A Premodern Legacy

The “Easy” Criminalization of Homosexual Acts Between Women in the Finnish Penal Code of 1889

Bibliographic Data

ID3609058
AuthorsJan Löfström (0000-0003-0995-3265, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume35
Issue3-4
Pages53-79
Publication date1998-06-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j082v35n03_03
PMID9638558
OpenAlexW2330855145
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited14

Homosexual acts between women were criminalized in Finland in the 1889 Penal Code which also criminalized men's homosexual acts for the first time explicitly in Finnish legislation. The inclusion of women in the Penal Code took place without much ado. In the article it is argued that the uncomplicated juxtaposing of men and women was due to the legacy of a cultural pattern where man and woman, as categories, were not in an all-pervasive polarity to each other, for example, in sexual subjectivity. A cultural pattern of low gender polarization was typical of preindustrial rural culture, and it can help us apprehend also certain other features in contemporary Finnish social and political life, for example, women obtaining a general franchise and eligibility for the parliament first in the world, in 1906. A modern image of "public man" and "private woman" was only making its way in Finnish society; hence, there was not much anxiety at women's entry in politics, or, for that matter, at their potential for (homo)sexual subjectivity becoming recognized publicly in criminal law

Criminal law · Criminology · Legislation · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Subjectivity · European history and politics · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub