Masculinity and Desire in the Works of J. R. Ackerley

Bibliographic Data

ID7315481
AuthorsClayton J Whisnant (Wofford College, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume43
Issue2
Pages127-142
Publication date2003-03-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j082v43n02_08
PMID12739702
OpenAlexW2046655902
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited8

Although homosexuality was still identified as a sign of effeminacy in the West at the beginning of the twentieth century, the work of George Chauncey suggests that working-class men in the West were able to maintain a masculine identity by playing the active, or insertive, role in sexual encounters. The experiences of one middle-class English homosexual, J. R. Ackerley (1896-1967), reveals that maintaining one's masculinity was more difficult for men of the middle class who desired same-sex contact. After a period in which his identity vacillated between the poles of male and female, he conceived a masculine homosexual identity by consciously rejecting effeminacy in himself and others, by dressing as a "normal" middle-class male, and, most importantly, by seeking relationships with younger, working-class men

Aesthetics · Art · Homosexuality · Human sexuality · Identity (music · Male Homosexuality · Masculinity · Men who have sex with men · Middle class · Political science · Politics · Sexual identity · Sign (mathematics · Sociology · Working class · Cultural History and Identity Formation · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Psychology

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