Angus McLaren’s book, Twentieth-Century Sexuality: A History, confronts the numerous moral panics that confronted sexuality and society in the 20th century and how cautionary tales were used by the powerful against marginal members of society to watch, silence and discipline. Sexuality was constantly made and remade by social and economic pressures that determined what types of sexualities were threatening to the general welfare of the state and what was normal and abnormal. McLaren accomplishes his survey of sexuality in the 20th century by taking different temporal epochs and comparing the stories told about the normal and morally abnormal across various regions in the western world. While not really a world history because he only deals with the western world (US, Canada, Germany, France, and England), his approach is comparative and he draws numerous trans-regional connections while also tracing changes in the sexual discourse promoted through time and its manifestations in public behavior and outlook.
After reading this book I felt more bewildered and ignorant about what sex and sexuality entails and what exactly is ‘normal.’ Moreover, is an idea of ‘normal’ sexuality needed, morally justifiable or even viable? Perhaps due to my nurturing in an accepting and liberal environment that includes a non-religious family and liberal friends, I always subscribed to Alfred C. Kinsey’s idea of “ ‘what is, is right’ ” and the liberal believe that, “Whatever [does] not impact others should be allowed.” However, I admit to being woefully undereducated when it comes to knowledge of the abnormal and the people that the 20th century public and medical professionals called deviants and perverts. Thus, while engrossed in the text and the struggle over sexual identities, I constantly wanted to know how the thought of prior epochs differed from modern views. McLaren does progress chronologically to address modern views and concerns but by that time it was difficult to remember the exact treatments and evolution of each sexual identity from the beginnings of the 20th century. Perhaps this is a unique critique because of my self-professed ignorance of various forms of sexuality. In any case, it would have been much easier and understandable if instead of a chapter by chapter survey of each temporal epoch, McLaren selected a couple different sexual identities or themes as chapters and then traced their chronological progression and change with regards to discourse based on the relationship between ideology and behavior through time. However, this approach also has significant drawbacks. Using this methodological approach would seemingly cut out much of the multiple contingent and outside socio-economic pressures that had a profound impact on the discourse promoted during the various eras.
In McLaren’s conclusion he asks the most simple of questions but one that is still necessary to contemplate, “What of the future?” McLaren is keen to hint at the undeniable presence that the internet has in the present and the foreseeable future. However, since McLaren wrote this book around 10 years ago (1999), the impact of the internet is vastly understated. He points out the obvious exploitation of the World Wide Web by entities ranging from pornographers to infertility clinics and also early dating services. However, beyond exploitation, the internet has also enabled people who embrace alternative ‘non-normal’ lifestyles and sexualities the ability to find virtual homes and communities amongst others who share similar interests and lifestyles. While many people practicing ‘unnatural’ forms of sexuality are still denied acceptance by mainstream society, online they can easily express their sexual identity without fear of reprisal or judgment. Of course there are exceptions and qualifications, but for the most part the internet has allowed private sexual desires a public (albeit virtual) expression. In many ways, the internet has interesting consequences. The ability of people to freely express their true sexual identities online might lessen the impetus for them to assert it in the public physical sphere. Instead, the internet provides a semi-public valve of sexual identity release in which they are free to explore their sexuality with others in similar situations.
In Alfred C. Kinsey’s 1948 study on male sexuality he suggested that a relaxation of the persecution of homosexuals might lead many to not choose the ‘alternative’ lifestyle. This hypothesis was based on findings that claimed 4% of men were homosexual while 45% had experienced some kind of male companionship at one time or another during climax. The large percentage of men that had some kind homosexual experience led Kinsey to conclude that many of America’s most well-adjusted men had some kind of homosexual experience in their past. However, only a small percentage of these men chose exclusively homosexual lifestyles. Therefore, his suggestion that lessening alienation and persecution of sexual ‘deviants’ might lead to an increase in men who choose to eventually embrace a ‘normal’ lifestyle has interesting connections to the 21st century and the breakneck advance of the internet-age. Has the ability to freely express private sexual desires online allowed men a release valve and thus the ability to simultaneously co-exist normally in public society? Or, instead, does the internet foster alternative sexual identifications by bringing together communities of like-minded individuals who can then find strength to extend their expressions of sexualities from the virtual and into the physical worlds? Most likely there is no clear cut answer that can reflect the impact of the internet on sexuality. For instance, whereas homosexuals still publically face incredible amounts of homophobia and discrimination, their public existence is undeniable. Homosexual celebrities have public positions in society and homosexual characters are now commonplace on television, in movies and in print. In contrast, transgender individuals are much less publicly visible, accepted or understood. Their need for online camaraderie is thus more likely to be of greater import.
The transgender community is a group that probably has a significant online presence for support and camaraderie because of continued persecution and societal non-acceptance. However, even their stories are slowly reaching mainstream media outlets. For instance, the local Arizona Daily Star recently published two related stories in the Sunday and Monday editions (front page no less) that deals with transgender military veterans and their battle for treatment, acceptance, and veteran benefits. The author, Carol Ann Alaimo refers to transgender vets as a “hidden population” and one that lives in “stealth mode” in order to avoid persecution. In a great connection to McLaren’s text, Alaimo references research that suggests that there may be a higher prevalence of transgender individuals in the military than in society in general. Many transgender male individuals sought military service as a means to become a man and deny their effeminate feelings. This echoes the continuing discourse of the 20th century for men to embrace a manly virility in the face of socio-economic pressures like the division of labor, the rise of white collar work and women in the professional workplace. These discourses were perhaps most powerfully and publicly articulated by the pre-world war II Weimar German, Facist Italy and Nazi Germany regimes. However, much like World War I, service in the military and the war actually served to blur gender lines and exposed soldiers to abnormal sexualities and sexual practices.
Transgender self-identity in the military is necessarily suppressed because they aren’t allowed to serve if discovered. The military considers them as having a “ ‘learning, psychiatric and behavioral disorder.’” However, in Canada and the United Kingdom the military welcomes transgender individuals and even pays for their sex-change surgeries. Thus, even as McLaren tells us the western world is becoming very similar in regards to many policies and discourses concerning sexuality, many differences still persist. The medical discourse concerning transgender individuals has changed in the recent past and now the American Medical Association (AMA) considers gender identity disorder as a serious medical condition that requires medical treatment. This has conflicted with the National Department of Veteran Affairs who now does not perform or pay for transsexual surgeries. The AMA said that the denying coverage to transgender individuals is a form of gender discrimination. Another issue is the lack of education that even medical professionals have with transgender issues and patients. This issue is not only restricted to the military however with many colleges, law firms and corporations not providing full coverage for transgender issues. Some argue that being transgender is a choice but Dr. Jennifer Vanderleest here at the University of Arizona puts it well when she replies that this is just a way for the perpetuation of discriminatory practices. The causes of transgender feelings or identity is not yet known but it seems like those individuals are embarking on a similar journey by those embracing other persecuted sexual identities against moral stories and a continuing societal belief in a ‘normal’ sexuality.
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