How Hemingway Has Too Strong Opinions On Homosexuality

Hemingway has extremely strong opinions on homosexuality, which Gertrude Stein attempts to dissuade by convincing him that those who attempt to assault young boys are not well in their heads. While Stein attempts this, Hemingway proclaims that because homosexuality exists, â€Å"you [carry] a knife and would use it when you were in the company of tramps when you were a boy in the days when wolves was not a slang term for men obsessed by the pursuit of women† (Hemingway 16). It seems that Hemingway does not realize that, when objectifying women, he turns into one of the wolves of which he is so afraid. However, Hemingway maintains his fear of homosexuality; he â€Å"ridicules an effeminate homosexual named Hal, satirizes Fitzgerald’s sexual uncertainties, and professes disgust at the lesbian practices of Stein and Toklas† (Kennedy 187). Hemingway is horrified by homosexuals, because he is afraid that he will be objectified by homosexual men just as he objectifies the women in his own life. He believes that leering after unsuspecting partners is only okay when he is an active participant; he is just afraid of being objectified and therefore, forced into an action against his own will. However, â€Å"homosexuality disturbs Hem, less because it involves alternate erotic practices than because it subvert his fundamental assumptions about sex, gender, and desire† (Kennedy 191). He believes that men are only right to objectify, not to be objectified. He believes that the gender and sexualShow MoreRelatedLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesby Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California USA in 1993 with ISBN number 0-534-17688-7. When Wadsworth decided no longer to print the book, they returned their publishing rights to the original author, Bradley Dowden. The current version has been significantly revised. If you would like to suggest changes to the text, the author would appreciate your writing to him at dowden@csus.edu. iv Praise Comments on the earlier 1993 edition, published by Wadsworth Publishing Company, which