#john boswell

[ringneckedpheasant]

girl help

[chxrchgay]

[ID: … meeting theological or canonistic niceties was probably of less concern to a mostly illiterate Christian community than public symbolism and community acknowledgement—living long together and sharing a home might have been the crucial determinants for a male-female pair in their concrete social context (i.e., among neighbors, friends, and relatives), whether or not they had children or took part in a church service. And in the case of the same-sex ceremony, standing together at the altar with their right hands joined (the traditional symbol of marriage), being blessed by the priest, sharing Communion, and holding a banquet for family and friends afterward—all parts of same-sex union in the Middle Ages—most likely signified a marriage in the eyes of most ordinary Christians.

Moreover, the concept of someone innately and exclusively "homosexual" was largely unknown to the postclassical world, and relationships of this sort were not understood in a sense comparable to modern "gay marriage"—i.e., as a parallel alternative—although they did in fact bear much similarity both liturgically and in emotional import. That is to say, although such relationships may have been viewed as irrevocable, consuming, and paramount emotional commitments, "marriage" at the time was not regarded primarily as a means of emotional or sexual fulfillment, but simply as a mechanism for enhancing or perpetuating dynastic succession. Same-sex unions were thus neither a threat to nor a replacement of heterosexual marriage.]

[fcharmaille]

My first peer-reviewed publication. In which I discuss the history of sexuality's biggest debate: Essentialism vs Constructionism. Specifically, I discuss what we are doing when we say people from the Middle Ages were "gay." I argue that, for French philosopher Michel Foucault, finding the gay in the Middle Ages means catching a glimpse of a different kind of sex -- relations unlike the ones we are trapped in today.

The article focuses on the relations between Foucault and American medieval historian John Boswell. Boswell, who wrote a transformative book about "Gay People in the Medieval Europe" is usually described as the all-time Essentialist. He thought men who loved men, no matter the era, were Gay. Whereas Foucault is usually described as the all-time Constructionist, the fiercest critic of modern identities like "homosexual."

Indeed, when Boswell's book on "Gay People in the Middle Ages" came out, some readers criticised Boswell for his unrestrained use of the term "gay," and they used Foucault's philosophy as an anti-Essentialist point of reference.

By analysing the later volumes of Foucault's final masterpiece, The History of Sexuality, along with interviews he gave while writing it, I find that Foucault distinguished between "being homosexual" and "being gay." For Foucault, while "homosexual" is a narrow identity inherited from Victorian sexology, "gay" refers to the formation of new sexual relations, a transformative kind of a sexual experience.

And here comes the plot twist: Foucault developed this idea of "gay" while reading... John Boswell! Foucault even wrote a fan letter to Boswell to thank him for his work (Boswell himself wrote a very positive review of The History of Sexuality's later volumes). For Foucault, finding the "gay" in the Middle Ages means experiencing history in a different way, feeling sex otherwise.

The article is François·e Charmaille, "Queer Strategies of Gay History: Boswell's 'Weapons', Foucault's Expérience", Diacritics, 48.4 (2020), 102-121.

[actualmermaid]

All of my icon-drawing, meme-making, and queer Christian history research has led to this moment:

The unstoppable tag team of the Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray and Professor John Boswell, King and Queen of gender and sexuality, 20th century queer elders and patron saints of LGBTQ Christians, have destroyed the cisheteropatriarchy once and for all

(They've also seen our online queer discourse and they're not impressed)

[dwellordream]

Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: The Scriptures

- John Boswell, 1980

[fallensapphires]

Seasons: Winter (3/?)

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.

[sentimental-whispers]

[deaththeyamikid]

I don't thing we talk about the fact that Holmes and Watson are BOTH the Youngest Silbing enough

[downthetubes]

Infernally Yours - the latest 2000AD, on sale now!

The striking cover from "Azimuth" artist Lee Milmore for 2000AD Prog 2344, on sale now, will haunt you until you buy a copy, and there’s plenty of action and adventure on offer, too, adding to this issue's appeal

The striking cover from “Azimuth” artist Lee Milmore for 2000AD Prog 2344, on sale now, will haunt you until you buy a copy, and there’s plenty of action and adventure on offer, too, adding to this issue’s appeal. Especially, for me, Tom Foster‘s art on “Judge Dredd“, and Eoin Coveney‘s art on “Portals“, complementing a dark, unsettling script from John Tomlinson. It’s on sale now in all good…

[ringneckedpheasant]

[ID: a grayscale reproduction of a Soviet stamp showing two men kissing and embracing one another. Dates on the stamp read 1918 & 1968.

Text underneath it reads: Figure 1. This Soviet stamp, showing the grateful reception by the peasantry of Russian soldiers returning from World War II, was not shocking to Russians, who entertained less horror of homosexual interaction than did their Western contemporaries. It is possible that the artist was gay, and concocted the scene for his own delight, but that remains uncertain.]

[leonsrightarm]

"In Xenophon of Ephesus' romance novel, the Ephesiaca, two boys about the same age fall in love, but one takes on the role of 'lover' and must undertake to rescue the other from the clutches of an older man by abducting him at swordpoint from the latter's home, having had to sell all his belongings and take sail to get there."

damn the ancient greeks wrote some choice yaoi

[lesbianlanval]

“Victorians were way more misogynistic than medieval people” have you considered misogyny as like an expression of power dynamics within the context of a period and not just a simple sliding scale of Less or More or is nuance like. entirely dead

[aimmyarrowshigh]

31 Days of Halloween Specials… SPOOKSTRAVAGANZA!

1118/∞: Halloween Baking Championship - 7x01 - Welcome to Camp Devil's Food Lake

[parasiticmoth]

obsessed with the cadence of 'basil was thus what modern americans would call a "hunk"'

[1900scartoons]

Our Doctor Johnson 

June 20, 1907

Dr. Johnson - (John A.) Doctor of Laws reads a speech to Frank Boswell Day, both dressed as founding fathers. Behind him, Minnesota Laws sit on the operating table.

The caption reads "We may never have a President John A., but we have a Doctor Johnson - that's something."

Governor Johnson had been granted a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He had previously denied plans to run for president. Frank Day was a private secretary to the governor.

See Also: John A. Johnson

From Hennepin County Library

Original available at: https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/Bart/id/5782/rec/175