meant that men could have sex with eachother without being prosecuted for it - as long as they stuck to petting and oral sex.

The police couldn't prosecute men for sucking dick, which meant that many men indeed did suck a lot of dick. In public places, even. (This actually became a bit of a nuisance in some parks in Stockholm.)

At the very end of the 19th century, the application of the law started changing (because of many different factors, including the popularisation of the word 'homosexuality'). Some decades into the 20th century, the law was almost exclusively applied to sex between men (now oral sex was understood to be a "forbidden" activity). The number of people who got prosecuted for having sex with someone of the same gender increased dramatically in the last decade before the law was abolished in 1944.

The law wasn't abolished because people got less homophobic. Quite the opposite. The only reason why the law was abolished was that people pitied the "poor, mentally ill homosexuals."

Homosexuals went from being seen as normal people doing immoral things to being seen as sick and immoral individuals.

Another thing to consider is how lesbian sex wasn't included in the original understanding of the law.

Even after the understanding of "unnatural fornication" changed, very few women were convicted of it. Between 1880 and 1944, 10 women were prosecuted for same sex sexual activity (compared to over 1400 men).

The law didn't start out as an anti gay law, but it eventually turned into one. Because the way people understood "unnatural fornication" changed.

Our understanding of concepts is always changing.

So yeah, even if anal sex between two men was considered unacceptable in iron age Scandinavia, it doesn't mean that men couldn't express romantic and sexual attraction towards each other.

When people claim that "Vikings" didn't accept same sex attraction (or sexuality), they're really just expressing their own bias.

I have yet to find any [reliable] sources on Norse men not being allowed to cuddle with another man. Or kiss another man. Or hold hands with another man. Or suck a dick. Or whatever, really.

There are so many things that we will never know about the past. And frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of people filling in the blanks with American conservatism.

And while there is a point to be made about how it wouldn't matter if the Norse did have the same views as modern day homophobes, and that we don't need to repeat their mistakes, it's just as important that we don't just accept biased narratives as facts.

Source: Jens Rydström, Sinners and Citizens

[skrikerinatten]

Meanwhile in Sweden:

It's also worth looking into Jens Rydström's dissertation Sinners and Citizens. (It's got everything: trans masc person in happy loving relationship, philosopher arguing in favour of gay marriage in the 19th century, gender nonconforming thief stealing people's money and hearts... Just. Read it. It's good.)

it is endlessly aggravating and disheartening to see lists of "historical trans people" where all or nearly all of them are transfem. Like, if you are not transmasc, I need you to consider what it's like finding out you are trans, going to trans spaces, and having them tell you, "you don't exist. People similar to you exist, but you have no history, no elders to look back on for guidance, no proof that you aren't just a new fad". That's why transmasc history is so important to me. We cannot keep acting like the only real trans people are transfems, and transmascs are just transgender-Lite at best.

[norsesuggestions]

Talking about sweden and swedish lgbtq history!

I started to rearead a article right now named “panoptikon. Övervakning och kontroll av manlig homosexualitet i Sverige på 1930 och 1940-talen” (1997) by Jens Rydström.

Anyway I like this article. Its about how the oppression of homosexuality, and in particular the oppression which are from the state, actually increased during the late 20th century (1950-1990), instead of, as the narrativa useally goes, decreasing.

Furthermore it shows examples on the existence of a positive gay culture in stockholm previously the 1950s, that had existed from at least the 18th century, being delibarty wiped away and surpressed by stockholm city official during the late 20th century. (One must for context here be aware of that HIV and AIDS, led to a gigantic homophobic public discourse in swedish society.

Whereas this makes sense to write about 1990s stockholm. It is not as bad as during the 1980s in stockholm right now, at least from my pov as non-binary lesbian. But yet, it remain true, that stockholm still tries to wipe away public traces of lgbtq culture in stockholm. Furthermore, stockholm was historically, and is still, one of the centres of swedish lgbtq culture. This is why stockholm city, trying to erase us, is extra shameful of stockholm city).

Here are some screenshots which talks about the homophobic treatment by stockholm city planners to erase all male gay prescence from the eyes of the straight public. Rydström is talking about 1990s Stockholm on the second page:

[Just in original swedish for now. I do not have energy to translate it at the moment]

Ps. The screenshot also talks about how absurdly gay the swedish army was. So gay that stockholm city used a law about how "the men in the army should not" as a code word to forbid gay men from going to traditional gay male places in stockholm city.

[mollykellondart]

This podcast was very interesting and gave a really good insight into someones life and what it is like living with a disability.

He starts off by saying how the term “special needs” is ridiculous, disabled people have regular needs just like anyone else, so that term isn't accurate. This is so true and isn't stressed enough, this could be incorporated easily into our concept and played around with to make people smile, laugh and thing twice.

NOTES:

- sexuality is a human right

- Sarah Burnheart (look up)

- shouldn't be disabled from love

- karma sutra, recreate for disabled people?

- ‘Loneliness and its Opposite’ by Don Kulick, Jens Rydström

- Trust is key, especially in terms of carers and entrusting them with aiding in their sexual experiences

 - look into the ‘undateables’ 

 -  para-athletes and their sexual needs: are they viewed under the same umbrella

[forislynx]

Homosexskandalerna på 1950-talet är ett mörkt avsnitt i Sveriges historia. Medan riksdag och regering ville upprätthålla en vacker folkhemsfasad begicks rättsövergrepp och kränkningar mot enskilda medborgare. Många homosexuella kände sig jagade under denna tid, när tidningarna dag efter dag publicerade braskande rubriker som "Djävulsmässor i homosexuell bordell" eller "Hopplös och bitter kamp mot homosexuellt frimureri".

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[forislynx]

Historikern skiljer på det förflutna och historia. Det förflutna är allt som hänt bakåt i tiden från nuet. Där ryms alla människors samlade handlingar i allt från vardag och fest. Där finns HBT-personers liv, längtan, glädje, sorg och förtvivlan. Där ryms deras vardagslunk men också det spektakulära och ovanliga. Där finns mängder av händelser som ännu inte har upptäckts eller studerats av historiker. Historia är däremot de delar av det förflutna som har efterfrågats, plockats fram ur gömmorna och dokumenterats på något sätt. Först när en händelse eller en människa lyfts fram ur det förflutna och synliggörs blir den en del av historien. Det var alltså först när någon över huvud taget ville och vågade ställa frågor om HBT-personers förflutna som det började skrivas HBT-historia.

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[forislynx]

1950-talet var en period av homofob panik i hela västvärlden.

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[forislynx]

Den sexuella revolutionen på 1960-talet var till stor del en manlig heterosexuell revolution. Efteråt har det sagts att teserna om fri sexualitet formulerades av sexliberala män som ville att män skulle få tillgång till mera sex. HBT-folket hördes inte i debatten och RFSL var märkligt tyst.

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[forislynx]

Sexualitet i allmänhet har nästan alltid kunnat utövas friare i de högre klasserna medan det setts som ett samhällsproblem som kunde leda till kaos om lägre klasser tilläts göra som de ville.

Svante Norrhem, Jens Rydström & Hanna Winkvist, Undantagsmänniskor: En svensk HBT-historia

[norsesuggestions]

noggin-the-nogg replied to your post “georgiansuggestion: Dress up as a man and go to war while carrying on…”

hi, this is very intresting do you have any sources?

i do, but it was a couple years ago i studied these things now, so with the disclaimer i might mix up some of the sources that were about other lgbtq history topic haha.

also most of these comes in swedish because I read them in swedish+the majority of this is research made in swedish academia. both some of them most likely have english translations. swedish academia are fond of translating their stuff. the are all cited with all their academia formulera etc so if you google one of these academic work it will show up in the swedish library database Libris where you can see how many langagues etc these articles and books has been translated too.

Reading tips and sources about swedish lgbtq history in relation to the previously discussed relationship dynamic

Nilsson, Margareta & Lindholm, Arne. 2004. “Staden -manligt och kvinnligt homoliv”, Urbanitetens omvandlingar. Kultur och identitet i den postindustriella staden. Johansson, Thomas & Sernhede, Ove (red.), Daidlos AB.

Lundahl, Pia. 2005. ”Den blockerade sexualiteten. Kvinnors inkorrekta begär 1930-1960”. I: Kulick, Don (red.) Queersverige. Stockholm: Natur och kultur.

Larsson, Maja. 2006. ”Om en kvinna som befunnits tillhöra genus masculinum: synen på kön, klass och sexualitet i 1800-talets medicin och kultur” i Från Sapfo till cyborg. Idéer om kön och sexualitet i historien, red. Lena Lennerhed, Gidlunds förlag

Norrhem, Svante, Jens Rydström och Hanna Winkvist 2008. Undantagsmänniskor. En svensk HBT-historia. Stockholm: Norstedts Akademiska Förlag.

Laskar, Pia. 2005. “Abnorma kroppar och europeisk heterosexualitet i kolonialismens kölvatten”. I: Queersverige. Don Kulick (red.).Stockholm: Natur och kultur.

Rydström, Jens och David Tjeder (red.) 2009. Kvinnor, män och alla andra. En svensk genushistoria. Lund: Studentlitteratur. 

Göransson, Michelle (2012). Materialiserade sexualiteter. Om hur normer framträder, förhandlas och ges hållbarhet. Göteborg/Stockholm: Makadam.

Rosenberg, Tiina (2002). Queerfeministisk agenda. Stockholm: Atlas

There are lots missing but this are some of of my sources. ah…. all this reading of feminist academia.