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~ pace is the trick
The Violence Inherent in the System
"Violence is a calm that disturbs you."
~ Jean Genet
I was working on my term paper - Genet, "Violence Inherent in Homosexuality" - and it occurred to me that I should ask Ivo for his opinion. He was, after all, the only homosexual I knew and I was certain he had an opinion on the subject. (I supposed I considered myself gay but as he was the only man I had a relationship with in my adult years, I wasn't entirely certain if I was actually homosexual or merely madly in love with Ivo.)
As predicted, Ivo did have strong feelings on the topic and proceeded to speak on the matter much as he would in one of his lectures or at a conference.
"The question," he said thoughtfully, refilling his wine glass, "of violence in Genet's work is one that cannot be discussed without noting the position of homosexuals during that era. Notre-Dame des fleurs was written at a time when being gay was not simply illegal, it was punishable by death. Nazism in Europe was in full swing and gay men were sent to their deaths exactly as Jews, Communists, or any other enemy of the state were. That said, there was of course a sub-culture that reveled in the idea of dirty or immoral sex. The Nazis were notorious for their clubs where one might witness anything – not simply topless dancers but the sexual act between women, men, beast and any combination thereof. Homosexuals, relegated to this sphere, began to regard themselves much as their audience saw them.
"So which comes first – a violent gay subculture or a culture that superimposes its delight in violent, sexual, deviant behaviour on the homosexual community? Bear in mind that as we are treated, so we become; this is why we are exhorted to 'treat others as if they were the person they could be so that they might become that person'. If homosexuals are treated as criminals, are placed in extreme situations for the entertainment of others, who is to blame?"
I was scribbling furiously; I felt he was writing my paper for me.
"This leads us further to the matter of the type of person likely to engage openly in homosexual sex. A gentleman might well long for another of his sex but marry a woman and suppress his natural desires as it is the right and godly thing to do. The code of gentlemen is that a man cannot strike a woman but should cut down any man who calls into question a woman's honor. Are we to infer, then, that men are violent only with one another, never with women, and that by extension homosexual men are violent with one another because their masculine nature dictates that it must be so, or because it is a social construct that has yet to allow for homosexual relationships?"
He paused and when I had finished writing his last sentence, I looked up at him, waiting for him to resume.
"Oh, no!" he laughed at me. "You are writing this paper. I am merely posing some questions you might choose to answer."
I scowled at him darkly. Most assuredly I would stay up all night working on my paper and leave him to his empty bed.
I seriously considered signing my name "Our Tim of the Flowers" but decided I shouldn't risk an argument with Martin.