Maasen T.

Man-Boy Friendship on Trial: On the Shift in the Discourse on Boy Love in the Early Twentieth Century

Journal of Homosexuality, vol.20, nr.1/2, p.47-70 (1990)

Dr Thijs Maasen is Psychologist at the Schorer Foundation in Amsterdam and Researcher at the Gay and Lesbian Studies Department of the University of Utrecht. Requests for further information can be sent to Dr. Thijs Maasen, Voetboogstrat 7, Amsterdam 1012 XK, Netherlands

Summary. Ideas on man-boy friendship prevailing in the early 20th century Germany are analyzed in this paper. The friendships based on the concept of pedagogical Eros, as propagated by Gustav Wyneken (1875-1964) in his Wickersdorf Free School Community, are presented as an example. Wyneken's conviction in 1921 for acts of vice with minors and the diverse reactions in the homosexual and youth movement and the popular press shed light on the viewpoints then held regarding these friendships. As a result of this confrontation, the Platonic model was superseded by the medico-sexological model which has continued to dominate thought on man-boy friendships up to the present day.