when they have an erotic affection for another man.
Since Dr. Evans missed this point completely, one can only wonder how a clinical psychologist can fail to see that a value of any kind cannot be incorporated unless it is first copied or imitated. As a matter of fact, there is considerable sociological literature, such as Franklin Frazier's work on the Negro middle class, which describes the difficulties, goals, and frustrations of groups that imitate the values of those from whom they are seeking acceptance. This phenomenon is known as "associational socialization," and it is our belief that there is a contribution in applying this concept, for the first time, to the world of homosexuality.
In another passage, Evans shows that he probably does not go out of his office very much to observe the world around him. Otherwise, how could he so naively see the homosexual muscleman as a continuation of the Greek ideal, or as a new variation on it? The American male we were describing is compulsively overcompensating his fears of not being a true male in a society that defines male homosexuality as synonymous with effeminacy and weakness. The Greek athletes, who were probably not exclusively homosexuals, believed in developing the whole person, not merely the body.
To our knowledge, ours is the first work on homosexuality that took serious note of the phenomenon of male cheesecake and gay muscle flexers. All that Evans can find worth noting about this analysis is that we call this a new stereotype in the course of development, a suggestion at which he sneers. Not being a sociologist, Evans probably does not know the dynamics of stereotypic thinking, and hence he is unqualified to pass judgment on this phase of our work.
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Any close observer of the American scene must note the increasing number of people who think in terms of "queers" when they see barbells, and in terms of barbells when they encounter homosexuals. The cult has grown in gymnasiums and on beaches, much to the consternation of the physical culturists. This is indeed a new stereotype, and it is ironical that it should co-exist with the swish. Did it exist once before in classic Greece? We doubt it, at least not in the form of compulsive masculinity. of a neurotic reaction formation. But even if it did, it is still new to our society. And one can predict that. within a few years, the supermasculinity cult will have permeated almost the entire homosexual life, and will be identified with that life by the entire society. If this proves true, then we will have to look back upon the early 1960's as the period when this was the emergent stereotype.
Briefly, one must dismiss another statement in the review. It is said that we quote so-called authorities. without identifying them. And one such example is given. The statement in question concerns the high amount of male prostitution as compared with female prostitution in the United States, and was made at a meeting of a scientific group, in the presence of myself and several friends and associates. Again, there are times when important information should be passed on to readers, although the' ultimate source is unwilling to be quoted by name.
There are two issues here: one of substance, the other of form. The formal one involves whether persons quoted in this fashion are worth the space. It seems to us that, when they have something important to contribute, and when a responsible author (commentator, journalist, or subjective observer, as the case may be) regards the source as worthy,
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