Homoeroticism and Football

I will probably lose my U.S. citizenship for writing this, but a "behind the scenes" account of the last two days of University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr's career, which included a stunning bowl game victory against the University of Florida Gators, is a fantastic, but indirect, testimony to the sexual undertones of American football. Though gay-bashing and football can often seem like equally violent, distant cousins and American pastimes, this account offers a glimpse of the inherent homo-eroticism of the game.

Not only is Coach Carr's farewell an emotional one, but is laden with "I love you" remarks to his players and assistants; one defensive coach talks about the "energy" in the room, an assuredly fraternal one. In post-game locker room celebrations, the players chant, "Lloyd, take off your coat! Lloyd, get naked!" (to the tune of the classic "Hoes take off your clothes! Hoes, get naked!").

There are other signs beyond those in the AP piece mentioned above. The ever-present congratulatory butt-patting on the sidelines, and pile-up groin-grabbing, must be mentioned, as should the fact that these are grown men wearing tights and flamboyant, often rainbow-colored uniforms. Locker room, group showering, yeah, and the sometimes sexually abusive hazing rituals involving nudity, are kind of gay. Let's not mention the emotional performativity of touchdown celebrations, some of which would be the envy of Broadway's finest thespians.

The quasi-warrior culture and strict top-down discipline of it -- with its ardent rules of conduct and dress -- resembles ancient Greek warrior civilizations, in which man-boy love was acceptable and often part of the rites of passage into manhood.

Discussions of such nuanced homoeroticism are almost impossible in this cultural climate however. Consideration of anything gay is loaded with prejudice and simplistic reduction in public discourse. In reality however, there is more to America than a demarcation between straight and gay cultures -- a description defined more by stereotypes than by an understanding of the shades of life.

Thus, American cultural institutions, such as sports, can teem with a form of eroticism unrecognized as such by the black-and-white holy book-thumping crowd, thus giving its facade as a "straight" pastime -- and at the same time, homophobia -- cultural sanctioning. This amounts to denial, on the one hand, since it seems to assume the acts of hitting, blocking, and "scoring" are purely masculine endeavors. However, hyper-masculinity, as within warrior cultures' practices, need not always mean "straight." Male gayness, despite the stereotype, need not mean "femanine" or "weak."

This explains the explosive chatter that erupts when a professional athlete, such as Esera Tuaolo, dares leave the closet. The torture of such an experience begins with the rampant homophobia in the locker room. Tuaolo told HBO of the names he heard as a player, "faggot... queer... fudge-packer." At the same time, many players were supportive or indifferent, perspectives fans and pundits should emulate.

Homophobia and homoeroticism may be two sides of the same coin. In psychoanalytical theory, "homophobia --the fear, anxiety, anger, discomfort and aversion that some ostensibly heterosexual people hold for gay individuals -- is the result of repressed homosexual urges that the person is either unaware of or denies." There are interesting studies that may demonstrate this. Out of such repression comes denial and the controversy of "out" players.

The key to overcoming homophobia lies in embracing and understanding the inherent homoeroticism of such "sacred" cultural practices as football. So what if the sport's macho fraternity, culture of celebration, locker room antics, and hero worship inherent to fandom is a little gay? That's okay. By recognizing and embracing this, we may pave the path to a more tolerant society.