Between homosexuality and homophobia (review of the book written by Eve K. Sedgwick “Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire”)

Annotation

The article reviews the famous book “Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire” by E. K. Sedgwick. Sedgwick examines men’s relationships with one another in English literature and the ways those relationships affect women. She argues that the power of male homophobia has radically shaped the ideologies of men and women. Central to this study is Sedgwick’s conception of "male homosocial desire". Sedgwick coined the neologism "homosocial," which was supposed to be a rejection of the then-available lexical and conceptual alternatives to challenge the idea sexual identity could be easily differentiated. Sedgwick’s work was an important milestone in the development of gender studies.

Keywords

• homosexual
• homosocial desire
• male bonds
• queer theory
• homophobia
• heterosexual
• sexual identity
• gender continuum
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