Wusses and willies: masculinity and contemporary sexual politics

For quite a time now we have been regaled in the popular media with stories of yet another "scientific" report on the "causes" of homosexuality, for example in the Sydney Morning Herald, that it might be linked to hormonal alterations in the interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (Dayton 1995). The report of this hypothesis-for that's what it is, only a hypothesis-also went on to indicate that experiments had shown that testosterone, described as the "male" sex hormone, can feminise or masculinise rats! Yes, I, too, was unsure of the connection. This never-ending search for the causes of homosexuality is, according to the scientists who pursue it, not trying to find a cure for homosexuality. Yet the Sydney Morning Herald in this report went on to say: "The findings raise the possibility that in the distant future sexual orientation may be open to medical manipulation." The often-voiced fear of gay men and lesbians that this scientific agenda is eugenicist seems justified.