A common form of covert homosexual behavior among girls is seen in the "crushes" that are frequent during early adolescence. Crushes between adolescent girls constitute part of the normal course of development. Of 295 women interviewed by Landis et al (1940), all but twenty-two reported having such experiences. In about 33 out of 34 cases these crushes were outgrown, but the thirty-fourth case remained fixed at this level of sexuality and became overtly homosexual. About a third of the males interviewed by Kinsey had a single homosexual experience, and half of this number had the experience between the ages of twelve and fourteen and had no further experiences later (Gagnor and Simon, March 1968).
The following case shows
homosexual experience for what it is for many adolescents, namely a passing pleasant
phase of growing up. A temporary homosexual orientation is quite common among
adolescent boys and frequently finds expression in such acts as masturbation.
At the age of thirteen, my best friend and I would, during fits of
passion, hold hands and stroke our bodies. The immediate
experience that comes to mind was one evening we were studying
in his room. The conversation turned to girls, and we both became
aroused. A little prodding and agreement by both of us soon found
us without clothes on his bed. We examined our bodies with
erections on and made many passes with our hands, legs, and arms,
but not face, at each other's genitals. This behavior lasted for about
15-20 minutes, with neither of us reaching orgasm. The feelings
generated during this experience were ones of complete ecstasy and
abandonment to our sexual impulses.
There were no verbal
remarks of passion, but more or less a humorous approach to the
experience. Upon completion, after we were dressed again, there
was little guilt feeling other than the sense of possible detection by
his family. The intimacy with my friend continued for about a year
or longer. What decided that we stop these actions was not a
conscious exercise on our part, but more or less disinterest in
engaging in male intimacy as we had experienced before. At no
time do I recall reaching orgasm with my friend. Also during this
time I was engaged in masturbatory practices totaling on the
average 3-4 times a week.
The guilt that I experienced from
masturbation was more than the guilt I felt with my friend. In
retrospect, I view the episodes with some fondness.
At the age of twelve, masturbation became a regular facet of my sex
life. An older boy became the initiator of this practice for me. We
would indulge in various forms of masturbation, including mutual
masturbation.
I remember the first time I tried masturbating; there were four of
us all staying at our lake cottage-only the one boy had masturbated
before, so he showed us how, and we all tried it. After that,
through junior high, group masturbation such as this was not
uncommon and it was freely talked about by the boys. In ninth
grade, we would still masturbate together occasionally, often with a
Playboy pin-up az a stimulant.
It was probably when I was thirteen that much experimentation
took place. My friends and I were soon having group masturbation,
and sometimes we had contests to see who could achieve
ejaculation the fastest.
From the reading of the anthropological literature, it can be inferred that in
cultures where the sexes are kept separated in adolescence there is more
homosexuality than in cultures that are more permissive (Campbell, 1939, p. 546).
Isolation of the sexes contributes to homosexual sex interest, and even morbid sex
interest.
During this whole first year at military academy, we were all
considered as the scum of the earth, and then some. We were all
ridiculed and called different names. Some of mine were too vulgar
to put into print. The most embarrassing part of all was when the
upperclassmen would ask me about certain aspects of sex. Many
boys were told to write papers on different parts of the reproductive
organs or else they would be forced to do numerous unpleasant
duties for the "old men".