Defrauding: homoerotic religious imagery

[fluttershies]

Unless I see what amounts to homosexuals making out or getting it on, I really don't think anything about so called homoerotic pictures or even statues.

Only, there was no such thing as a homosexual state of being back then, only men who had sexual activity with other men - so you can't define the men involved as homosexual or heterosexual, because such a definition simply did not exist (and let's not forget that bisexuality exists, please).

[Soldier of the One]

There's a lot of homoeroticism in the military too. I used to live near DC and my friends I would frequently meet large groups of men in the military at the bars and nightclubs in DC while they were visiting the city for training or other things. It's really amazing what they would do after a couple of drinks, especially in a large group of men with only two women and they all had to prove their manliness to us by sexually harassing each other. I mean like spanking each other with their pants pulled down. Stuff I would never consider doing with my female friends. But I see this as more an aspect of rape culture than of homoeroticism, because they were deciding their ranks by who could sexually overpower the others. Really creepy stuff though.

That's interesting, bananacat, because that's what historians/sociologists often see in ancient homoeroticism: rape culture and celebrating a power imbalance. In Ancient Greece, for instance, it was always a 'top' older man in a position of authority and a 'bottom' young man who would be cultivated and groomed in a fundamentally unequal relationship. This has scant little to do with loving, consensual, egalitarian gay relationships of contemporary times.

This is also how progressive (Jewish) Bible scholars interpret Lev. 18:22, as referring to a patriarchal power imbalance rather than consensual gay encounters.

[fluttershies]

That's interesting, bananacat, because that's what historians/sociologists often see in ancient homoeroticism: rape culture and celebrating a power imbalance. In Ancient Greece, for instance, it was always a 'top' older man in a position of authority and a 'bottom' young man who would be cultivated and groomed in a fundamentally unequal relationship. This has scant little to do with loving, consensual, egalitarian gay relationships of contemporary times.

This is also how progressive (Jewish) Bible scholars interpret Lev. 18:22, as referring to a patriarchal power imbalance rather than consensual gay encounters.

I also wonder if that interpretation of Lev. 18:22 could also be applied to the New Testament, because the same power imbalance of homoerotic rape culture was also common, possibly even more so, in Roman culture. At least with the Greeks, there was honour and virtue attached to restraint and being 'civillised', but not so much with the Romans (example - for the Greeks a small penis was considered preferable because a large penis was considered barbaric, but the Romans preferred the macho-ness of a large penis).

[daharyn]

I also wonder if that interpretation of Lev. 18:22 could also be applied to the New Testament, because the same power imbalance of homoerotic rape culture was also common, possibly even more so, in Roman culture. At least with the Greeks, there was honour and virtue attached to restraint and being 'civillised', but not so much with the Romans (example - for the Greeks a small penis was considered preferable because a large penis was considered barbaric, but the Romans preferred the macho-ness of a large penis).

fluttershies, do you have a good citation for that? I'd really like to read more about it.

[Soldier of the One]

Same here, really interesting!