The Masculine Marine

Homoeroticism in the U.S. Marine Corps

This exciting book was listed as #1 on The Advocate’s (ital) bestseller list for December 1996! In The Masculine Marine, author Steven Zeeland records, for the first time ever, what active-duty Marines have to say about what it means to be a man, to be a Marine, and to desire other men.

As the foremost surviving icon of traditional masculinity, Marines are often considered the opposite of “gay.” Yet in contemporary gay culture, Marines are stereotyped as likely to play the passive role in sexual encounters with other men. By vividly illustrating some of the startling ways in which gay and Marine attributes can coincide, The Masculine Marine uncovers the wild sexual contradictions built into military hypermasculinity.

From ordinary grunts to a major who flies a combat jet, Zeeland’s Marine interviewees provide thoughtful and articulate insight into aspects of this rarely documented culture, including:

• homoerotic bonding among Marines

• how gay Marines reconcile their sexual identity with the ethos of “hard” Marine supermasculinity

• how some Marines eroticize the pain and humiliation of Marine Corps boot camp

• Marines in all-male pornography

• male attitudes toward women in the Marine Corps

• hazing and institutional violence

  These Marines talk candidly about what motivated them to join the United States’most elite fighting force, and they reveal how becoming Marines has shaped their sexual and gender identities. For the student of gay or military studies or anyone sexually intrigued by men in uniform, The Masculine Marine must reading.

  Visit Steven Zeeland at his home page: http://www.stevenzeeland.com