MALE HOMOSEXUALS: Their Problems and Adaptations

by Martin S. & Colin J. Williams Weinberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1974

A stiff, pedantic sociological study of homosexual subgroups in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The authors compare ""erotophobic"" America with more sexually tolerant Denmark and Holland. Their data comes from homophile civil rights organizations like the Mattachine Society and its European equivalents, from gay bars and clubs and questionnaires -- they're not exactly loose and comfortable in this milieu and the gay scene never does come to life. Their intent is to look at cultural and social adaptations rather than individual psyches and libidos. A statistical forest helps obscure some rather elementary conclusions: European gays relate better to the straight world, are more at ease in mixed groups, and feel less need to huddle together for security. Age, occupation, race and religion all influence the homosexual's lifestyle, status and self-image -- just as they shape the identity of his heterosexual counterpart. The most unexpected finding is that American gays don't seem to have significantly more psychological problems than the less ostracized Danes and Dutch, a discovery which leads the authors to speculate that further ""increments of rejection"" don't cause added damage to the personality. Sociological objectification at its most unappealing, this is a good example of academia lagging about five years behind what everyone already knows.

Pub Date: May 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION