PART 2
Our exceptionally heavy investment in child bearing, rearing, and the exceptional needs of human children made the institution of pair bonding, or marriage, so important that the biseuxal tendencies of males was seen as a threat. If a man was being sexually gratified by other men, he might delay reproducing or even prefer homosexual sex to heterosexual and thus never reproduce. Human pair bonding, mating, and framily raising rituals are very time and resource consuming and prior to modern medicine, early death was much more common than it is now. Most societies, because again of the human ability to forecast potential threats, regarded the establishment of a reproductive pair to be imperative and thus fostered its creation at the earliest opportunity; frequently right at or even just before puberty.
Other societies however, recognized male bisexual bonding as an asset to their societies and encouraged it. The most widely known example is that of ancient Greece. The classical Greeks tended to marry relatively late and it was expected that young men would seek out pubertal males to engage in sexual activities. In many ways, this would be a young man's introduction to society. Boys debuted, as it were, and the more handsome boys developed quite a following of young men who sought them out, competing with each other by giving the boys gifts, helped them with their fortunes, or apprentice them in various disciplines. When the boy reach late puberty the sexual aspect of the relationship was expected to end, but the friendships frequently lasted lifetimes. In all cases, men were expected to marry by the time they were 30 (late marriage a reflection of the prosperity and good health of developed civilizations). Unlike Athens, Sparta was heavily regimented in this regard. Boys left home at age 7 to join a barracks where homosexual contact was encouraged; the theory being that a man would fight harder for his lovers than for mere friends. The policy also allowed the Spartan elders, who were frequently off on campaigns, to keep younger males out of their homes and thus lessen the chances of infidelity. A Spartan could not marry until 31. Until then, his sexual life consisted of other men and professional prostitutes.
Other societies recognized homosexuals as man/woman, where a man would take on the societal role, dressing, acting and treated as a woman, frequently for widowers who had already reproduced. Still other societies created roles for homosexuals that put them in close social contact with women as women went about their daily lives (hair dressers, dress makers, interior decorators, household stewards) while men were out of the house. Some societies expected boys of the ages between puberty and maturity to engage in sexual play and found it a good outlet for their sexual frustrations as it prevented unwed girls from becoming pregnant. The Samba of Papua today still segregate men from women in separate quarters and boys nearing puberty are expected to fellate other men to ejaculation thus taking in the strength of the men they are fellating. The semen is also thought to stimulate the production of semen in the young boys themselves. Once again, this behavior is both time and situation limited. Marriage and reproduction is still the norm at maturity.
Left to late western social constructs that allow homosexuals not to reproduce, that the trait would stand a chance of dying out completely as humans with the trait are no longer as pressured to reproduce as they once were and thus fewer offspring would carry on the trait. Yet this is not what's happening. Homosexuals are still reproducing as much as they ever have and now the social construct of medicine has provided homosexuals with a means of reproducing without sexual intercourse. We have surrogacy, gay/lesbian parenting partnerships, and sperm banks to take the place of the institution of pair bonding via marriage. We are thus free to engage in our romantic and sexual preferences while still fulfilling the ages old imperative to reproduce. It is my opinion that the more homosexuals reproduce, the more socially acceptable they will become.
I am also deeply curious about the role of homosexuals across many different societies. Very often they seem to be the pacifiers, the peacemakers, the sex that bridges the gap between the sexes and acts as a pacifier of intermale aggression. Homosexuals DO seem to be more attuned to nuance, aesthetic, and emotion. I highly suspect that in those earliest societies like those of my two exemplars, Ogg and Una, that gay men helped calm aggressions, settle disputes, or otherwise contributed something necessary to the bonding of the community.
Ogg and Una have had a spat and Ogg is sleeping in the dinohouse. Ogg comes to work grumpy and upset making all the other men tense. Ogg can't concentrate on hunting mastodon and since he's the leader, the other men have to do what he says. They're unhappy too. Fag notices Ogg is upset and speaks to Ogg about his emotions and what has happened. Maybe he even offers to give Ogg a blowjob or an ass to fuck to relieve his sexual tensions. After work Fag goes to talk to Una. Ogg and the rest of the tribe see Fag and Una talking away and do not disturb them. Ogg and the tribe know Fag will not try anything with Una and Una feels Fag is a good listener. She tells Fag all about her argument with Ogg over whether to decorate Ogg's cave in sabre tooth tiger or bear skin. Fag understands Una and what she is trying to say to Ogg. After many hours of talking, Fag returns to Ogg and offers to take him over to Grob's Fermented Honey Hut for a drink. There he explains Una's problem in a way that Ogg can understand much better than by simply listening to Una's apparently illogical ravings. Fag suggests that Ogg allow Una to decorate the cave in tiger skin but that Una will agree to allow Ogg to keep his personal recess decorated in bear skin as it always has. After a few gourds of fermented honey, Ogg lopes home to Una and all is well.
Fag too helps with other clan problems. Fag (an Omega male) is good with children and he can be trusted to look after them when the clan are all out together gathering berries at the dangerous edge of their territory where men have to keep watch over the women. Two young males, Guh and Duh got into a fight where they nearly killed each other and each male has friends who side with him. This could be disasterous for the clan, but Fag steps in and mediates between the two groups, each group knowing that Fag is not a threat to them because he is friendly with members of each group.
I suspect humanity owes a great deal to Fag and other homosexuals like him.
*As a tangent, it has also been noted that the other higher mammal most dependent on society for surival is the dog. It may not be coincidence that humans and dogs have complemented each other since the dawn of time.
