Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg
Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg (born August 2, 1929) is a German
Biography
Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg studied sociology, psychology, ethnology, religious studies, philosophy and Indogermanistik (an interdisciplinarian German subject, not identical with purely linguistic Indo-European studies in Anglophone countries, consisting of historical, sociological, cultural, religious, ethnological, philological, and linguistic study relating to Proto-Indo-European and Indo-European peoples and Indo-European languages) in Bonn.[3]
In 1969, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg graduated at the
After university studies Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg became a scientific assistant at the Sociological Institute of Bonn University, and worked as a sociologist, writer, and independent journalist, holding memberships in a number of scientific and political organizations. She was a leading member of German Society for Social-Scientific Sexuality Research. During the late 1980s, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg was a member of the German-parliament commissioned Enquetekommission AIDS, an inquiry commission researching into the disease's social, legal, and public health care consequences and challenges, a cooperation which spawned her 1989 book Angst und Vorurteil (see below).
Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg is married and lives in Germany.
Fields of interest & influences
"Ethno-sociologist"
A label commonly applied to Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg is that of an "ethno-sociologist", even though that is not to limit her approaches exclusively to non-Western cultures. Her inclusion of ethnological, cross-cultural approaches serves as one device of many that she uses to globally study and analyze mankind's nature and nurture as well as the differences and interdependencies between the two, aiming for a global perspective also applicable in modern industrialized societies.
Fields of interest
Following the ideology-critical and identity-critical approach of
Deconstructivism & essentialism
Most of Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's research is dedicated to cultural deconstruction of ethnocentric Western prejudices, analyzing their origins and later derivations in history, and emphasizes that this cultural nurture also determining social identities must not be misunderstood as man's essentialist human nature. According to Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg, positivist misinterpretation of ethnocentric prejudices as human nature is one of the key maladies of Western civilization, known to Critical Theory as society's totality also influencing much of Western scientific output. For instance, gays were throughout most of Western history said to be effeminate by their nature, while this common stereotype also influenced social identities and behaviors of individual homosexuals, and these resulting identities and behaviors were in turn taken by society as justifying evidence for their prejudice.
Only two of her works, Mannbarkeitsriten (1980) and Der pädophile Impuls (1985/88) deal with anthropological research into the essential cross-cultural and cross-species nature of two particular sexual attractions beyond common Western stereotypes, paederasty (which Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg defines as "male same-sex paedophilia"[4]) in Mannbarkeitsriten, and paedophilia (defined as "sexual contact between fertile adults and infertile juveniles" based upon preference for these activities on behalf of the adult side, rather than situational offences[5]) in general in Der pädophile Impuls.
Influences
In her publications on prejudice studies, both general and specifically sexual deviance-related, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg incorporates influences of
Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's definition of prejudice is largely identical to
Combining her influences, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's synthesized definition of ethnocentric, inherently Authoritarian prejudice is one of socially learned manifest, recurring
Main works
Overview
Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's main works consist of the following publications:
- 1978 (reprinted 1981): Tabu Homosexualität – Die Geschichte eines Vorurteils ("The taboo of homosexuality: The history of a prejudice"),
- 1980 (reprinted 1985): Mannbarkeitsriten: Zur institutionellen Päderastie bei Papuas und Melanesiern ("Rites of passage into manhood: On institutional paederasty in Papuas and Melanesians"),
- 1984: Der Weibmann – Kultischer Geschlechtswechsel im Schamanismus, eine Studie zur Transvestition und Transsexualität bei Naturvölkern ("Androgynous: Cultic sex change in shamanism, a study on transvestism and transsexualism in primitives"; enlarged version of Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's 1969 MA thesis)
- 1985: Der pädophile Impuls – Wie lernt ein junger Mensch Sexualität? (published enlarged in English in 1988, reprint 1997, as The paedophile impulse: Toward the Development of an Aetiology of Child-Adult Sexual Contacts from an Ethological and Ethnological Viewpoint)
- 1986: Preface to the German edition Pädosexuelle Erlebnisse: Aus einer Untersuchung der Reichsuniversität Utrecht über Sexualität in pädophilen Beziehungen (published by the German family planning/sex ed organization Pro Familia) of the first preliminary report to Theo Sandfort's Dutch long-term research study published in English as The sexual aspect of paedosexual relations: The experiences of 25 boys with men (1981, English edition 1st reprint 1983, 2nd reprint 1987; further published update reports by Sandfort on the ongoing long-term study in 1987,[6] 1992,[7] 1994,[8] 2000[9])
- 1989: Angst und Vorurteil – AIDS-Ängste als Gegenstand der Vorurteilsforschung ("Fear and prejudice: AIDS paranoia analyzed by the field of academic prejudice studies")
- 1990: Vom Schmetterling zur Doppelaxt – Die Umwertung von Weiblichkeit in unserer Kultur ("From butterfly to battle-axe: The degradation of the female in Western culture")
Of interest to Anglophone readers might also be Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's English-language publications not mentioned above:
- 1987: New research into the Greek institution of pederasty, in: One-off Publication of the International Scientific Conference on Gay and Lesbian Studies "Homosexuality: Which Homosexuality?", Amsterdam.
- 1990: Pederasty among primitives: Institutionalized initiation and cultic prostitution, in: Journal of Homosexuality, no. 20. Reprinted in: Theo Sandfort, Edward Brongersma, Alex van Naerssen (eds.). Male intergenerational intimacy – Historical, socio-psychological, and legal perspectives, Harrington Park Press, New York and London. ISBN 0-918393-78-7
Tabu Homosexualität (1978)
Tabu Homosexualität is considered a foundational standard work in Germanophone research into homophobia, misogyny, patriarchy, general repression of sensuality and particularly repression of sexual deviance (Leibfeindlichkeit).[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In spite of not having been translated into any other language as of 2008, since its first publication Tabu Homosexualität remains treated and quoted as a standard source internationally as well.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] As of 2008, it is found in a number of Western European libraries, and in the US is even available in libraries in 13 different states.[35]
According to Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's socio-psychological, socio-historical interdisciplinary approach to the topic of homophobia, drawing from research fields such as cultural studies, religious studies, ethnology, philology, and linguistics, the ethnocentric prejudice towards particularly male same-sex attraction and activities in the history of Western, Indo-European cultures is intrinsically identical to misogyny, thus originally gave rise to, and until the modern age maintained, patriarchal structures of Indo-European society. Its roots and cultural elements can be traced back several millennia into Eurasian culture, and were originally based on the subsequent overlapping and conflict-ridden superimposition of the three basic ethnic and cultural
From there, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg traces the genesis of homophobia via a number of historical derivations in Indo-European societies until the 20th century.
Angst und Vorurteil (1989)
The book Angst und Vorurteil – AIDS-Ängste als Gegenstand der Vorurteilsforschung was based on the work of the parliamentary inquiry commission Enquetekommission AIDS, of which Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg was a member, that was formed in order to research into the disease's social, cultural, legal, and public health care consequences and challenges, as well as Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's own final report brought forth in parliamentary hearings and towards the
In Angst und Vorurteil, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg on the one hand supplements the structural history of Western Leibfeindlichkeit (repression of sensuality) she related at a fuller scope in Tabu Homosexualität before, by pointing out in Angst und Vorurteil further aspects she had already brushed on in Der pädophile Impuls four years earlier.
On the other hand, in Angst und Vorurteil Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg gives a thorough, comprehensive description of post-WWII scientific prejudice studies, particularly regarding the re-inforcement of traditional Western Leibfeindlichkeit (prejudices directed against factual or putative sexual deviance) triggered by HIV, and chronicles the field's academic history from its roots. Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's understanding of prejudice largely builds on Critical Theory and its concept of the Authoritarian personality, but also incorporates, among other schools of prejudice studies, Labeling theory, Social identity theory, Frustration-Aggression hypothesis, Social learning theory, and Foucault's dispositif and discourse analysis.
Prizes and honors
- Rosa Courage Prize, Osnabrück, awarded by the board of the annual cultural LGBT event Gay in May
Works in German
- Homosexualität und Transvestition im Schamanismus. in: Anthropos, no. 65
- Tabu Homosexualität – Die Geschichte eines Vorurteils. (1978)
- Der pädophile Impuls – Wie lernt ein junger Mensch Sexualität?. (1985/88)
- Vorwort zu der soziopsychologischen Studie Pädosexuelle Erlebnisse von Theo Sandfort. (1986)
- Angst und Vorurteil – AIDS-Ängste als Gegenstand der Vorurteilsforschung. (1989)
- Vom Schmetterling zur Doppelaxt – Die Umwertung von Weiblichkeit in unserer Kultur. (1990)
- Homosexualität bei Naturvölkern. in: ISBN 3-89543-091-9
- Päderastie bei Naturvölkern. in: ISBN 3-922257-83-6
References
- ^ Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists Homepage
- ^ Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists Newsletter, October 1991, Vol. 13, No. 3: pp. 43–75
- ^ Biographical and bibliographical notes on the inside dust jacket of Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's book Tabu Homosexualität (1st ed.), on page 2 of her book Angst und Vorurteil, and on page 2 of her book Vom Schmetterling zur Doppelaxt.
- ^ Preface to the German edition (1986) of Theo Sandfort's Dutch study published in English as The sexual aspect of paedosexual relations: The experience of 25 boys with men (1981, 1st reprint 1983, 2nd reprint 1987)
- ^ Der pädophile Impuls – Wie lernt ein junger Mensch Sexualität?. (1985/88)
- ^ Sandfort, Theo (1987), Boys on their contacts with men: A study of sexually expressed friendships, New York: Global Academic Publishers
- ^ Sandfort, Theo (1992), "The argument for adult-child sexual contact: A critical appraisal and new data", in O'Donohue; Geer (eds.), The sexual abuse of children, Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
- ^ Sandfort, Theo (1994). "The Sexual Experiences of Children". Paidika. 3 (2).
- ISBN 0-7890-1199-9
- ^ Jantzen, Wolfgang (1980). Die Entwicklung des Begriffs Imbezillität als Beispiel des gesellschaftlichen Umgangs mit Minderheiten – Ein Beitrag zur Ideengeschichte von Psychiatrie und Behindertenpädagogik, presented on the 17th annual conference of Germanophone social workers, Essen, 1980
- ^ E. J. Haeberle (1984): Einführung in den Jubiläums-Nachdruck von Magnus Hirschfeld, „Die Homosexualität des Mannes und des Weibes“, 1914 Archived January 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (see footnote 51 and the sentence tagged by this footnote)
- ^ Wolfram Setz. Preface, in: Erich Bethe (1988). Die dorische Knabenliebe: Ihre Ethik und ihre Idee, Berlin: Verlag rosa Winkel
- ISBN 3-88479-558-9
- ISBN 3-596-12819-6
- ^ Olaf Brühl: frauen männer geschichte in the Leftist weekly Junge Welt, August 15, 2002
- ^ Andreas Ismail Mohr. Seminar paper „Ich mache meinen Gesicht hart wie einen Kiesel!“ – Homosexuelle zwischen Ausgrenzung und Annahme in den abrahamitischen Religionen Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, presented on the German Ecumenic Church Congregation 2003, Themenbereich 3: Podienreihe "Und diese Liebe auch! – Homosexuelle und Kirche" (Word file, see commented Literaturhinweise at the end)
- ^ Bontke, Sarah (2007). Seminararbeit zur Rechtsgeschichte der Homosexualität[permanent dead link], Ruhr-Universität Bochum, pp. 1–13
- ^ Jakob Michelsen: Mannmännliche Sexualität im 18. Jahrhundert am Beispiel Hamburgs Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF file, see footnote 2)
- ^ Buchtipps Archived February 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine ("Recommended reading") of the Swiss "Coming-Out-Gruppe" Der Spot 25 for homosexuals up to 25 years of age
- ^ Markus Bernhardt: Sein Kampf, in Gigi – Zeitschrift für Sexuelle Emanzipation, published by the new Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, on the gay neo-Nazi Michael Kühnen
- ^ Dannecker, Martin (1984).Towards a Theory of Homosexuality: Socio-Historical Perspectives Archived December 17, 2012, at archive.today, Journal of Homosexuality, Volume: 9 Issue: 4, 1984
- ^ Moormann, Eric M. (1985). "Een bron van tedere, innige ervaringen": Gedachten naar aanleiding van het hedendaagse onderzoek inzake homoseksualiteit in het oude Griekenland, in Hermeneus: Tijdschrift voor antieke cultuur, vol. 57, no. 5, December 1985, p. 278
- ^ Greenberg, David F. (1988). The Construction of Homosexuality, University of Chicago Press, pp. 186, 242–246, 248–251, 253–255
- ^ Gerard; Hekma (1989). The Pursuit of Sodomy: Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe, Haworth Press, pp. 201, 204, 261
- ^ Halsall, Paul (1989). Homosexuality in History: A Partially Annotated Bibliography, on Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York
- ^ Muxfeldt, Kristina (1993). Political Crimes and Liberty, or Why Would Schubert Eat a Peacock?[permanent dead link], 19th-Century Music, Vol. 17, No. 1, Schubert: Music, Sexuality, Culture. (Summer, 1993), pp. 47–64 (see footnote 81)
- Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
- ISBN 90-6550-513-X, pp. 26 (footnote 30), 31 (footnote 50), 32 (footnote 55), 46 (footnote 21), 68 (footnote 60)
- ^ Senelick, Laurence (2000). The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre, Routledge, pp. 35, 37
- ^ Berenbaum & Peck (eds.; 2002). The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, Indiana University Press, p. 343 (see footnote 10)
- ^ Rydström, Jens (2003).Sinners and Citizens: Bestiality and Homosexuality in Sweden, 1880–1950, University of Chicago Press, pp. 5, 336–337, 341, 384
- ^ Whisnant, Clayton John (2008). Introduction: Gay German History: Future Directions?, Journal of the History of Sexuality – Volume 17, Number 1, January 2008, pp. 1–10
- ^ The University of Chicago Library Guide to Gay and Lesbian Resources: II History and Ethnology, 15. Ethnographic and anthropological works
- ^ Halsall, Paul. Homosexuality and Catholicism Bibliography: Section III. Lesbian and Gay Religious History, on Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York
- ^ Entry on Tabu Homosexualtät (both editions) on Worldcat.org (any US state must be entered first in order to get results for availability of the book in the particular state's libraries)
Further reading
- Friedländer, Walter A. (1979). Review Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg, Tabu: Homosexualität. Die Geschichte eines Vorurteils, International Social Work, XXII, No. 2 (Summer 1979).
- Apfelbaum, Bernard (1981). Chritianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century/The unmentionable vice: Homosexuality in the later Medieval Period/Tabu Homosexualität: Die Geschichte eines Vorurteils[dead link], Journal of Sex Research; May81, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p184-187 (3 Reviews of the respective works by John Boswell, Michael Goodich, and Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg)
- Sandmann, Heinz. Homosexualtität – Ein historischer Streifzug ("Homosexuality: A historical foray"), summary of Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's book Tabu Homosexualität (in German)
- Whisnant, Clayton John (2008). Introduction: Gay German History: Future Directions?, Journal of the History of Sexuality – Volume 17, Number 1, January 2008, pp. 1–10
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine in German National Library
- Works by Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg on Open Library