Homophobia and Rape in Sodom and Gibeah: A Response to Ken Stone
Readings of Genesis 19 and Judges 19 that highlight homosexuality as an interpretive device ignore the different historical and cultural context behind these texts and the contemporary politics in which these texts are enmeshed. The anthropological literature on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cult...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
1999
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| In: |
Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 1999, Volume: 24, Issue: 82, Pages: 83-96 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Readings of Genesis 19 and Judges 19 that highlight homosexuality as an interpretive device ignore the different historical and cultural context behind these texts and the contemporary politics in which these texts are enmeshed. The anthropological literature on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures reveals a phallocentric construction of gender and male sexuality. Under this structure, men who are penetrated by other men are stigmatized as queer, in Western terms, considered homosexual. The penetrators are not stigmatized and are equivalent to heterosexual men in Western culture. Male rape of outsiders in this context relieves the homosexual panic of the insiders, reinforcing their heterosexuality (honour) by inscribing the outsider as queer and the queer as outsider. Male rape in Genesis 19 and Judges 19 is an act of homophobic violence signifying the abuse of outsiders and the breach of the community of Israel. |
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| ISSN: | 1476-6728 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/030908929902408205 |