ReliantJ has a research project.

[elshiva]

He just PMed me.
"I'm a new member and still can't make new topics but I was wondering if you could start a thread in the GLBT forums. Basically I'm doing a research topic on homosexuality for my sociology class and want some people from the forum to recommend me books on the topic. Thanks"

Okay, ReliantJ. Please reply with the specifics. "A research topic on homosexuality" is vague.

[ReliantJ]

1. Thanks

I want to do the paper on the history of it and its acceptance in other nations, like the South Pacific. Any material that pertains to its non-western acceptance and how the mind-set (negatively) has changed to the rest of the world.

[elshiva]

2. You are welcome. That narrows the field down.

I can't think of anything off my head. I've been reading John Boswell's books about Homosexuality in Europe, but that is not going to help you. I am not an expert on homosexuality. All I can say is good luck on your project. I am a bisexual woman and think that any positive study of homosexuality is good. There is homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism in all cultures. A certain fundamentalist mindset is, of course, the key to non-acceptance, but everyone knows that already...

[XOEnterprises]

5. What countries do you have in mind?

Most of my academic work (undergrad, admittedly) is on America and the rights movement here, but I might be able to at least point you in some direction toward what to look for. That's also suspect, however.

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. John Boswell is a good place to start

He was a medieval linguist, taught history at Yale and helped to found the Lesbian and Gay Studies Center there, now called the Research Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies. His work Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, published in 1980, is well footnoted and was well received by scholars, and is also quite readable for laymen. His 1994 work, The Marriage of Likeness: Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe caused quite a stir when it was published, as he asserted -- and supported quite thoroughly -- a claim that the ancient Christian ritual of adelphopoiia (literally, "brother making" or co-adoption) showed a toleration, even an acceptance, of same sex relationships in the early Church.

Another author you might want to look into is Judy Grahn, a poet who wrote Another Mother Tongue. It is mythopoetic rather than scholarly, but the connections Grahn makes are very interesting.

The Wikipedia is worth looking at, not so much for the articles but for the references which the articles cite. The entry for homosexuality has a pretty large History section; you could probably find some interesting resources there.

[Duncan Grant]

20. "Same-Sex Cultures and Sexualities: An Anthropoligical Reader" - Jennifer Robertson

I'd recommend that you focus on anthropological research. Be prepared to let go of your own "Western" concepts about same-sex identities/lives/culture.

This might be a helpful place to get a brief overview: http://www.glbtq.com/topic/social-sciences_117.html (Be sure to read "anthropology", "ethnography", and "Indonesia".)

Good luck, feel free to check back in when you narrow the thesis statement down more. :hi:

[MNBrewer]

26. Difficult to deal with the non-Western and Western issues separately

Given the degree to which the West spread enforced its ways of thinking regarding that topic. Good luck!! :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. How do you know ReliantJ?

[elshiva]

4. I only know him through DU. I only did this because he PMed

me and I thought that his intentions were good.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. Why wouldn't they just post the thread themselves?

[bluedawg12]

10. Do you have to be on a certain length of time before "making a new topic?"

[LostinVA]

12. There have been posters with five posts making OPs -- very odd

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. You can start new threads before you can PM someone, actually

I've seen posters making threads with only about 20 posts. Personally, I think it should be like 500, but it's not.

[bluedawg12]

16. It's like an onion, wrapped inside a turnip, wraped inside bacon

...it's an engima and it must be close to lunch time. :rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time...

[Two Americas]

18. lol

:rofl:

Now I am hungry, too.

Are you saying that the research is actually for a satire piece by the Onion? Or that this is related to Kevin Bacon somehow? I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know.

[bluedawg12]

31. Oooh the trifecta! Three puns, all in one thread. Well done sir, well done!

[Creideiki]

34. Allusion, actually.

Now, if someone said that they thought it was an allusion, but were afraid their eyes could be deceiving them, that would be a pun.

;)

(Wow, this has been a really week of grad school, if I'm getting this picky.)

[MNBrewer]

27. Hopefully, inside a meatloaf!

[tbyg52]

21. I have *no* idea how the number of posts is chosen

I had over 50 before I was allowed an OP. (Not that I make many anyway, but it annoyed me the first time I realized I couldn't, so I kept on trying until I could.)

[elshiva]

25. He said he couldn't post yet. Sorry, about that. I have done some

thinking and I agree that this is not the best place to use as a resource for a research paper. He did say that he was "a brother," so I thought he was gay and writing a pro-gay paper. That's why I started this thread.

[Rowdyboy]

7. Along with everyone else I recommend Boswell for the western perspective but....

I have no idea where you would look for what you seek. Wish you the best of luck and let us know what you discover please...

[Eryemil]

8. Likewise my knowledge of the subject besides the usual West-centric point of view is limited

I'll look around and see if I can come up with.

[ReliantJ]

22. Thanks

I'll check out Boswell's books, anyway. I'm sure it has great info in it.
Now who do I have to contact to start threads :(

[Starry Messenger]

24. Have you tried clicking the pencil icon at the top of the page here at DU?

Compose a post, and hit post...see what happens. Make sure you are in the forum you want to post it in before you hit "post".

Are you going to community college? I'm just curious. I teach in San Mateo.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

33. .

:spray:

[LostinVA]

11. Google. Call your library. Look at Amazon reading lists.

Anything other then "Dial-A-DU-Gay."

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. I think we should start charging for our services

[bluedawg12]

15. We need to have a: Mysterious Newcomers With Questions for Teh Gays, rates.

But then, the Google is free! :evilgrin:

[MNBrewer]

28. Google and butterflies.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

29. Yeah, but I'm cuter than a search engine

[Two Americas]

19. exactly

I thought "question threads" got locked.

What we really need is "dial-a-bigot" to help us study and analyze them.

"Yes, hello? Is this dial-a-bigot? I am doing a research paper, and what I need to know is how you have gained such wide acceptance in American society and how that is impacting attitudes in other countries. Any material related to that would be helpful. Thanks."

[ReliantJ]

23. Ummm I need sources

and after going through pages of Barnesandnobles, I can't find anything that helps.
Thanks anyways. I apologize if that's how my post comes off as.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. Ask a librarian

They know what they're talking about and are probably total lefties.

I don't know why someone would use B&N.com instead of a library.

[bluedawg12]

32. This mystery deepens.

Teh Gays love a good mystery, I hear.