Okay--I would be very interested in citations, not because I doubt you but because I've found so little suggesting common early marriages historically and it just doesn't make sense to me outside of wealthy classes.
I'm not saying that it's impossible that this person was interested in boys that were genuinely very young or that she's wrong to call them "young" - but what's considered young is relative at times.
Oh, I agree.
But I think basing the crux of one's estimation of someone's sexual identity on a misreading of two men in bed together is absurd, especially given the historical context that people tend to ignore. And on a personal note, I really don't like when people want to speculate on the sexualities of historical figures as though it's some sort of really nifty game or very scandalous. The "do you think he's queer" game does not fly with me, especially not in history books.
I have...mixed feelings. On the one hand, I don't think there's much point to a lot of the speculation, and I also don't like it being treated as scandalous. On the other hand, I think queer people need queer history, and it's natural to look for evidence of it. Unfortunately, trying to dig that out of the historical record is difficult and tenuous and can look much the same as scandal-hunting (or wishful thinking).
It sounds like an interesting book! I will have to check it out.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 07:48 pm (UTC)I'm not saying that it's impossible that this person was interested in boys that were genuinely very young or that she's wrong to call them "young" - but what's considered young is relative at times.
Oh, I agree.
But I think basing the crux of one's estimation of someone's sexual identity on a misreading of two men in bed together is absurd, especially given the historical context that people tend to ignore. And on a personal note, I really don't like when people want to speculate on the sexualities of historical figures as though it's some sort of really nifty game or very scandalous. The "do you think he's queer" game does not fly with me, especially not in history books.
I have...mixed feelings. On the one hand, I don't think there's much point to a lot of the speculation, and I also don't like it being treated as scandalous. On the other hand, I think queer people need queer history, and it's natural to look for evidence of it. Unfortunately, trying to dig that out of the historical record is difficult and tenuous and can look much the same as scandal-hunting (or wishful thinking).
It sounds like an interesting book! I will have to check it out.