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Historical Meanings |
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"Although
Melville calls the sinful ships 'wooden-walled Gomorrahs of the deep,'
his language is not motivated by religion, but by a concern for justice
and democracy. What bothers him is that there is no redress for the crime
of male rape. Sodomy is so unspeakable that it can't be discussed at the
quarter-deck. Worse, the victim of male rape is somehow disqualified as
a citizen; he is not acceptable as a plaintiff; and therefore justice is
impossible. 'More than once complaints were made at the mast in the Neversink,
from which the deck officer would turn away with loathing, refuse to hear
them, and command the complainant out of his sight' (WJ 376)" (Caleb,
1997).
Similar
situation in North American Prisons in '60s, '70s. Also, historically,
in Arab cultures. The rape of Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Edward Lawrence,
1888-1935) by the Turks. "Jeremy Wilson, Lawrence's authorised biographer...
"Lawrence censored much that he thought would embarrass him before printing
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," Wilson said. 'We can only speculate why,
but it seems the rape defined his sexuality for the rest of his life."
(The Sunday Times)" (Syal,
1998).
"In
some societies the rape of a defeated male enemy was considered the prerogative
of the victor in battle, and served to indicate the totality of the former's
defeat. Even in ancient times, we find the widespread belief that a male
who is sexually penetrated, even by force, thereby "loses his manhood,"
and hence can no longer be a warrior or ruler. In the twentieth century,
the best-known instance of this kind of humiliation occurred when the Englishman
T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") was captured by the Turks, who were
well known for this custom, during World War I. Gang-rape of a male was
also considered an ultimate form of punishment, and as such was known to
the Romans (for adultery) and Iranians (for violation of the sanctity of
the harem)" (Donaldson,
1990).
"The
evidence of the sagas and laws shows that male homosexuality was regarded
in two lights: there was nothing at all strange or shameful about a man
having intercourse with another man if he was in the active or "manly"
role, however the passive partner in homosexual intercourse was regarded
with derision. It must be remembered, however, that the laws and sagas
reflect the Christian consciousness of the Icelander or Norwegian of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, well after the pagan period... Being
used homosexually by another man was equated with cowardice because of
the custom of sexual aggression against vanquished foes... In addition
to rape, defeated enemies were frequently castrated, again testified to
in several places by Sturlunga saga. Grágás records that
a klámhogg or "shame-stroke" on the buttocks was, along with castration,
a "major wound" (hin meiri sár), ranked with wounds that penetrated
the brain, abdomen, or marrow... (Hallakarva,
1997?).
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