Effeminacy: Encyclopedia II - Effeminacy - Acceptance and intolerance by society

Effeminacy - Acceptance and intolerance by society

In most cultures, it was traditionally considered, if not a vice, at least a weakness, indicative of other negative character traits and more recently often involving a negative insinuation of homosexual tendencies. However, there have been times in history when behaviors that would now be considered effeminate were considered normal behavior in certain parts of society (see for instance the demeanor and clothing of the minions of the court of Henry III of France).

In the US, boys are homosocial (Gagnon, 1977), and gender role performance determines social rank (David and Brannon, 1976). While gay boys receive the same enculturation, they are less compliant, Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51-52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were 'sissies' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practiced gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual males, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. And Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay male respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm." Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17-18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74-84), causing them to feel worthless (Harry 1982, 20) and "de-feminise" (Harry 1982, 20; Saghir and Robins 1973, 18-19). (Levine, 1998, p.15-16)

At least before the Stonewall riots, inconsistent gender role performance has been noticed among gay men (Karlen, 1978; Cory and LeRoy, 1963; Newton, 1972), "They have a different face for different occasions. In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal [sic] suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual [sic] friends....Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologised, 'it is hard to always remember that one is a man.'" (Stearn 1962, 29) (Levine, 1998, p.21-23)

This may be explained in that pre-Stonewall closet culture accepted homosexuality as effeminacy, and thus emphasized camp, drag, and swish including an interest in fashion (Henry, 1955; West, 1977) and decorating (Fischer 1972; White 1980; Henry 1955, 304). Masculine acting gay men did exist but were marginalised (Warren 1972, 1974; Helmer 1963) and formed their own communities such as leather and Western (Goldstein, 1975), and/or donned working class outfits (Fischer, 1972) such as sailor uniforms (Cory and LeRoy, 1963). (Levine, 1998, p.21-23, 56)

Post-Stonewall, "clone culture" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised, with, for instance, a definite preference for masculine-behaving men shown in personal ads (Bailey et al 1997).

The avoidance of effeminacy by most men, including gay ones, may impede personal and public health. Regarding AIDS, masculine behaviour includes being unconcerned, especially unworried, about ones health, and promiscuous sexual behaviour, and early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for AIDS than men (Sullivan, 1987). (Levine, 1998, p.148)

David Halperin (2002), compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals."

The term effeminaphobia was coined to describe strong anti-effeminacy. Michael Bailey (1995) coined the similar term femiphobia to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour. Author Tim Bergling (September 1997) coined the term sissyphobia.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Acceptance and intolerance by society", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki