#ntm homophobia in general giving men an idea of needing to be the masculine one. and youth is automatically more 'feminine'

[bassiter2]

i'm realizing through this book i'm reading (same-sex affairs: constructing and controlling homosexuality in the pacific northwest) that like... yknow the conflation between homosexuality and pedophilia. well i've realized why that is, and that it's more than just all "sexual perversions" getting lumped together by homophobes. but also insanely enough more mundane

it's literally that for many decades, the only concept most people were able to have of gay men were through the lens of it being a crime. aka arrest records and the newspapers telling you who got put in jail last night. obviously gay men who were only having consensual sex with other gay adult men did get caught sometimes, but you could only catch them if they were doing it in public, if you were sneaking around in their private home, or if someone involved ratted them out. and if you ratted someone out, whatever motivation you might have, you were also ratting yourself out, so why would you do that? but if you were underage, especially if it was non-consensual, you wouldn't be in trouble at all. so of course the majority of the "immoral acts" charges are going to be between an adult and a minor.

not only that but apparently "youth" in referring to a young person used to literally mean anyone under the age of 21. and the vast majority of charges that read "engaged in immoral acts with a youth" it's referring to like a 17 y/o or even 18 or 19. so then ppl in later decades read that and misinterpreted it too.

and that's literally it lol..... it feels obvious in hindsight but i never would have thought about it. crazy what bias confirmation does.

#i'd highly recommend the book and also Gay New York btw #they're both centered around the same time period and the emergence of gay culture #(and emergence of the widespread concept of gay as something you can BE instead of just something you do-- #--specifically one of the many degenerate things done by lower classes and immigrants #prior to the white middle class becoming aware that their own could do it too. and what that meant for concepts of gender and sexuality) #just different parts of the US. but the pacific northwest one centers mostly on the aftermath of a specific scandal #and it's CRAZY #a lot of modern gay culture would probably be different if not for the actions of like one gay kid #who ratted out portland's whole secret gay community in 1912 bc he got caught shoplifting and thought that info would protect him #i wish i could ask him now if that was worth it. god #anyway i do also think that as for actual cases of gay adult-minor relations. the criminalization of homosexuality in the first place #is partially to blame. like at least for some of it #bc surely part of the motivation there is specifically seeking out boys who do NOT have the social power to be homophobic to you #ntm homophobia in general giving men an idea of needing to be the masculine one. and youth is automatically more 'feminine' #not an excuse just an explanation btw. yeah just my 2 cents #ok to rb