Victorian gay

Masculinity played an important role in being socially accepted and masculinity means being married and support their families. If someone was discovered to have sex with men and also involved in family, like Oscar Wilde, the crisis was kept inside and dealt within family.

This was one of the reasons why homosexuality was extremely problematic issue the British society faced at that time. So, we can say that roots of sexual identity as social construction of western culture can be seen during s. An individual's sex life was also treated as a very private matter, so people were reluctant to speak discuss it outside of courtrooms.

Heterosexuality was considered natural and normal while any sexual behaviour and gender presentation outside of these parameters was labelled as deviant. Historian Jeff Evans, from Manchester Metropolitan University, has painstakingly sifted through more thancriminal cases at the National Archive at Kew which suggest that the supposedly prudish Victorians had a far more relaxed attitude to sex between men than their s counterparts.

Homosexuality was very rarely discussed in Victorian society and whenever it was discussed there were gay consequences for these men. However, lesbian and bisexual acts of women were common and not even illegal. The reason was that homosexuality was prohibited as indecent behaviour in public and privately, gay sex behind closed doors was not considered criminal offence gay Even though heterosexuality was considered normal and natural throughout Victorian era, there is seen visible increase in homosexuality especially among men as well as intelligentsia during that period of history.

Many believed that one could be moral and at the same time have sexual relations. Men were sent to prison for having consensual sex with each other. Publicly homosexuality was not discussed and it was hard to access private sexual behaviour.

This lack of information from different mediums of communication is the reason why discussion of homosexuality was not seen throughout society. In Victorian era homosexuality had its differences and similarities. Until mid of the twentieth century sex psychology was not victorian brought into existence.

Before the socially constructed cultural concepts were marked by some self-proclaimed sexologists, these concepts and attitudes were considered actions and behaviours of individuals rather than identities. Discussions about homosexuality among society was very minimal because Victorian citizens tried to ignore the fact concept that males might have victorian relationship with other males.

However, in the early twentieth century period some novels were written and paintings were displayed which depicted tales of same sex love. All these are believed to have enhanced the understanding of sexual diversity. While societal norms sought to suppress same-sex relationships, individuals and communities found ways to express their identities, often in subtle and coded forms.

Homosexuality in the Victorian Era was a story of repression, resistance, and resilience. Even though heterosexuality was considered normal and natural throughout Victorian era, there is seen visible increase in homosexuality especially among men as well as intelligentsia during that period of history.

The Victorian Era marked a huge shift in the treatment of homosexuality. Such sentences even led to suicides sometimes. It was only when the trials of Oscar Wilde were going on that the term and idea of classifying homosexuality came to limelight.

Prior to the 19th century, the theory had been that if no one discussed it, it would disappear altogether. In the fundamental British society, it was embarrassing to speak of this sexual issue. This notion was animan gay cartoons to preserve the status of Victorian masculinity.

The Victorian era is important to be looked at so that we know the cultural context in which Oscar Wilde used to live in. Since homosexuality went against the notion of masculinity, it was talked about rarely and it threatened the family structure as well as was believed to go against being fundamentally British.

To address this problem, Professor Joanna Swafford (English and Digital Humanities) and her students at SUNY New Paltz are working with Professor Sarah Kersh (English) and her students at Dickinson College to create the Victorian Queer Archive, a digital archive that contains Victorian texts on LGBTQ themes.

Unlike other European countries newspapersmedical journals and legislature resisted speaking on the subject. Attitudes and expectations about marital and intimate relationships were very strict during Victorian era. On the other hand, male homosexual acts, even the ones conducted privately was considered criminal act.