Bisexuality: Encyclopedia II - Bisexuality - Bisexuality in history

Bisexuality - Bisexuality in history

Historical and literary records from most literate societies indicate that male bisexuality was common and indeed expected. These relationships were generally age-structured (as in the practice of pederasty in the Mediterranean Basin of antiquity, or the practice of shudo in pre-modern Japan) or gender-structured (as in the Two-Spirit North American tradition or the Central Asian bacchá practices). Male heterosexuality and homosexuality, while also documented, appear mostly as exceptions, unless we are examining cultures influenced by the Abrahamic religions, where heterosexuality was privileged, and bisexuality and homosexuality forcefully suppressed. In fact, most of the commonly cited examples of male "homosexuality" in previous cultures would more properly be categorized as bisexuality. Determining the history of female bisexuality is more problematic, in that women in most of the studied societies were under the domination of the males, and on one hand had less self-determination and freedom of movement and expression, and on the other were not the ones writing or keeping the literary record.

In Ancient Greece it is believed that males generally went through a homosexual stage in adolescence, followed by a bisexual stage characterized by pederastic relationships in young adulthood, followed by a (mostly) heterosexual stage later in life, when they married and had children. Ancient Rome, Arab countries up to and including the present, China, and Japan, all exhibit patterns of analogous bisexual behavior. In Japan in particular, due to its practice of shudo and the extensive art and literature associated with it, the record of a primarily bisexual lifestyle is both detailed and quite recent, dating back as recently as the 19th century.

Perhaps the most famous example is Alexander the Great who had many wives, but also at least two male lovers, Hephaestion being his life-long friend. The same could be said of most Roman emperors, the shoguns of Japan, many Chinese emperors, and others.

However, it should be noted that the terms heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, and the concept of "sexual orientation" itself are all modern sociological constructs, and may not be appropriate in historical contexts, in which behavior might be considered homosexual, but people were not labeled using such terms.

Bisexuality - Ancient Greece

Ancestral law in ancient Sparta mandated same-sex relationships with youths who were coming of age for all adult men, so long as the men eventually took wives and produced children. The Spartans thought that love and erotic relationships between experienced and novice soldiers would solidify combat loyalty and encourage heroic tactics as men vied to impress their lovers. Once the younger soldier reached maturity the relationship was supposed to become non-sexual, but it is not clear how strictly this was followed. There was some stigma attached to young men who continued their relationships with their mentors into adulthood.

Greek religious texts, reflecting cultural practices, incorporated bisexual themes. The subtexts varied, from the mystical to the didactic. See Mythology of same-sex love.

Bisexuality - Middle Eastern cultures

In the Middle East, sexual behavior between males is common; a few sources describe it as near-ubiquitous. It was also a topic celebrated by some of the greatest artists, from the medieval times until the nineteenth century, such as the famous poet Abu Nuwas and the Persian painter Reza Abbasi. This is despite prohibitions against overt homosexual behavior (as opposed to attraction, which is expected) in the Qur'an and severe penalties for offenders, including the death penalty, in some nations.

The Qur'an however requires that the transgression be witnessed by four men or eight women in order to convict the participants. Therefore, while bisexual behavior is known to be common, men are not given much trouble about these behaviors so long as they also marry and raise families and fulfill other societal duties. It is something that remains very covert, and an open declaration of homosexual preference would be unacceptable. In this way, bisexuality in the Arab world and Persian world is somewhat similar to the DL culture prevalent in some African-American and Latino communities.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bisexuality in history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki