Customer Reviews

Homophobia: A History

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a young gay man trying to understand his place in the world and how he fits into it all, this book was shocking and occasionally disturbing as it chronicled the tormented history of homosexuals in Europe and America.

Being the first non-fiction book I read concerning homosexuality, I winced as I read about the grisly executions performed in the name of God and/or the law, or how homosexuals where rooted and hunted out as in the witch hunts in early Europe. Atrocities towards fellow human beings are perpetrated with such righteous fervor that you wish they would look in the mirror and see what monsters they've become. It chills me to think that had I been born during that dismal period, I could be drowned, stoned, or burned at the stake for consummating my love with another man.

As a Christian, it shames me to learn from reading this that because of one account in the Bible, twisted or misunderstood by interpreters, Christian authorities have employed it as a reason to deliver their brutal judgement against the "sin of Sodom". Worse, as Christianity spread throughout the world, it carried with it the plague of homophobia. Read with horror upon the settlers' arrival in the New World, what they did to the Native Americans. It still confounds me to why people who believe in a god who is the epitomy of love and forgiveness, would embrace hatred and prejudice against their fellow men, as different as they may be.

Reading this has really made me thankful to be living in this day, where even if homosexuality might be frowned upon by some, it has become more understood and more tolerated, if not accepted. The book has made me grieve for those who never got the privilege to be who they are, salute the heroes who fought against the homophobic colossus of that age, and to be sobered out of complacency by knowing that it took a lot of sweat and spilt blood to be able to allow us to have the relative freedom we have.

Finally, taking it further, the book to me is also call to protect, defend, and also to fight. I am aware that there are still countries with homophobic governments who live under constant threat of death. I am aware that we still don't enjoy the full benefits of our existence in society. I am made aware after reading the book that things don't change because you sit there and take it.

I guess the only downside that I found is that it focuses mainly on Europe and America so the generic title would probably do with a little appending.

All-in-all, extremely rousing and informative! Thank you Byrne Fone!

This book must have taken years to write and is worth eveery moment expended in its creation. Although another reviewer said it wasn't a page turner I found it to be one of the most fascinating academic studies I have ever encountered and after putting it down couldn't wait to get back to it. A historical guide that at the same time manages to be right up to date and sadly and frighteningly appropriate to our culture of the moment, one of its most painful implications is that human nature will seemingly never change. Will the attacks on our fellow man and woman over nothing ever stop? Read this book and form your own opinion. The book won't disappoint you; but it's message, brilliant but hardly uplifting, will certainly frighten you.

Byrne Fone, in Homophobia A History, looks at exactly what the title states. It is the perfect book for those interested in a first look at the subject of homosexuality through the ages in European and American culture. It is neither particulary scholary or exhaustive and while each of the specific topics (such as literature) or eras (such as medieval) is covered more thouroughly elsewhere, this book provides a fascinating glimpse at the horrendous forces at play through homophobia, whether religious, civil or personal, as they have shaped society from ancient Greece to Stonewall. There are certain gaps, such as the absence of a discussion of Europe during the twentienth century. It is a horrifying glimpse into the history of a destructive mindset and the author handles the subject matter in an illuminating and interesting fashion.

Fone presents in this work a very comprehensive, but readable piece of scholarship on attitudes toward homosexuality (mainly of the gay male variety) in the Western world. We learn a lot about Greek and Roman history, severe attitudes against gays in the middle ages, and a mixed view of homosexuality in the Renaissance era. My only complaint is not enough attention was given to the modern question of homophobia, with the last 30 years wrapped up in mere pages. A historical perspective is great, but only if it is related to how things stand today. I would have liked to have seen more about how AIDS may have set back gay rights in the 1980s, the successes and failures of legislative attempts to both enhance and take away from the rights of our g/l/b/t brothers and sisters. Maybe Fone is going to give us a part two?

I was enthralled by this lively, meticulous piece of scholarship, which draws from literature and history its often disturbing conclusions. An incredible work of research and application of findings. Full of interesting insights and details. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read something both educational and engrossing.

  Ive read this book and I disagree with two freelance 'writers'. I found it fascinating, a real page turner, and right to the point about what gay people go through. Not only that but he writes about homophobia through the ages not just in the last hundred years. It seems to me that both these freelance reviewers who guide us to a site about themselves, are more interested in publicizing and promoting themselves and not really reveiwing a book.

  I've read this book and I disagree with both freelance reviewers. I found it fascinating, a real page turner, and right to the point about what gay people go through. Not only that but he writes about homophobia through the ages not just in the last hundred years. It seems to me that both these freelance reviewers who guide us to a site about themselves, are more interested in publicizing themselves than they are in really reveiwing a book.

Incredibly well researched, but so dry. I'm tempted to use the word boring when describing this, but I feel that might be a bit too harsh. It's more of a textbook - it should be read over a long period of time. What I find troubling is his thesis that homophobia has only exploded in the past 100 years or so, but then he spends 80 percent of the book talking about homosexuality from ancient Greece through the 1800s. It's more like a history of homosexuality with a dash of homophobia thrown in.

This is truly an interesting and provocative work, and it is hard to find fault with the accuracy of the scholarship, the seriousness of its implications both in discrimination and violence, or the dismal findings in terms of the rampant prejudices and tortured logic that brings people to the point of committing such violence on gays or lesbians. As the author contends, there is never an excuse for this kind of gay bashing as is sometimes a sport of preferences for young toughs. No matter what anyone believes or holds dear, once the step toward assault is taken, all pretense of civil society is lost. All this said, and for all the many excellent qualities making this book a provocative and worthwhile reading experience, I must admit to having some discomfort with the author's all too frequent tendency to use the world "homophobia" to generally refer to a plethora of different ways in which many mainstream citizens have historically expressed their antipathy and hostility toward the homosexual lifestyle.

While I heartily agree that anyone who engages in active discrimination against gays or lesbians should face the legal consequences of their illegal activities, I part company with the author as to whether such acts are necessarily intrinsically "homophobic", as he maintains. He seems to define any sort of personal antipathy toward gays or lesbians as constituting de facto evidence of prejudice, disregarding religious, philosophical, and ethical considerations as just so much smoke screen. This, in my view, is a highly inaccurate and ultimately dysfunctional approach to take in objectively ascertaining what the nature and social dimensions of homophobia happen to be. Traditionally the term "homophobia" has been to refer to a specific pathological psychological syndrome in which the individual's often violent attitudes and behaviors stem from a repressed fear of what used to be euphemistically referred to as one's own "latent homosexuality". One use to hear this referred to as "homosexual panic", in which one assaulted gays because one felt a need to demonstrate (to oneself) that one was straight. Phobia is an irrational fear, and therefore "homophobia" so defined is an irrational fear of gays.

Insofar as this term is used in this way, I agree with much of what the author says. Yet too often here there seems to be a blurring of what the term means, and too often it seems to be used as a blanket term to refer to anyone who has the misfortune to disagree with gay and lesbian ideas and goals, for anyone who is not in agreement with the currently chic politically correct notion of what the contemporary social attitudes toward gays and lesbians should be. I think it is a mistake to use the term "homophobia" in such a way, not only because it is a patently incorrect use of the term, but also because it also increases confusion about how to effectively discriminate among a variety of public attitudes and behaviors, some of which are indeed pathological, and others which are most certainly not.

I believe it is a mistake to argue that any and all opposition to gays and lesbians stems from a pathological syndrome, or that anyone expressing shock and intense dislike for the particulars of the homosexual political goals is necessarily prejudiced, hateful, or hostile. The truth is much more complex than that, and it is a convenient subterfuge for gays to argue that anyone arguing against them is by definition "sick" and needing re-education. To me, it smacks too much of political rhetoric disguised as scholarship to put the glossy shine of authenticity on something that's nothing more than a personal opinion. The truth is that many who disfavor extension of further legislation or social change to accommodate gays and lesbians cannot be accurately viewed in such a reductionistic fashion. The fact that the author does so undercuts his credibility and the urgent message about gays and prejudice that so urgently need to be heard.

I agree with the Amazon review that the term "homophobia" is not used properly in this book, and that that could be detrimental to a clear-thinking society. It is a history of homosexuality and the treatment of homosexuals, and as such, I find it to be a very good one, in spite of not covering all five (or seven) continents, and even without including detailed information about modern times.

It was very interesting for me to read about homosexuality in the Greek and Roman cultures, and realize that we all too often fall into the trap of ignoring what our own cultural assumptions and associations are.


The main problem I have with the book is Fone's conclusion about St. Paul. Fone has the distorted view that Paul was opposed to all sex except for the purpose of procreation. I am familiar with several passages where Paul refers to sex as something more than a simple way to procreate:

First Corinthians 7:2-6 and verse 9. Here Paul talks about sex as a show of affection, as a passionate burning, and as a coming together between a man and wife in order to not fall into temptation. Sex is not just a procreation method here, it is an urge and it is an expression of mutual caring.

In Hebrews 13:4 Paul speaks of the marriage bed as honorable, and something that should be kept pure. Although this requires some interpretation on my part, I read here the idea of fidelity to one's partner in sexual acts. It is an outward sign of the covenant relationship - the two coming together as one. (See also Ephesians 5:31, not far from verse 5:33.)

Overall, that may seem like a minor point to take issue with, but it is a petpeeve of mine since several authors about homosexuality seem to be quoting each other and spreading this hackneyed line about Paul that he opposes sex except for procreative purposes.