Sexual shame in relation to masculinity in the novel Giovanni's Room
The novel Giovanni's Room explores the notion of sexuality and how it relates to the idea of sexuality and how it relates to the idea of masculinity, and through that portrays the shame that comes with not meeting the societal expectations of what a man is.
In the novel, the character we mainly see struggling with sexual shame is the protagonist David in his relationship with the Italian bartender Giovanni. David is deeply ashamed of his attraction to Giovanni and does his best to deny and suppress it. The feeling of shame is rooted in the perceived conflict between his desires and the societal expectation that he, as a man, should be attracted to only women. The conflict is further compounded by his internalized homophobia, which
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David's idea of masculinity and the anxieties that come with it were instilled in him by his father. In a fight between his aunt Ellen and his father, where she expressed her worry about the way the father's behavior may affect David he replied “All I want is for David is that he grow up to be a man. And when I say a man, Ellen, I don’t mean a Sunday school teacher.” (Baldwin 1956, part 1: chap. 1). From a young age, he was taught to aspire to the concept of hegemonic masculinity, where the fundamental idea is winning and holding power in. One of the pillars of being a man according to hegemonic masculinity is heterosexuality. "Hegemonic masculinity is always heterosexual, although not all heterosexual men adopt gender roles that are hegemonic. Gay men, however, are excluded from hegemonic masculinity by default" states Partanen (2021). This concept leads