I offered to try to help the boy improve his adjustment and avoid trouble, and to help the parents understand homosexuality better so they could aid their son through improved attitudes toward him. The indication that the parents might need help too resulted in a further vehement outburst by the hysterical, guilt-ridden mother, whereas the ineffective father maintained a passive attitude throughout the joint interview.

They made it clear to me that they weren't about to have an immoral son in their home! According to them, he was indulging in homosexual behavior, and not controlling his sexual drive, "on purpose!" So they had planned to throw him out of their house, to literally ostrascize him from the family, cutting off all connection with him including his inheritance. Nothing I explained did any good. My pleading for a calmer view of the situation was futile. I later heard, in a follow-up of the case, that they had packed him off to Grenwich Village (New York City), where he could live as a homosexual with less condemnation then that possible in a small Southern town. With poorly educated and not too bright parents, the existence of a homosexual problem in their son was a nightmare, causing them shame and fear that the community, on learning of their plight, would cause them to lose face and prestige. Since he was not allowed to have treatment, he was better off escaping from such ignorance.

There are other well-known potential causes of homosexual development which need only be mentioned here, such as seduction through sexual experimentation by family relations such as brother, father, or uncle. Catholic priests, with sexual frustrations and needs naturally resulting from their unfortunate, enforced celibacy (which unhealthy tradition will take another century or more for the Vatican to change), occasionally seduce naive, young parishioners. Isolation from the opposite sex in boarding schools and camps, prisons and reform schools, military installations and ships long at sea, encourages the development of homophilic activities, which sometimes eventually becomes fixated and exclusively practiced. Certain occupations, such as physiotherapy, massage, gym, and steam bath establishments, etc. may encourage in some the development of homosexual activities, particularly when the operators themselves enter into such occupations for this purpose.

Identification with a strong, domineering mother and a weak, ineffective father is a combination that may push some sons in the direction of homosexual development. The son has what is technically called a "confusion of sexual identification," in that he does not know whether it is best for him to use his weak father or his strong mother as the model for his own development. The result is that, unconsciously, he isn't quite sure which sex he is, and whether he should be aggressive (like his mother), or a Milquetoast (like his dad). If the confusing conflict causes him to withdraw from social relamuttachine REVIEW

tionships, he may end up clinging to boyfriends, afraid to date the opposite

sex.

The Esthetic Sensitivity of Many Homosexuals

It is true that patients, whether homosexual or heterosexual, who come to a doctor for psychotherapy, tend to be superior in intellect and cultural attainments, which accounts in part for their awareness that help is available and their motivation to seek help. This natural selection process tends to give these practitioners the idea that homosexuals are perhaps superior in cultural achievements to the general run of people. However, it is understandable that homosexuality and esthetic attributes might tend to go together, if we will agree that homosexuals often tend to be somewhat feminine in outlook and gentleness, and that esthetic tendencies also are found more in the fem inine viewpoint. (My readers will point out the exceptions in every statement I make. No one has the last word on homosexuality, but allow me to express suggested ideas that seem to cover many, if not all, homophiles.)

In any case, homosexuals, because they often have highly-developed intellectual and esthetic tastes and interests, may find themselves in a peculiar role at times in big cities where homophilia is more condoned than in small, provincial, gossip-ridden communities. I have had many heterosexual female patients tell me about homosexual male friends they have had in big cities. The two most often mentioned reasons for their choosing homosexual friends were: 1. Because of their cultural attainments, these homophiles were interesting to know and to learn from. 2. Since they did not try to seduce the women they took out, this was a welcome change for these girls, tired of hav ing to wrestle on every date with their heterosexual male friends.

In one homosexual couple, the boy who studied painting was able to be home more during the day and therefore took over the role of "housewife,” performing the household duties. The other boy was taking classes and doing some tutoring at a famous music school. He bought and brought home the groceries, serving as the "husband" in the relationship. They got along very harmoniously, without the intense jealousy so typical of homosexual marriages, and they had parties that included girls who enjoyed being with the boys because of their intellectual and esthetic interests and attainments, even though some of the girls were aware of the boys' homosexual orientation.

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Pretense and Frustration

One of the main causes for the often violent jealousy in homosexual marriages is the fact that either partner can leave at any moment if he becomes tired or upset with the arrangement or finds someone else more appealing. What is to stop him? There are no children to be supported, no law to regain the deserted "spouse." Hence there is apt to be more suspicion and unrest, insinuations and fighting. Even though it has its light moments, the homo-