Boy-Wives and Female Husbands

Gawd, I love the internet! It leads me down such fascinating paths. There I was, idly browsing through Improbable Research, and I come across a reference to this week’s Improbable Research column in the Guardian. It’s devoted to the topic of when someone’s speech "sounds gay", what makes it sound that way (and is the speaker in fact gay?). There have been three studies into this.

 

I noticed that one study had been done by Rudolf P. Gaudio at Standford University in 1994 (and on an associated note, his picture set off my gaydar – although I have to say that my gaydar is notoriously unreliable). I then googled to see what other research he might have been involved in. I see that he contributed a wonderfully-titled paper entitled "Not Talking Straight In Hansa" to the book Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender and Sexuality, edited by Anna Livia and Kira Hall. I’m almost persuaded to get a copy, since many of the other papers have equally intriguing titles such as: "The Color of His Eyes; Polari and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence", "Pots an Pans; Identification of Queer Japanese in Terms of Discrimination" and "‘Go Suck Your Husband’s Sugarcane’; Hijras and the Use of Sexual Insult".

 

Gaudio’s work on the Hansa society and language then led me on to another intriguingly-titled book: Boy-Wives and Female Husbands, by Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe. It’s a study of homosexualities (the modes and expressions of homosexuality) in African societies. Despite what Archbishop Akinola may wish to believe, homosexualities have been around in African societies for a very long time, and have not been recently introduced by the decadent West. The book gets a good review here. Damn, another one for the pile.