larry craig and the cultural practice of public sex
it feels like many moons ago, but a huge piece of my college anthropology thesis focused on male sexual practice in public bathrooms. i specifically focused on how sex in the bathrooms in one of the University of Virginia’s academic buildings influenced and affected the university’s queer community. while the mainstream gay and lesbian community likes to think that we’ve all moved out of the closet and into the wedding chapel, the reality is that there are still people who whether out of shame, or just pleasure, continue to seek out random, often “public”, sexual encounters.
i’ts too late in the night for me to dive in and defend the practice itself… perhaps i’ll do that in the days to come… but i do want to share two stories that appeared on NPR that gave me some ounce of faith that there are still some people in the media who swim upstream. in this case, two different takes on this Larry Craig scandal that don’t focus on his “horrible” act, or the calls for his resignation, but instead examine the cultural roots of his behavior.
first up, a story i heard while driving home today, Marc Acito’s commentary on All Things Considered where he questions whether or not the gay community would be up and arms about Larry Craig if he weren’t such a bigot. historically, these sort of entrapments in bathrooms were a common strategy for arresting homosexuals. the gay community used to organize against these sort of busts. now we just look the other way, embarrassed someone might actually still be engaging in this behavior, since the rest of us have settled down, bought suburus and started families. i was pleased to hear an openly gay man on NPR questioning our abandonment of other members of our community.
looking up the segment for this blog entry i stumbled on another NPR segment with a more anthropological perspective. here’s a segment from Day to Day, “The Semiotics of Sexual Behavior“, where Professor Michael Reece discusses the cultural context of foot tapping (etc.) in the bathroom. he reminds the straight anchor, Alex Chadwick, that just because he’s never noticed behavior in the bathroom doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. it just means he wasn’t looking for it. which is entirely the point. the big underlying fear of Craig’s behavior is that innocent straight men will somehow be accosted in the bathroom. the truth is, like most rituals of the underground, it is invisible to everyone but those who participate. i applaud Dr. Reece, not just for giving the bigger picture, but for doing so without condemnation.
one can only hope that perspectives like these will move out into the broader community so that we all take a step back, and check our moralizing at the door.
in the off chance i don’t get back to defending my views on public sex, do yourself a favor and read “the trouble with normal.” michael warner’s a much better writer and lays out an argument better than i ever could.
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