Jump to content

Pederasty: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Reverted edits by Freakycookies (talk) unexplained removal of content (HG)
←Blanked the page
Line 1: Line 1:
{{distinguish|Pedophilia}}
{{POV-check|date=February 2010}}
{{pp-move-indef}}

'''Pederasty''' or '''paederasty''' ({{IPAc-en|icon|ˈ|p|ɛ|d|ər|æ|s|t|i}}, {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|p|iː|d|ər|æ|s|t|i}}) is a (usually erotic) relationship between an older man and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family. The word ''pederasty'' derives from Greek {{lang|grc||παιδεραστία}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|paiderastia}}'') "love of children" or "love of boys",<ref>http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/pederasty</ref> a compound derived from {{lang|grc|παῖς}} (''pais'') "child, boy" and {{lang|grc|ἐραστής}} (''erastēs'') "lover".

Historically, pederasty has existed as a variety of customs and practices within different cultures. The status of pederasty has changed over the course of history, at times considered an ideal and at other times a crime.

In the history of Europe, its most structured cultural manifestation was [[Athenian pederasty]], and became most prominent in the 6th century [[Anno Domini|BC]]. [[Pederasty#Greeks|Greek pederasty's]] various forms were the subject of philosophic debates in which the [[Hubris#Ancient Greece|carnal type]] was unfavorably compared with erotic yet spiritual and [[Sophrosyne|moderate]] forms.

The legal status of pederasty in most countries is currently determined by whether or not the boy has reached the local [[age of consent]]. When illegal, law enforcement generally treats it as a form of [[child sexual abuse]].

== Expressions ==

[[Anthropologist]]s propose three subdivisions of [[homosexuality]] as age-structured, [[Gay community|egalitarian]] and [[Transgender|gender-structured]].<ref name="sandfort">{{cite book|title=Lesbian and gay studies: an introductory, interdisciplinary approach |first=Theo |last=Sandfort|publisher=SAGE |year=2000 |isbn=076195418X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Greenberg, David F. |title=The construction of homosexuality |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=1990 |pages=25|isbn=0-226-30628-3 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> Pederasty is the archetypal example of male age-structured homosexuality.<ref name="sandfort"/>

Anthropologist [[Geoffrey Gorer]] distinguishes pederasty from pedophilia, which he defined as a separate fourth type that he described as "grossly pathological in all societies of which we have record." According to Gorer, the main characteristic of homosexual pederasty is the age difference (either of generation or age-group) between the partners. In his study of native cultures, pederasty appears typically as a passing stage in which the adolescent is the beloved of an older male, who may act as a mentor. He remains as such until he reaches a certain developmental threshold, after which he in turn takes on an adolescent beloved of his own.<ref>Geoffrey Gorer, ''The Danger of Equality and other Essays'' pp.186–187</ref>

=== Age range ===

Some modern observers restrict the age of the younger partner to "generally between twelve and seventeen",<ref name=GLBTQ/> though historically the spread was somewhat greater. The younger partner must, in some sense, not be fully mature; this could include young men in their late teens or early twenties.<ref>David Menasco, "Pederasty", ''Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures:'' Volume 2; p.672</ref>

While relationships in ancient Greece involved boys from 12 to about 17 or 18 (Cantarella, 1992), in [[Renaissance Italy]], the boys were typically between 14 and 19,<ref>''Pederasts and others: urban culture and sexual identity in nineteenth ...'' By William A. Peniston; p111</ref> and in Japan the younger member ranged in age from 11 to about 19 (Saikaku, 1990; Schalow, 1989).<ref>Bruce Rind, "Biased Use of Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Male Homosexuality in Human Sexuality Textbooks", ''Journal of Sex Research,'' Nov, 1998 [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2372/is_4_35/ai_53390357/pg_1]</ref>

== Historical synopsis ==

[[File:Cretan hunters Louvre Br93.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Man and youth. Cretan ex-voto from Hermes and Aphrodite shrine at Kato Syme; Bronze, ca. 670–650 BC]]

In antiquity, pederasty was seen as an [[educational institution]] for the inculcation of moral and cultural values by the older man to the younger,<ref>{{cite book |title= The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World|last= Freeman|first= Charles|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1999|publisher= Allen Lane|location= |isbn= 0713992247|page= |pages= 299–300|url= }}</ref> as well as a form of sexual expression. It entered representation in history from the Archaic period onwards in [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|Ancient Greece]], though [[Cretan pederasty|Cretan ritual objects]] reflected an already formalized practice date to the late [[Minoan civilization]], around 1650 BC.<ref>Bruce L. Gerig, "Homosexuality in the Ancient Near East, beyond Egypt", in ''HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE,'' Supplement 11A, 2005</ref> According to Plato,<ref>Plato, ''Phaedrus''; passim</ref> in [[ancient Greece]], pederasty was a [[intimate relationship|relationship]] and bond – whether sexual or chaste – between an [[adult]] [[man]] and an [[adolescent]] [[boy]] outside his immediate family. While most Greek men engaged in sexual relations with both women and boys,<ref>J.K. Dover, ''Greek Homosexuality''; passim</ref> exceptions to the rule were known, some avoiding relations with women, and others rejecting relations with boys. In [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], relations with boys took a more informal and less civic path, with older men either taking advantage of dominant social status to extract sexual favors from their social inferiors, or carrying on illicit relationships with freeborn boys.<ref>Crompton, op.cit., pp.79–82</ref>

Judaism and Christianity condemned [[sodomy]] (while defining that term variously, but including relations between males). Islam also prohibited the practice.

Within this blanket condemnation of sodomy, pederasty in particular was a target. The second-century preacher [[Clement of Alexandria]] used divine pederasty as an indictment of [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greek religion]] and the [[Greek mythology|mythological]] figures of [[Herakles]], [[Apollo]], [[Poseidon]], [[Laius]], and [[Zeus]]: "For your gods did not abstain even from boys. One loved [[Hylas]], another [[Hyacinthus]], another [[Pelops]], another [[Chrysippus]], another [[Ganymedes]]. These are the gods your wives are to worship!"<ref>Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks 2.28P</ref> Early legal codes prescribed harsh penalties for violators. The law code of the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] king [[Chindasuinth]] called for both partners to be "[[Emasculation|emasculated]] without delay, and be delivered up to the [[bishop]] of the [[diocese]] where the deed was committed to be placed in solitary confinement in a prison."<ref>[http://libro.uca.edu/vcode/vg3-5.htm The Library of Iberian Resources, The Visigothic Code: (Forum judicum) ed. S. P. Scott, Book III: Concerning Marriage, Title V: Concerning Incest, Apostasy, and Pederasty]</ref> These punishments were often linked to the penance given after the [[Sacrament of Confession]]. At [[Rome]], the punishment was burning at the stake since the time of [[Theodosius I]] (390). Nonetheless the practice continued to surface, giving rise to proverbs such as ''With wine and boys around, the monks have no need of the Devil to tempt them,'' an early Christian saying from the Middle East.<ref>Abbott, E., ''A History of Celibacy,'' New York, 2000; p.101</ref>

Pederasty was notable in [[Moorish Spain]].<ref>Arié, Rachel. ''España musulmana'' (Siglos VIII-XV) in ''Historia de España,'' ed. Manuel Tuñón de Lara, III. Barcelona: Labor, 1984.</ref> It was present in [[Tuscany]] and northern [[Italy]] during the [[Renaissance]].<ref>Michael Rocke, ''Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and male Culture in Renaissance Florence,'' Oxford, 1996</ref><ref>Guido Ruggiero, ''The Boundaries of Eros:
Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance Venice,'' Oxford, 1985</ref> It also was documented in medieval and [[Russian Empire|Tsarist Russia]].<ref>[http://english.gay.ru/life/history/queermoscow/1600-1861TraditionalMasculinitiesAndLoveBetweenMen.html ''Urban Gay Histories up to 1600]</ref>

Elsewhere, it was practiced in [[Shudo|pre-Modern Japan]] until the [[Meiji restoration]].<ref>T. Watanabe & J. Iwata, ''The Love of the Samurai: A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality,'' London: GMP Publishers, 1987</ref>

Sexual expression between adults and adolescents is not well studied. Since the 1990s, it has been often been conflated with [[pedophilia]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} Nonetheless, such relationships have raised issues of morality and functionality, agency for the youth, and parental authority. They also raise issues of legality in those cases where the minor is below the [[age of consent]]. Homosexual pederasty was deemed beneficial by ancient philosophers, Japanese [[samurai]], and modern writers such as [[Oscar Wilde]]. In many societies, it was justified on the grounds that love was the best foundation for teaching courage as well as civic and cultural values, and that man-boy relations were superior to relations with a woman.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}

== Etymology and usage ==

“Pederasty” derives from the combination of “{{Polytonic|παίδ-}}” (the Greek stem for ''child''<ref>Liddell and Scott, 1968 p.585</ref> or ''boy''<ref>Marguerite Johnson, Terry Ryan, ''Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature: A Sourcebook'' p.110</ref>) with “{{Polytonic|ἐραστής}}” (Greek for ''lover''; cf. “[[eros (love)|eros]]”). Late [[Latin]] “pæderasta” was borrowed in the sixteenth century directly from Plato’s classical Greek in ''The Symposium.'' (Latin transliterates “{{Polytonic|αί}}” as “ae”.) The word first appeared in the English language during the [[Renaissance]], as “pæderastie” (e.g. in [[Samuel Purchas]]' ''Pilgrimage.''), in the sense of sexual relations between men and boys. Beside its use in the classical sense, the term has also been used as a synonym for [[anal sex]], irrespective of the nature of the partner. A nineteenth century sex treatise discusses men practicing the "insertion of the penis into the anus of women," as "pederasty with their wives."<ref>Richard Krafft-Ebing, ''Psychopathia Sexualis.'' p.397; Arcade, 1998</ref>

The commonly accepted reference definitions of pederasty refer to a sexual relationship, or to copulation, between older and younger males. The OED offers: "Homosexual relations between a man and a boy; homosexual anal intercourse, usually with a boy or younger man as the passive partner."<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', "pederasty".</ref> The concise OED has: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a boy.”<ref>[http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/pederasty?view=uk ''Definition of pederasty'', Oxford Dictionary Online]</ref> When describing pederasts, some focus solely on the mechanics of copulation, such as the ''Merriam-Webster'' (on-line edition): “one who practices anal intercourse especially with a boy”.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pederasty ''Definition of Pederasty'', Merriam Webster Online Dictionary]</ref> Other dictionaries offer a more general definition, such as "homosexual relations between men and boys"<ref>''Collins English Dictionary,'' Desktop edition; Harper Collins Publishers, Glasgow 2004</ref> or "homosexual relations, especially between a male adult and a boy or young man."<ref>''American Heritage Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary,'' Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1987</ref> The limitation of pederasty to anal sex with a boy is contested by sexologists. Francoeur regards it as "common but incorrect,"<ref>Robert T. Francoeur, Ed. ''The Complete Dictionary of Sexology'' p.470; Continuum Publishing, NY 1995</ref> while Haeberle describes it as "a modern usage resulting from a misunderstanding of the original term and ignorance of its historical implications."<ref>Erwin Haeberle, ''Critical Dictionary of Sexology''[http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/CDS.HTM#P]; accessed 10/12/2008</ref>

Academic and social studies sources propose more expansive definitions of the term. ''The Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Culture'' offers “The erotic relationship between an adult male and a youth, generally one between the ages of twelve and seventeen, in which the older partner is attracted to the younger one who returns his affection.”<ref name="GLBTQ">[http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/pederasty.html ''Pederasty'', An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Culture, Vern L. Bullough]</ref> ''The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality'' suggests "Pederasty is the erotic relationship between an adult male and a boy, generally one between the ages of twelve and seventeen, in which the older partner is attracted to the younger one who returns his affection, whether or not the liaison leads to overt sexual contact."<ref>[http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php/Encyclopedia_of_Homosexuality ''The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality'', Warren Johansson]</ref>

== Social class factors ==

In Athens, the slaves were expressly forbidden from entering into pederastic relations with the free-born boys. In medieval civilization, pederastic relations "were so readily accepted in upper-class circles that there was often little or no effort to conceal their existence."<ref>Marshall Hodgson, ''The Venture of Islam,'' Chicago and London, 1974; 2:146</ref>

== Ancient world ==

[[File:Berlin Painter Ganymedes Louvre G175.jpg|thumb|[[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]] rolling a [[hoop rolling|hoop]] and bearing aloft a [[cockerel]] – a love gift from [[Zeus]] (in pursuit, on obverse of vase). In Greek art, a cockerel was a conventional gift from an [[erastes]] to an [[eromenos]]; see J. K. Dover, ''Greek Homosexuality'', p. 92.<br> Attic red-figure crater, 500–490 BC; Painter of Berlin; Louvre, Paris]]

=== Greeks ===

{{Main|Pederasty in ancient Greece}}

Plato was an early critic of sexual intercourse in pederastic relationships, proposing that men's love of boys avoid all carnal expression and instead progress from admiration of the lover's specific virtues to love of virtue itself in abstract form. While copulation with boys was often criticized and seen as shameful and brutish,<ref>Aeschines, "Against Timarchos" 127</ref> other aspects of the relationship were considered beneficial, as indicated in proverbs such as ''A lover is the best friend a boy will ever have.''<ref>Plato, ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]],'' 231</ref>

[[File:Oxford Pederasty.jpg|thumb|left|'''At the [[palaestra]]'''<br>Youth, holding a net shopping bag filled with walnuts, a love gift, draws close to a man who reaches out to fondle him; Attic red-figure plate 530–430 BC; [[Ashmolean Museum]], [[Oxford]].]]

Pederastic art shows seduction scenes as well as sexual relations. In the seduction scenes the man is standing, grasping the boy's chin with one hand and reaching to fondle his genitals with the other. In the sexual scenes, the partners stand embracing face to face, the older of the two engaged in [[intercrural sex]] with the younger, who (usually but not always) does not show arousal. Anal sex is almost never shown, and then only as something eliciting surprise in the observers. The practice was ostensibly disparaged, the Athenians often naming it jocularly after their Dorian neighbors ("cretanize," "laconize," "chalcidize"). While historians such as Dover and Halperin hold that only the man experienced pleasure, art and poetry indicate reciprocity of desire, and other historians assert that it is "a modern fairy tale that the younger eromenos was never aroused."<ref>[http://www.livius.org/ho-hz/homosexuality/homosexuality.html ''Greek homosexuality'', Hein van Dolen]</ref>

Pederastic couples were said to be feared by tyrants, because the bond between the friends was stronger than that of obedience to a tyrannical ruler. Plutarch gives as examples the Athenians [[Harmodius and Aristogeiton]]. Others, such as Aristotle, claimed that the Cretan lawgivers encouraged pederasty as a means of [[population control]], by directing love and sexual desire into relations with males.<ref>Aristotle, ''Politics'' 2.1272a 22–24 "and the lawgiver has devised many wise measures to secure the benefit of moderation at table, and the segregation of the women in order that they may not bear many children, for which purpose he instituted association with the male sex."</ref>

=== Romans ===

{{Main|Homosexuality in ancient Rome}}

[[File:Rilievo con ganimede, fine I sec. dc. 01.JPG|thumb|Jupiter abducting Ganymede; 1st c. CE Roman statue]]

From the early Republican times of [[Ancient Rome]], it was perfectly normal for a man to desire and pursue boys.<ref>Craig A. Williams, ''Roman Homosexuality'' p.23</ref> However, penetration was illegal for free born youths; the only boys who were legally allowed to perform as a passive sexual partner were slaves or former slaves known as "freedmen", and then only with regard to their former masters. For slaves there was no protection under the law even against rape.<ref name= Prioreschi>{{cite book|title=A History of Medicine |first=Plinio |last=Prioreschi |year=1996 |publisher=Horatius Press |pages=21–23, p29 |isbn=1888456035}}</ref>

The result was that in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times, pederasty largely lost its function as a ritual part of education and was instead seen as an activity primarily driven by one's sexual desires and competing with desire for women. The social acceptance of pederastic relations waxed and waned during the centuries. Conservative thinkers condemned it — along with other forms of indulgence. [[Tacitus]] attacks the Greek customs of "gymnasia et otia et turpes amores" ([[palaestra]]e, idleness, and shameful loves).<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales,'' 14.20</ref>

Other writers spent no effort censuring pederasty ''per se'', but praised or blamed its various aspects. [[Martial]] appears to have favored it, going as far as to essentialize not the sexual use of the [[catamite]] but his nature as a boy: upon being discovered by his wife "inside a boy" and offered the "same thing" by her, he retorts with a list of mythological personages who, despite being married, took young male lovers, and concludes by rejecting her offer since "a woman merely has two vaginas."<ref>Martial, ''Epigrams,'' XI.43</ref>

== Post-classical and modern forms ==
=== Middle East and Central Asia ===
In pre-modern Islam there was a "widespread conviction that beardless youths possessed a temptation to adult men as a whole, and not merely to a small minority of deviants."<ref>El-Rouayheb, 2005. Op.cit. p.115</ref>

In central Asia the practice is reputed to have long been widespread, and remains a part of the culture, as exemplified by the proverb, ''Women for breeding, boys for pleasure, but melons for sheer delight.''<ref>Sir Richard Burton, ''Kama Sutra: the Hindu art of lovemaking,'' intro. [[Pathan]] proverb, also reported in similar forms from the [[Arab]] countries, [[Iran]] and North Africa.</ref> In the [[Ottoman Empire]] culture, young male dancers, usually cross-dressed in feminine attire, were called [[Köçek]].

[[File:Youth and suitors.jpg|thumb|'''Youth conversing with suitors'''<br>Miniature illustration from the ''Haft Awrang'' of [[Jami]], in the story ''A Father Advises his Son About Love.'' Freer and Sackler Galleries, [[Smithsonian Institution]], Washington, DC.]]

In post-Islamic Persia, where, as [[Louis Crompton]] claims, "boy love flourished spectacularly", art and literature also made frequent use of the pederastic topos. These celebrate the love of the wine boy, as do the paintings and drawings of artists such as [[Reza Abbasi]] (1565{{ndash}} 1635). Western travelers reported that at Abbas' court (some time between 1627 and 1629) they saw evidence of homoerotic practices. Male houses of prostitution ''amrad khaneh'', "houses of the beardless", were legally recognized and paid taxes.<ref>Janet Afary & Kevin Anderson, ''Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism,'' (University of Chicago Press, 2005</ref>

Osman Agha of [[Timişoara|Temeşvar]] who fell captive to the [[Austrian people|Austrians]] in 1688 wrote in his memoirs that one night an Austrian boy approached him for sex, telling him "for I know all Turks are pederasts".<ref>Temeşvarlı Osman Ağa, ''Gâvurların Esiri'', Istanbul, 1971</ref>

In 1770s, Âşık Sadık the poet wrote, in an address to the Sultan: ''Lût kavmi döğüşür, put kavmi bozar. Askerin lûtîdir, bil Padişahım'' ("The people of Lot fight, the people of idolatry spoil. Know, my Sultan, that your soldiers are sodomites").<ref>Hulki Aktunç, ''Erotologya'', Istanbul, 2000</ref>

In [[Afghanistan]] in 2009, the [[British Army]] commissioned a report into the sexuality of the local men after British soldiers reported the discomfort at witnessing adult males involved in sexual relations with boys. The report stated that though illegal, there was a tradition of such relationships in the country, known as "bache bazi" or ''boy play'', and that it was especially strong around [[Kandahar]].<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8257943/Paedophilia-culturally-accepted-in-south-Afghanistan.html ''Paedophilia 'culturally accepted in south Afghanistan'''], Telegraph</ref>

=== Japan ===

{{Main|Homosexuality in Japan}}

In Japan, the practice of '''[[shudō]]''' (衆道), "the Way of the Young", paralleled closely the course of [[Europe]]an pederasty.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} It was prevalent in the religious community and [[samurai]] society from the [[Middle Ages|mediaeval]] period on, and eventually grew to permeate all of society.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} It fell out of favor around the end of the 19th century, concurrent with the growing European influence.

Its legendary founder is [[Kūkai]], also known as Kōbō Daishi, the founder of the [[Shingon Buddhism|Shingon]] school of [[Buddhism]], who is said to have brought the teachings of male love over from China, together with the teachings of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} Monks often entered into love relationships with beautiful youths known as " [[chigo]] (稚児)", which were recorded in literary works known as "[[chigo monogatari]] (「稚児物語」)".<ref>T. Watanabe & J. Iwata, ''The Love of the Samurai. A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality,'' pp.31–2</ref>

=== North America ===

"Of the Koniagas of [[Kodiak Island]] and the Thinkleets we read, 'The most repugnant of all their practices is that of male [[concubinage]]. A Kodiak mother will select her handsomest and most promising boy, and dress and rear him as a girl, teaching him only domestic duties, keeping him at women's work, associating him with women and girls, in order to render his effeminacy complete. Arriving at the age of ten or fifteen years, he is married to some wealthy man who regards such a companion as a great acquisition. These male concubines are called Achnutschik or Schopans' (the authorities quoted being Holmberg, Langsdorff, Billing, Choris, Lisiansky and Marchand). The same is the case in [[Nutka Sound]] and the [[Aleutian Islands]], where 'male concubinage obtains throughout, but not to the same extent as amongst the Koniagas.' The objects of unnatural affection have their beards carefully plucked out as soon as the face-hair begins to grow, and their chins are tattooed like those of the women. In [[California]] the first missionaries found the same practice, the youths being called Joya."<ref>(Bancroft, i. 415 and authorities Palon, Crespi, Boscana, Motras, Torquemada, Duflot and Fages). (R. F. Burton, ''Terminal Essay)''</ref>

=== Central America ===

Though early [[Mayans]] are thought to have been strongly antagonistic to same-sex relationships, later Mayan states employed pederastic practices. Their introduction was ascribed to the god [[Chin (Mayan god)|Chin]]. One aspect was that of the father procuring a younger lover for his son. [[Fray Juan de Torquemada|Juan de Torquemada]] mentions that if the (younger) boy was seduced by a stranger, the penalty was equivalent to that for adultery. In the 16th century, [[Bernal Diaz]] reported seeing statues of male pairs making love in the temples at [[Cape Catoche]], [[Yucatan]].<ref>Pete Sigal, "The Politicization of Pederasty among the Colonial Yucatecan Maya", ''Journal of the History of Sexuality,'' Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jul., 1997), pp. 1–24</ref>

=== Europe ===

Pederastic eros in the West, while remaining mostly hidden, has nevertheless revealed itself in a variety of settings. Legal records are one of the more important windows into this secret world, since for much of the time pederastic relations, like other forms of homosexual relations, were illegal.<ref>Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships, p.6</ref> The expression of desire through literature and art, albeit in coded fashion, can also afford a view of the pederastic interests of the author.

Reflecting the conflicted outlook on male loves, some northern European writers ascribed pederastic tendencies to populations in southern latitudes. [[Richard Francis Burton]] evolved his theory of the ''[[Sotadic zone]]'', an area bounded roughly by N. Lat. 43° N. Lat. 30°, stretching from the western shores of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>Richard Burton, ''Arabian Nights'' "Terminal Essay"</ref> Likewise, [[:de:Wilhelm Kroll|Wilhelm Kroll]], writing in the [[Pauly-Wissowa]] encyclopaedia in 1906, asserted that "The roots of pederasty are found first of all in the existence of a contrary sexual feeling that is probably more frequent in southern regions than in countries with moderate climates."<ref>Wilhelm Kroll, "Knabenliebe" [boy-love or pederasty], article in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopaedie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 11, cols. 897–906</ref>

==== Renaissance ====

{{Main|Pederasty in the Renaissance}}

The Renaissance was a period that saw a rediscovery or renewed interest in the philosophy and art of the Classical period. The Roman Catholic Church suppressed homosexual and pederastic expressions of attraction, especially through the machinery of the Inquisition, most infamously the Spanish Inquisition. The Church could not repress all expressions of pederastic desire. According to an encyclopedia of [[GLBT]]Q culture, "The most conventional object of homoerotic desire [in art] was the adolescent youth, usually imagined as beardless."<ref>[http://www.glbtq.com/arts/eur_art7_renaissance,3.html An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Culture, ''European Art: Renaissance'', Patricia Simmons]</ref>

==== England ====

[[File:Tuke, Henry Scott (1858–1929) - 1911 - Bathing group (Noonday heat).jpg|thumb|190px|'''Noonday Heat''' (1911)<br/>By [[Henry Scott Tuke]] (1858–1929). Many of Tuke's most well-known works are nudes of young men and boys, and the artist is closely associated with the [[Uranian]] movement.]]

In [[England]] into the 20th century, public [[boarding schools]] were limited to boys and all the teachers were male. Some upper class boys were sent to boarding school by age 7 or 8, and they studied there through the adolescent years. Some teachers justified homosexual relationships based on the Classics, both between the older and younger boys, and between teachers and boys. However, there were some scandals around such relationships. In the mid-19th century, [[William Johnson Cory]], a renowned master at Eton from 1845 until his forced resignation in 1872, evolved a style of pedagogic pederasty which influenced a number of his pupils. His ''Ionica'', a work of poetry reflecting his pederastic sensibilities, was read in intellectual circles and “made a stir” at Oxford in 1859.<ref>Brian Reade, ''Sexual Heretics;'' p.)</ref> [[Oscar Browning]], another Eton master and former student of Cory, followed in his tutor’s footsteps, only to be likewise dismissed in 1875. Both are thought to have influenced Oxford don [[Walter Pater]], whose aesthetics promoted pederasty as the truest expression of classical culture.<ref>Naomi Wood, "Creating the Sensual Child: Paterian Aesthetics, Pederasty, and Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales", ''Marvels & Tales'' – Volume 16, Number 2, 2002, pp. 156–170</ref>
Also in 19th-century England, pederasty was a theme in the work of several writers known as the "[[Uranian poets]]". Although most of the writers of Uranian poetry and prose are today considered minor literary figures, the prominent [[Uranian]] representatives --- [[Walter Pater]], [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]], and [[Oscar Wilde]] – are figures of worldwide renown. Hopkins and Wilde were both deeply influenced by Pater's work. Wilde wrote of pederastic and homoerotic culture—though not in the "elevated" pederastic sense that it held for Pater and Hopkins<ref>Michael Kaylor, ''Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde'', 2006, pp. 292–295</ref> – in a number of works.<ref>Brian Reade, 1970, op.cit., p.28</ref> In the case of Hopkins, "Hopkins often was, it must be admitted, strikingly Ruskinian in his love of Aristotelian particulars and their arrangements; however, it was at the foot of Pater – the foremost Victorian unifier of ‘eros, pedagogy, and aesthetics’ – that Hopkins would ever remain."<ref>Michael Kaylor, ''Secreted Desires'', 2006, p. 289</ref> Another notable late 19th-century writer on pederasty was [[John Addington Symonds]], whose essays, "A Problem in Greek Ethics" and "A Problem in Modern Ethics", were among the first defenses of [[homosexuality]] in the English language.<ref>http://www.sacred-texts.com/lgbt/pge/index.htm</ref>

==== Reaction and retrenchment ====

The end of the 19th century saw increasing conflict over the issue of social acceptance of pederasty. A number of other pederastic scandals erupted around this time, such as the one involving the [[Germany|German]] industrialist [[Krupp#Friedrich Alfred.27s Era|Friedrich Alfred Krupp]], which drove him to suicide, by some reports. In the same vein, in a work that was to influence the evolution of [[communism]]'s attitude towards same-sex love, the German political philosopher [[Friedrich Engels]], [[Karl Marx]]'s collaborator, denounced the ancient Greeks for "the abominable practice of sodomy" and for degrading "their gods and themselves with the myth of Ganymede".<ref>Karl Marx, ''Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State''</ref>

The [[Wandervogel]] movement, a youth organization emphasizing a romantic view of nature, began in 1896, the same year that the journal ''[[Der Eigene]]'' went to press. It was published by a twenty-two-year-old German ([[Adolf Brand]]), and it advocated classical pederasty as a cure for the moral flabbiness of German youth. Influenced by the ideas of [[Gustav Wyneken]], the Wandervogel movement was open about its homoerotic tendencies. Affection between males was supposed to be expressed in a nonsexual way. The founding of Young Wandervogel happened largely as a reaction to the public scandal about these erotic tendencies, which were said to alienate young men from women.

Until the 1970s, English "[[Public school (UK)|public schools]]" were boarding schools whose male teachers educated young and adolescent boys only. They emphasized study of Greek and Latin classics. The all-male environment encouraged “hotbeds of pederasty” into the twentieth century.<ref>H. Montgomery Hyde, ''The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name,'' pp.110–112; Boston: Little, Brown, 1970</ref> [[C. S. Lewis]], when talking about his life at [[Malvern College]], an [[Public school (UK)|English public school]], acknowledged that pederasty "was the only counterpoise to the social struggle; the one oasis (though green only with weeds and moist only with foetid water) in the burning desert of competitive ambition."<ref>C.S. Lewis, ''Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life'' Harvest Books (1966) p.106</ref>

Eventually, pederasty was decreased {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} in British public schools, due to the introduction of female teachers and co-education, which gave boys a heterosexual output. Child abuse was no longer hushed up{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} due to society's concerns with protecting children. Parents had more control over who had responsibility for the children, and men with pedophile or pederastic tendencies were barred from teaching jobs.

== Modern expressions ==

[[Liminality|Liminal]] same-sex love — relations with young people on the threshold of becoming adults — whether for pleasure or to further social goals, is no longer widely practiced in the West,{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} despite its lawful status in many countries. [[feminist theory|Feminist]] and [[Postmodern philosophy|postmodern]] theories describe such relations as an [[Power (sociology)#Foucault|abuse of power]] when the older partner is in a position of [[Academic seduction|educational]], [[Spiritual abuse|religious]], [[Sexual harassment|economic]], or other form of institutional authority over the younger partner. Pederasty is widely censured, whether legally or illegally expressed. Instances of it, or of homosexual behavior among public men, have had severe political repercussions. (For example, the [[Mark Foley scandal]], or "Pagegate",<ref>[http://thehill.com/john-fortier/pagegate-to-cost-gop-a-seat-2006-10-04.html John Fortier, "Pagegate to cost GOP a seat", ''The Hill,'' October 4, 2006]</ref> in which apparent abuse of pages in the [[United States]] in 2006 may have contributed to the [[U.S. Democratic Party|Democratic]] capture of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] and [[U.S. Senate]] in the following fall elections.<ref>[http://www.nysun.com/article/40840 "Warning Signs", ''New York Sun'', Editorial, October 4, 2006]</ref>) The United States appears to be moving towards a more restrictive approach to such relationships. In 1983, for instance, Democratic Congressman [[Gerry Studds]] admitted having had an affair with a 17-year-old page and was censured by the House of Representatives, but he continued his career in Congress.

The Catholic Church has been rocked in the 21st century by long-delayed accounts of child-sex abuse. After resistance to revelations, it is working to control activities of its priests. On February 2, 1961 the [[Holy See|Vatican]] issued a document, “Instruction on the Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders,” barring from the priesthood anyone who has "perverse inclinations to [[homosexuality]] or pederasty", but that was not sufficient for the times.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9436430/ "Vatican document reaffirms policy on gays"], msnbc.com (retrieved 28 Oct 2008)</ref>

=== Child abuse issues ===
Though pederasty was once accepted in many cultures, some modern observers have retrospectively labeled it [[sexual abuse|abusive]]. Enid Bloch argues that many Greek boys who were involved in pederastic relationships may have been harmed by the experience, if the relationship included [[anal sex]]. Bloch writes that the boy may have been [[psychological trauma|traumatized]] by knowing that he was violating social customs. According to her, the "most shameful thing that could happen to any Greek male was penetration by another male."
Bloch further argues that vases showing "a boy standing perfectly still as a man reaches out for his genitals" indicate the boy may have been "psychologically immobilized, unable to move or run away."<ref name=Bloch>{{cite journal|title=Sex between Men and Boys in Classical Greece: Was It Education for Citizenship or Child Abuse?|journal=The Journal of Men's Studies |url=http://mensstudies.metapress.com/content/j24001m18032108j/|author=Enid Bloch |publisher=Men's Studies Press |volume= 9| issue = 2 / Winter 2001 |pages=183–204 |date=March 21, 2007|doi=10.3149/jms.0902.183}}</ref> Many vases, however, show the boys responding warmly to the man's advances, placing their hands around the man's neck or on his arm, a gesture thought to indicate affection and reciprocity.<ref>DeVries, Keith (1997) "The 'Frigid Eromenoi' and Their Wooers Revisited: A Closer Look at Greek Homosexuality in Vase Painting", in Duberman, Martin (Ed.) ''Queer Representations: Reading Lives, Reading Cultures'', New York: New York University Press, p14-24</ref> Other vases show the boy running away.<ref>"For this lust is not entirely free of violence, and there can be something slightly frightening about it (after all, the boy in Ill. 19 is running away)" Glenn W. Most, "The Athlete's Body in Ancient Greece", ''Stanford Humanities Review'' V.6.2 1998</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Age of consent]]
* [[Age disparity in sexual relationships]]
* [[Catamite]]
* [[Catholic sex abuse cases]]
* [[Ephebophilia]]
* [[Homosexuality]]
* [[Homosexuality and Islam]]''
* [[LGBT themes in mythology]]
* [[Pedophilia]]
* [[Platonic love]]
* [[Shotacon]]
* [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] (NAMBLA)

== Further reading ==

{{Commons|Pederasty}}

;General
* {{cite journal | last = Bremmer | first = J |title = An Enigmatic Indo-European Rite: Pederasty | journal = Arethusa | volume = 13 | pages = 279–98 | year = 1980}}
* {{cite book |author=Crompton, Louis |title=Homosexuality & civilization |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=0-674-02233-5 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=| url = http://books.google.com/?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13611 | title = Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Vol. 2: ''Sexual Inversion,'' | authorlink = Havelock Ellis | last = Ellis | first = H }}

;Ancient Greece
See [[Pederasty in ancient Greece#References|bibliography of Greek pederasty]]

;[[Europe]]
* {{cite journal | title = Creating the Sensual Child: Paterian Aesthetics, Pederasty, and Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales | last = Wood | first = N | journal = Marvels & Tales | volume = 16 | issue = 2 | year = 2002 | pages = 156–170 | doi = 10.1353/mat.2002.0029 }}
* Michael Matthew Kaylor. [http://www.mmkaylor.com ''Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde'' (2006)], a 500-page scholarly volume that considers the major Victorian writers of Uranian poetry and prose (the author has made this volume available in a free, open-access, PDF version).
* Rigoletto, Sergio. "Questioning Power Hierarchies: Michael Davidson and Literary Pederasty in Italy" in ''Studies in Social and Political Thought'' Issue 13 – March 2007<ref>http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cspt/1-6-1-2-13.html</ref>

;[[Japan]]
See [[Shudo#Bibliography and further reading|bibliography of Japanese pederasty]]

;[[North America|North]] and [[South America]]
* {{cite journal | title = The Politicization of Pederasty Among the Colonial Yucatecan Maya | last = Fout | first = JC | journal = Journal of the History of Sexuality | volume = 8 | year = 1997}}

;[[Muslim]] Lands
See [[Pederasty in the Middle East and Central Asia#Further reading|bibliography of pederasty in the Middle East and Central Asia]]

;Pederasty and child sexual abuse
See [[Child sexual abuse#Further reading|bibliography of child sexual abuse]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{LGBT|history=expanded}}

[[Category:Pederasty| ]]
[[Category:Adolescence]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
[[Category:Sexuality and society]]
[[Category:Sexual orientation and society]]
[[Category:Male homosexuality]]

[[bn:পেডেরাস্টি]]
[[br:Pederastiezh]]
[[bg:Педерастия]]
[[ca:Pederàstia]]
[[cs:Pederastie]]
[[da:Pæderasti]]
[[de:Päderastie]]
[[et:Pederastia]]
[[fa:بچه‌بازی]]
[[fr:Pédérastie]]
[[gd:Pàisd'-mhiannachd]]
[[io:Pederasteso]]
[[it:Pederastia]]
[[lt:Pederastija]]
[[nl:Pederastie]]
[[ja:少年愛]]
[[no:Pederasti]]
[[pl:Pederastia]]
[[pt:Pederastia]]
[[ro:Pederastie]]
[[ru:Педерастия]]
[[scn:Jarrusu]]
[[sk:Pederastia]]
[[fi:Pederastia]]
[[sv:Pederasti]]
[[th:การที่ผู้ชายมีเพศสัมพันธ์กับเด็กชาย]]
[[vi:Thiếu niên ái]]
[[zh:孌童戀]]

Revision as of 00:52, 20 January 2011

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pederasty&oldid=408886289"