On Strangers

This is a good popular work on the history of “homosexuality” in the nineteenth century. I put “homosexuality” in quotes, because it is not necessarily about the state of being LGBT itself, so much as the culture, discourses, and attitudes towards gay individuals, and the way those individuals navigated their historical context.

Robb does an especially great job of probing debates over the “birth” of homosexuality. In short, Foucault argues that homosexuality as a state of being emerged sometime around 1870, whereas homosexual “acts” have always existed. Robb disagrees with this assessment and argues that individuals in the nineteenth century did see themselves as different from heterosexual individuals (hence the title of this work). I do agree with his assessment, but he goes further to argue that being gay has always been a state of being. From what little I know of earlier periods, it seems that there is a bit more consensus that same-sex sexual acts were seen as actions rather than being. However, I’d love to read any counterarguments on this debate. If anyone reading this review knows of any, please feel free to comment them below!