The Masculine Marine: Homoeroticism in the U.S. Marine Corps / Edition 1

by Steven Zeeland

Overview

This exciting book was listed as #1 on The Advocate’s (ital) bestseller list for December 1996! In The Masculine Marine, author Steven Zeeland records, for the first time ever, what active-duty Marines have to say about what it means to be a man, to be a Marine, and to desire other men.

As the foremost surviving icon of traditional masculinity, Marines are often considered the opposite of “gay.” Yet in contemporary gay culture, Marines are stereotyped as likely to play the passive role in sexual encounters with other men. By vividly illustrating some of the startling ways in which gay and Marine attributes can coincide, The Masculine Marine uncovers the wild sexual contradictions built into military hypermasculinity.

From ordinary grunts to a major who flies a combat jet, Zeeland’s Marine interviewees provide thoughtful and articulate insight into aspects of this rarely documented culture, including:

• homoerotic bonding among Marines
• how gay Marines reconcile their sexual identity with the ethos of “hard” Marine supermasculinity
• how some Marines eroticize the pain and humiliation of Marine Corps boot camp
• Marines in all-male pornography
• male attitudes toward women in the Marine Corps
• hazing and institutional violence
  
  These Marines talk candidly about what motivated them to join the United States’most elite fighting force, and they reveal how becoming Marines has shaped their sexual and gender identities. For the student of gay or military studies or anyone sexually intrigued by men in uniform, The Masculine Marine must reading.
  
  Visit Steven Zeeland at his home page: http://www.stevenzeeland.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560238744
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/09/1996
Series:	Haworth Gay and Lesbian Studies Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.38(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents Prologue

• Introduction: Penetrating Marine Machismo
• Corporal Keith: The Devil Dog Yell
• Lance Corporal Ted: The Absent-Father Tattoo
• Corporal Alex: Marine Biology
• First Lieutenant Frank: Parris Island Is Burning
• Captain Eric: Marines Like To Be Looked At
• Sergeant Wood and Corporal Marie: Gay and Straight Are Identical
• Major Luke: Isolated Pain
• Corporal Jack: Smell of Masculine Marine
• Corporal Alex (Coda): A Parable
• Reference Notes