Homosexuality has always played a huge role in society. Views on this topic have changed immensely from the beginning of the greece era to now in modern society. People have become more appalled with this topic because now in society there are stereotypical views on “normal” ways of living. Religious views have also impacted people's decisions and thoughts about it.
It was said that in the Greek millenium “ .. male attachments are presented in an honorific light, through there were always some skeptics. But for many biographers, for man not to have had a male lover seems to have bespoken a lack of character or a deficiency in sensibility.” Homosexuality was accepted and even encouraged, it was seen as very manly and noble. Men would gain acceptance throughout their society if the were known to have been with a male lover. Many philosophers such as Plato, believed homosexuality was acceptable. He wrote that he understood other philosophers views on this topic but did not completely agree with their views. He himself was Gay which changed his philosophy about it, he would write from his perspective of it. In Greek society young men were encouraged to be with older men so they could learn from them, and then in the future could help guide other young men. This philosophy of guiding younger men was so that the society around them could appear as a stronger and well put together community.
Like I said before, Each man in the relationship had a different role “The older man was called the erastes or lover. Ideally, it was his duty to be the boy’s teacher and protector and serve as a model of courage, virtue, and wisdom..” and then there was the younger man “.. eromenos, whose attraction lay in his beauty, his youth, and his promise...
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In Vicki L. Eaklor’s Queer America, the experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in the years since the 1970s gay liberation movement are described as a time of transformation and growth. The antigay movement, threatened, now more than ever, created numerous challenges and obstacles that are still prevalent today. Many of the important changes made associated with the movement were introduced through queer and queer allied individuals and groups involved in politics. Small victories such as the revision of the anti discrimination statement to include “sexual orientation”, new propositions regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion, were met in turn with growing animosity and resistance from individuals and groups opposed to liberal and
Sappho, who represents female homoeroticism, and Plato, who’s Symposium addresses many aspects of male homoerotic love, share some fundamental aspects of love, but their views and objectives are largely different. The latter’s goal is essentially intellectual satisfaction, while the former’s is more directly linked with physical beauty and desire for physical closeness, not characterized by grand moral and intellectual ideals. This is not to say that the love between Sappho and her lovers, was solely based on sexual desire. It is certainly wrong to assume that, in light of the Symposium’s perspective, they were mindless, sex-driven lesbians. I would argue, rather, that this love, is more real, more common, and more universally accessible, whereas the love in Symposium is highly specialized, and accessible exclusively to men.
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
Recently, the stigma surrounding homosexuality has progressed a long way. Society has learned to be more
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
The closest ideological position to me is accept the person, reject the behavior. It does not matter to me if someone homosexual or not. If that what he or she wants to do that is them. I feel like that is their business just like being heterosexual is my business. Being heterosexual or homosexual does not make you better than other. It is their life and they can do whatever they want. I do reject their behavior, because it is against my religion. I was taught being homosexual is wrong. I will treat them just like I treat everyone else. The reason why I do not care if someone is gay or not, because it does not concern me. My religion is a sin and no sin is greater than the other one. Plus, it is not me that is your life, as long as that person
Images of male homosocial and homoerotic relations pervade Athenian culture. From plays to poetry and jugs to the justice system one can find these relations represented pictorially and in words. But do all these images align with each other or are there irreconcilable differences between them? To look at this question we will take two small pieces of culture, a philosophical treatise, Plato's Symposium and the lyric poetry of Theognis and Anacreon.
The above said things can be applied to Plato’s Symposium. Since time immemorial people have been reading it and thus getting influenced has tried to imitate Symposium in their works. Plato in his work has recorded the speeches of seven Athenians namely Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Agathon, Socrates and Alcibiades, six of which employ both story and verse to convey a variety of myths and motifs about the nature and function of Eros. The work also provides an insight into the complexities in Greek attitude towards sexual relations at that time. Originating with Plato’s writings on love, this tradition has evolved through works of Aristotle, Plotinus and revival of neo-platonism2 during the Renaissance. But the influence of Symposium does not end here. It can be traced in the works of Spenser, Shakespeare, Freud, F. W. Rolfe, E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence, Jacques Lacan, T. S. Eliot and many more. My aim in this paper is to trace the influen...
Lesbian & Gay liberation over the years. Home Page. 26 June 1997. The Pride Trust.
This passive encouragement of homosexuality further strengthened ties between the separate genders and emphasizing the differences. Human society does not really change. The roles each gender plays in society has not changed drastically since the time of the ancient Greeks, and this goes to suggest that these roles are deeply rooted and possibly genetic. However, chauvinistic Greek myths are telling the truth, which explains why they have influenced modern culture to the extent it has.
"Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement." PBS. WBGH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
Halwani, Raja, Gary Jaeger, James Stramel, Richard Nunan, William Wilkerson, and Timothy Murphy. What Is Gay and Lesbian Philosophy? 2008. MS. Oxford, UK. San Diego Mesa College Academic Databases. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .
Homosexuality in Today's Society. In today's society, there exists a mixture of issues which tend to raise arguments with people all over. There are a handful of topics that always seem to escalate these differences between people to the point where one who earnestly participates in discussion, debate and argument can direct their anger towards their feelings on the person themselves. Some examples of such delicate subjects are the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia.
Miller, Neil. Out of the Past/ Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present. New
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.