An example of lesbian erotica by Édouard-Henri Avril.

Homoeroticism refers to the representation of same-sex love and desire, most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements (e.g.: the Wandervogel and Gemeinschaft der Eigenen). Homoeroticism thus differs from the interpersonal homoerotic; because homoeroticism is a set of artistic and performative traditions, in which such feelings can be embodied in culture and thus expressed into the wider society. Image File history File links Édouard-Henri_Avril_(26). ... Image File history File links Édouard-Henri_Avril_(26). ... Édouard-Henri Avril drawing depicting the life of Sappho Édouard-Henri Avril (21 May 1843 in Algiers – 1928 in Le Raincy) was a French painter and commercial artist. ... The Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable artistic paintings in the Western world. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... Wandervogel emblem Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. ... Adolf Brand (1874-1945) was a German journalist and school teacher who began publishing the first German homosexual periodical, Der Eigene (The Special), in 1896. ...

Arguments over classifications and labelling

The term "homoerotic" carries with it the weight of modern classifications of love and desire that did not necessarily exist in previous eras. Homosexuality as we know it today was not fully codified until the mid-20th century, though this process began much earlier: Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ...

Following in the tradition of [Michel] Foucault, scholars such as Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and David Halperin have argued that various Victorian public discourses, notably the psychiatric and the legal, fostered a designation or invention of the "homosexual" as a distinct category of individuals, a category solidified by the publications of sexologists such as Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) and Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), sexologists who provided an almost-pathological interpretation of the phenomenon in rather Essentialist terms, an interpretation that led, before 1910, to hundreds of articles on the subject in The Netherlands, Germany, and elsewhere. One result of this burgeoning discourse was that the "homosexual" was often portrayed as a corrupter of the innocent, with a predisposition towards both depravity and paederasty — a necessary portrayal if Late-Victorian and Edwardian sexologists were to account for the continuing existence of the "paederast" in a world that had suddenly become bountiful in "homosexuals." (Kaylor, Secreted Desires, p. 33)

Despite an ever-changing and evolving set of modern classifications, members of the same sex often formed intimate associations (many of which were erotic as well as emotional) on their own terms, most notably in the "romantic friendships" documented in the letters and papers of 18th- and 19th- century men and women (see Rictor Norton, ed., My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries, Gay Sunshine Press, 1998). These romantic friendships, which may or may not have included genital sex, were characterized by passionate emotional attachments and what modern thinkers would consider homoerotic overtones. Two women share a close Neoclassical moment in Tübingen. ...

Difference from pornography

Such eroticism in art is usually subtle and contains some 'emotional charge'; which, in the arts, is the main factor that distinguishes it from explicit pornography featuring genitals & sex acts. Thus, it can often evade censorship by the state. Yet homoerotic material can ultimately be more potent than pornography, since some further act of imagination is often required in order to make it explicitly arousing. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Porn redirects here. ... For other uses, see Censor. ...

Attribution of 'homoeroticism' by critics

Post-Stonewall critics sometimes detect homoeroticism in artworks, even when the original artist would probably have denied the presence of such a theme. It may, however, still be valid to label the work as part of the tradition of homoeroticism; since the work may have been arousing for the homosexual portion of its audience, and an influence on future artistic production. LGBT rights Around the world By country History · Groups · Activists Declaration of Montreal Same-sex relationships Marriage · Adoption Opposition · Discrimination Violence This box:      The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between New York City police officers and groups of gay and transgender people that began during the early... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

Notable examples in the visual arts

Such fine art is necessarily figurative. The Creation of Adam, a figurative work by Michelangelo Figurative art describes artwork - particularly paintings - which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational. ...

Male-male

Representation of Hadrian having anal sex with Antinous in Egypt

Male-male examples, in the visual fine arts, range through history: Ancient Greek vase art; Roman wine goblets (The Warren Cup). Several Italian Renaissance artists are thought to have had homosexual inclinations, and homerotic appreciation of the male body has been identified by critics in works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. More explicit sexual imagery occurring in the Mannerist and Tenebrist styles of the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in arists such as Agnolo Bronzino, Carlo Saraceni and Caravaggio, whose works were sometimes severely criticised by the Catholic church.^[1] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 –– July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was emperor of Rome from 117 A.D. to 138 A.D., as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. ... Antinous or Antinoös (Greek: ) born circa 110 or 111 CE, died 130 CE), was the lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian Bust of Antinous in the Palazzo Altemps museum in Rome // He was born to a Greek family in Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Roman province of Bithynia in what... Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around nine hundred years. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Warren Cup is a unique silver Roman scyphos (or drinking cup) featuring two representations of homoerotic sexual acts. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... “Da Vinci” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... In Parmigianinos Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, affected poses, and unclear perspective. ... From the Italian tenebroso (murky), tenebrism is a style of painting using violent contrasts of light and dark, as in the work of Caravaggio. ... Andrea Doria as Neptune Agnolo di Cosimo (1503, Firenze – 1572, Firenze) (also known as Agnolo Bronzino and Agnolo Tori). ... Carlo Saraceni (c. ... For other uses, see Caravaggio (disambiguation). ...

Saint Sebastian, by Carlo Saraceni (c1610-15), Castle Museum, Prague. The image of Sebastian pierced by arrows has regularly been described as homoerotic.^[2]

Many 19th Century history paintings of classical characters such as Hyacinth, Ganymede and Narcissus can also be interpreted as homoerotic; the work of late 19th century artists (such as Thomas Eakins, Eugene Jansson, Henry Scott Tuke and Magnus Enckell); through to the modern work of fine artists such as Paul Cadmus and Gilbert & George. Fine art photographers such as Wilhelm von Gloeden, David Hockney, Will McBride, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pierre et Gilles, Bernard Faucon, Anthony Goicolea have also made a strong contribution, Mapplethorpe and McBride being notably in breaking down barriers of gallery censorship and braving legal challenges. James Bidgood and Arthur Tress were also very important pioneers in the 1960s, radically moving homoerotic photography away from simple documentary and into areas that were more akin to fine-art surrealism. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 454 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1189 × 1571 pixel, file size: 693 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) St Sebastian by Carlo Saraceni,c1610-16, Prague Castle Gallery. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 454 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1189 × 1571 pixel, file size: 693 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) St Sebastian by Carlo Saraceni,c1610-16, Prague Castle Gallery. ... Carlo Saraceni (c. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Art stubs | Painting ... The Death of Hyacinthos, by Jean Broc Zephyrus and Hyacinth; Attic red-figure cup from Tarquinia, ca 480 BC, Boston Museum of Fine Arts In Greek mythology, Hyacinth (in Greek, Ὑάκινθος — Hyakinthos) was a divine hero, the son of Clio and Pierus, King of Macedonia. ... In Greek mythology, Ganymede (Greek: Γανυμήδης, Ganumêdês)) was a divine hero whose homeland was the Troad. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Self portrait (1902), National Academy of Design, New York. ... Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858–13 March 1929), British painter, is best remembered for his paintings of naked boys, which have earned him the status of a pioneer of gay male culture. ... Magnus Enckell. ... Paul Cadmus photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 - December 12, 1999) was an artist born in New York City. ... Gilbert Proesch (born in Italy September 11, 1943) and George Passmore (born in England January 8, 1942), better known as Gilbert & George, are artists. ... Fine art photography, sometimes simply called art photography, refers to high-quality archival photographic prints of pictures that are created to fulfill the creative vision of an individual professional. ... Wilhelm von Gloeden in 1891 Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (September 16, 1856–February 16, 1931) was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. ... We Two Boys Together Clinging, 1961. ... Will McBride (born 1931, St. ... The cover of Patti Smiths first album, Horses, featured a Robert Mapplethorpe photo. ... Pierre et Gilles, Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard, are gay French artistic and romantic partners. ... Bernard Faucon (b. ... Anthony Goicolea (b. ... James Bidgood was a US photographer and filmmaker. ... Arthur Tress is a notable American photographer born on November 24 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. ...

Female-female

For more details on this topic, see Lesbianism in erotica.

Female-female examples are most historically noticeable in the narrative arts: the archaic lyrics of Sappho; The Songs of Bilitis; novels such as those of Christa Winsloe, Colette, Radclyffe Hall, and Jane Rule, and films such as Mädchen in Uniform. More recently, lesbian homoeroticism has flowered in photography and the writing of authors such as Pat Califia and Jeanette Winterson. Jupiter and Callisto (1744) by François Boucher. ... Ancient Greek bust. ... The Songs of Bilitis (Les Chansons de Bilitis; Paris, 1894) is a collection of poetry by Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925). ... Christa Winsloe (1888-1944) was a 20th century Hungarian novelist, playwright and sculptor. ... Colette Colette [1] [2] was the pen name of the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (January 28, 1873 – August 3, 1954). ... Image:Radclyffe-hall-190x274. ... Jane Rule (born March 28, 1931 in Plainfield, New Jersey) is a Canadian writer of lesbian-themed novels and non-fiction. ... Dorothea Wieck and Hertha Thiele in a scene from Mädchen in Uniform (Germany, 1931), the first openly lesbian feature film. ... Patrick Califia (born 1954 near Corpus Christi, Texas) is a writer about womens sexuality and of erotic fiction. ... Jeanette Winterson OBE (born August 27, 1959) is a British novelist. ...

Female homoerotic art by lesbian artists has often been less culturally prominent than the presentation of lesbian eroticism by non-lesbians and for a primarily non-lesbian audience. In the west, this can be seen as long ago as the 1872 novel Carmilla, and is also seen in cinema in such popular movies as Emmanuelle, The Hunger, Showgirls, and most of all in pornography. In the east, especially Japan, lesbianism is the subject of the manga subgenre shojo-ai. Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled Emmanuelle and Emmanuelle (film character), accessible from a disambiguation page. ... The Hunger is a 1983 English language horror film. ... Showgirls is a film directed by Paul Verhoeven and released in 1995 by United Artists. ... Jupiter and Callisto (1744) by François Boucher. ... “Original manga” redirects here. ... For other meanings of Yuri, see Yuri (disambiguation). ...

In many texts in the English-speaking world, lesbians have been presented as intensely sexual but also predatory and dangerous (the characters are often vampires) and the primacy of heterosexuality is usually re-asserted at the story's end. This shows the difference between homoeroticism as a product of the wider culture and homosexual art produced by gay men and women.

Notable examples in poetry

There is also a strong tradition of homoeroticism in poetry. In the male-male tradition, one might cite erotic poems by major poets such as Abu Nuwas, Walt Whitman, Federico García Lorca, W.H. Auden, Fernando Pessoa and Allen Ginsberg. This article is about the art form. ... A drawing of Abu Nuwas Abu-Nuwas al-Hasan ben Hani al-Hakami (750?–815?) was a renowned Arabic poet. ... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819–March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca (June 5, 1898 – August 19, 1936) was a Spanish poet and dramatist, also remembered as a painter, pianist, and composer. ... Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Wystan Hugh Auden (February 21, 1907–September 29, 1973) was an English poet. ... Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (pron. ... Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet. ...

Elisar von Kupffer's Lieblingminne und Freundesliebe in der Weltlitteratur (1900) and Edward Carpenter's Ioläus: An Anthology of Friendship (1902) were the first known notable attempts at homoerotic anthologies since The Greek Anthology. Since then, many anthologies have been published. Elisar von Kupffer. ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ... Edward Carpenter in 1875. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Straton of Sardis (aka Strato) was a Greek poet and anthologist from the Lydian city of Sardis. ...

In the female-female tradition, one might cite erotic poems by major poets such as Sappho, "Michael Field", and Maureen Duffy. Emily Dickinson addressed a number of poems and letters with homoerotic overtones to her sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert. Ancient Greek bust. ... Michael Field was a pseudonym used for the poetry and verse drama of Katherine Harris Bradley (1848 - 1914) and her niece and ward Emma Edith Cooper (1862 - 1913). ... Maureen Duffy (b. ... Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. ...

Letters can also be potent conveyors of homoerotic feelings; the letters between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, two well-known members of the Bloomsbury Group, are full of homoerotic overtones characterized by this excerpt from Vita's letter to Virginia: "I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia [...] It is incredible to me how essential you have become [...] I shan't make you love me anymore by I shan't make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this --But oh my dear, I can't be clever and stand-offish with you: I love you too much for that." (January 21, 1926) For the American childrens writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff Virginia Woolf (née Stephen) (January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941) was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century. ... Vita Sackville-West Vita Sackville-West (March 9, 1892 – June 2, 1962) was an English poet, novelist and gardener. ... The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set or just Bloomsbury, as its adherents would generally refer to it, was an English group of artists and scholars that existed from around 1905 until around World War II. // History The group began as an informal socialwe have been great to society assembly of...

In cinema

Most notable are positive portrayals of homoerotic feelings in relationships, made at feature length and for theatrical exhibition, and made by those who are same-sex oriented. Successful examples would be: Mädchen in Uniform, Germany (1931); The Leather Boys, U.K. (1964); The Naked Civil Servant, U.K. (1975); My Beautiful Laundrette, U.K. (1985); Maurice, U.K. (1985); Summer Vacation 1999, Japan, 1988;Germany, New Zealand and the U.S.A., (2003); and most recently Brokeback Mountain, U.S.A. (2005). Also of note is the feature-length BBC adaptation of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, U.K. (1989). Still, however, films are made with less apparent homoerotic undertones (versus the homoerotic overtones in movies like Brokeback Mountain), such as in the screen adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club. A scene from Mädchen in Uniform (Germany, 1931), the first openly lesbian feature film. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The cover of The Naked Civil Servant, by Quentin Crisp. ... My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 film directed by Stephen Frears. ... Maurice is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. ... Brokeback Mountain is an Academy Award-winning 2005 film that depicts the relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit was a critically acclaimed BBC television 1989 mini-series, directed by Beeban Kidron. ... Charles Michael Chuck Palahniuk (IPA: )[1] (born February 21, 1962) is an American satirical novelist and freelance journalist of Ukrainian ancestry born in Pasco, Washington. ... Fight Club[1] (1996) is the first published novel by American author Chuck Palahniuk. ...

See: List of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films. This is a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films. ...

In Romanticism

Homoeroticism has been a strong undercurrent in much Romantic and Neo-Romantic visual art. The Romantic emphasis on beauty, perfect love and friendship, pastoral idylls, other-worldy transcendence, the truth & validity of one's inner life, the dynamic outsider hero, and romantic death, all made the Romantic mode especially attractive. There was the added attraction of being able to use a coded symbolism to reveal a work as homoerotic only to those "in the know" about the sort of codes being used. Romantics redirects here. ... The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in music and painting. ...

Some historians have suggested that the suppression of Romanticism and figurative art in the art world, after about 1920 (in favour of modernist, socialist realist art and abstract expressionism), was partly a homophobic act. 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... Stalin as an Organiser of the October Revolution by Karp Trokhimenko Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style of realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism. ... Jackson Pollock, No. ... Homophobia is a term used to describe: A culturally determined phobia manifesting as fear, revulsion, or contempt for homosexuality. ...

In popular culture

Homoeroticism has played a large part in recent years in the mainstream due to a surge in Emo fashion and attitude. The homoerotic art is largely in picture or video form shared on websites such as youtube and myspace. These images largely contain two men kissing, with the generalized audience being female. It has been argued whether the images in themselves come under a homoerotic or a pornographic label, as the images are used both for artistic reasons and for sexual gratification. In this subculture the males are more often the sexual objectification of the females. The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... Sexual objectification is objectification of a person. ...

Key introductory books

Classical & Medieval literature:

• Murray & Roscoe. Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature. (1997).
• J.W. Wright. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature (1997).
• Rictor Norton. The Homosexual Literary Tradition. (1974). (Greek, Roman & Elizabethan England).

Literature after 1850: Rictor Norton, Ph. ...

• David Leavitt. Pages Passed from Hand to Hand : The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English from 1748 to 1914. (1998).
• Timothy d'Arch Smith. Love In Earnest; some notes on the lives and writings of English 'Uranian' poets from 1889 to 1930. (1970).
• Michael Matthew Kaylor, Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde (2006), a 500-page scholarly volume that considers the major Victorian writers of Uranian poetry and prose (the author has made this volume available in a free, open-access, PDF version).
• Mark Lilly. Gay Men's Literature in the Twentieth Century. (1993).
• Patricia Juliana Smith. Lesbian Panic: Homoeroticism in Modern British Women's Fiction. (1997).
• Gregory Woods. Articulate Flesh - male homoeroticism and modern poetry. (1989). (USA poets).
• Vita Sackville-West. Louise De Salvo, Mitchell A. Leaska, editors. Vita Sackville-West The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf (1985)
• Virginia Woolf. Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virginia Woolf Joanne Trautmann Banks, editor. (Harcourt Brace, 1991)

Visual Arts: David Leavitt is a writer. ...

• Jonathan Weinberg. Male Desire: The Homoerotic in American Art (2005).
• James M. Saslow. Pictures and Passions: A History of Homosexuality in the Visual Arts. (1999).
• Allen Ellenzweig. The Homoerotic Photograph: Male Images, Delacroix to Mapplethorpe. (1992).
• Thomas Waugh. Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall. (1996).
• Emmanuel Cooper. The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West. (1994).
• Claude J. Summers (editor). The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts. (2004).
• Harmony Hammond. Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History. (2000). (Post-1968 only)
• Laura Doan. Fashioning Sapphism: The Origins of a Modern English Lesbian Culture. (2001). (Post-WW1 in England)

References

See also

• The erotic male in photography
• Homosocial
• Sex in advertising
• Slash fiction
• Uranian poetry
• Shōnen-ai

// Dianora Niccolini Diane Arbus Laurie Toby Edison Sarah Kent Annie Leibovitz Ellen von Unwerth Male nude taken by Edgar de Evia in the 1970s. ... The term homosocial is used in sociology and denotes same-sex relationships that are not of sexual nature. ... Sex in advertising is the use of sexual attraction as a tool of persuasion to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose of sale, generally using attractive models. ... The symbolic slash, used to separate the two names in a romantic pairing, from which slash fiction takes its name. ... The Uranians were a relatively obscure group of pederastic poets who flourished between 1870 and 1930, particularly among the graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. ... “Boys Love” redirects here. ...

External links

• Torquere Press
• Sybaritic Press
• gay art magazine Articles about contemporary gay art today
• Homoerotic art of the World
• IMDB link to homoerotic keywords in film and TV
• The personal site and art galleries of the Ukrainian homoerotic artist/photographer Ukrainito - the first openly gay artist in the history of his nation
• Androphile project - Homoerotic art and culture from past cultures
• Androphile Project - Multi-cultural collection of ancient homoerotic art