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Homosexual Desire
Originally published in 1972 in France, Guy Hocquenghem's Homosexual Desire has become a classic in gay theory. Translated into English for the first time in 1978 and out of print since the early 1980s, this new edition, with an introduction by Michael Moon, will make available this vital and still relevant work to contemporary audiences. Integrating psychoanalytic and Marxist theory, this book describes the social and psychic dynamics of what has come to be called homophobia and on how the "homosexual" as social being has come to be constituted in capitalist society.
Significant as one of the earliest products of the international gay liberation movement, Hocquenghem's work was influenced by the extraordinary energies unleashed by the political upheavals of both the Paris "May Days" of 1968 and the gay and lesbian political rebellions that occurred in cities around the world in the wake of New York's Stonewall riots of June 1969.
Drawing on the theoretical work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and on the shattering effects of innumerable gay "comings-out," Hocquenghem critiqued the influential models of the psyche and sexual desire derived from Lacan and Freud. The author also addressed the relation of capitalism to sexualities, the dynamics of anal desire, and the political effects of gay group-identities.
Homosexual Desire remains an exhilarating analysis of capitalist societies' pervasive fascination with, and violent fear of, same-sex desire and addresses issues that continue to be highly charged and productive ones for queer politics.
Significant as one of the earliest products of the international gay liberation movement, Hocquenghem's work was influenced by the extraordinary energies unleashed by the political upheavals of both the Paris "May Days" of 1968 and the gay and lesbian political rebellions that occurred in cities around the world in the wake of New York's Stonewall riots of June 1969.
Drawing on the theoretical work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and on the shattering effects of innumerable gay "comings-out," Hocquenghem critiqued the influential models of the psyche and sexual desire derived from Lacan and Freud. The author also addressed the relation of capitalism to sexualities, the dynamics of anal desire, and the political effects of gay group-identities.
Homosexual Desire remains an exhilarating analysis of capitalist societies' pervasive fascination with, and violent fear of, same-sex desire and addresses issues that continue to be highly charged and productive ones for queer politics.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
26 people are currently reading
1250 people want to read
About the author
Guy Hocquenghem
30 books38 followersGuy Hocquenghem, essayist and activist, is often considered the father of Queer theory. He was the author of Homosexual Desire (1972) and L'Amour en relief (1982). The Screwball Asses is his first work available from Semiotext(e).
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 4, 2021
„Raz jeszcze, potrzeba nam rewolucji”.
January 26, 2022
Queer theory that’s not attempting to situate or justify itself entirely in history and/or biology? Hell yeah, let’s go Guy. Also, somebody please translate his other texts. While you’re at it, stop making the physical copies of his other english translations exorbitantly expensive, you piece of shit.
June 3, 2010
In his polemical 1978 (English translation) Homosexual Desire, Guy Hocquenghem makes the case that society hates the homosexual, that there is something about him that disturbs society (49). However, this is interesting, because there is no homosexual desire — that is, desire is multiple and not directed toward men or women simply (49-50). Society becomes paranoid about the homosexual, "suffer[ing:] from an interpretive delusion which leads it to discover all around it the signs of a homosexual conspiracy that prevents it from functioning properly" (55).
Hocquenghem critiques the Freudean explanation of homosexuality as rooted in the Oedipal Complex, seeing it (from a Deleuzian perspective) as rooted in the family instead of in history, and as a "construction of the whole family romance" (81). He then goes on to critique society for being ruled by the order of the family; even if sexual freedoms have increased and marriage isn't necessary, the family is "the rule inhabiting every individual under free competition. This individual does not replace the family, he prolongs its farcical games" (93).
Hocquenghem understands our society as a "phallic society, and the quantity of possible pleasure is determined in relation to the phallus" (95): ejaculation is prized in sex, society is hierarchical, and the phallus is social (96). The anus, however, is private, "has no social position except sublimation" (96), does not exist in the penetrate/penetrated dichotomy of the phallus (97), and is "withdrawn socially" (97). This might be understood metaphorically, as in understanding that to control the anus is to control the social self (the most distressing social act is to soil one's pants) (99). Social use of the anus, Hocquenghem argues, involves "the risk of a loss of identity" (101). Additionally, homosexuals offer a different way to organize society than the reproduction of the family (and that one should be like their parents) (106-109).
Hocquenghem explores desire, arguing that desire is object-oriented, not oriented toward a sex or gender (130). The cruising homosexual becomes akin to Deleuze's "voyaging schizophrenic" (131), because "everything is possible at any moment: organs look for each other and plug in, unaware of the law of exclusive disjunction" (131). He critiques revolutionary thought for maintaining the public/private distinction, and offers that homosexuals make private intervene in public (136) and a chance to disintegrate "the civilized illusion common to the political world" (145). Homosexuality offers something outside of politics and the social as it is now known, refusing to capitulate to the logic of sacrifice for the future (147).
Hocquenghem critiques the Freudean explanation of homosexuality as rooted in the Oedipal Complex, seeing it (from a Deleuzian perspective) as rooted in the family instead of in history, and as a "construction of the whole family romance" (81). He then goes on to critique society for being ruled by the order of the family; even if sexual freedoms have increased and marriage isn't necessary, the family is "the rule inhabiting every individual under free competition. This individual does not replace the family, he prolongs its farcical games" (93).
Hocquenghem understands our society as a "phallic society, and the quantity of possible pleasure is determined in relation to the phallus" (95): ejaculation is prized in sex, society is hierarchical, and the phallus is social (96). The anus, however, is private, "has no social position except sublimation" (96), does not exist in the penetrate/penetrated dichotomy of the phallus (97), and is "withdrawn socially" (97). This might be understood metaphorically, as in understanding that to control the anus is to control the social self (the most distressing social act is to soil one's pants) (99). Social use of the anus, Hocquenghem argues, involves "the risk of a loss of identity" (101). Additionally, homosexuals offer a different way to organize society than the reproduction of the family (and that one should be like their parents) (106-109).
Hocquenghem explores desire, arguing that desire is object-oriented, not oriented toward a sex or gender (130). The cruising homosexual becomes akin to Deleuze's "voyaging schizophrenic" (131), because "everything is possible at any moment: organs look for each other and plug in, unaware of the law of exclusive disjunction" (131). He critiques revolutionary thought for maintaining the public/private distinction, and offers that homosexuals make private intervene in public (136) and a chance to disintegrate "the civilized illusion common to the political world" (145). Homosexuality offers something outside of politics and the social as it is now known, refusing to capitulate to the logic of sacrifice for the future (147).
June 4, 2022
Dit is, zoveel jaar na dato, nog steeds een fris en uitdagend werk. Het lijkt me waardevol als er meer van dit soort oudere activistische queer teksten worden gelezen, zodat we niet constant verzanden in discussies en gesprekken over seksualiteit die veertig jaar terug ook al werden gevoerd. In principe staat dit haaks op wat Hocquenghem lijkt te opperen - een 'basis' slaat gauw om in een hiërarchie - maar daar kan ik mee leven. Ik voelde me uitgedaagd tijdens het lezen.
*4,5
*4,5
December 2, 2025
Ich kann verstehen, warum das Buch ein nicht nur schwules sondern queeres Manifest ist. Homosexualität zu entpathologisieren und diese (damalige!) Pathologisierung nicht medizinisch sondern kapitalistisch zu begründen ist so einleuchtend. Trotzdem ist das Buch extrem schwere Kost und muss wohl eher als queertheoretisches geschichtliches Manifest als denn tatsächlich wegen des sperrigen Inhalts gelesen werden( hab es zu Teilen auch nur überflogen) .
August 7, 2023
“raz jeszcze, potrzeba nam rewolucji” dobra, ale za dużo mi penisów. posłowie świetne.
September 24, 2023
No posfácio de O Desejo Homossexual, Paul Beatriz Preciado fala que o autor do livro, Guy Hocquenghem foi um dos primeiros autores a colocar o queer em evidência em um livro teórico, de forma a quebrar o que está estabelecido e usar as características próprias dessa comunidade, de causar estranhamento, como algo positivo a ser usado também na construção científica do conhecimento. Concordo com ele, o livro é muito bom neste aspecto. Porém, a psicologização demasiada feita no livro usando muito da psicanálise, para mim, é algo que deixa a leitura enfadonha, por mais que quando se fale em desejo é necessário invocar Freud e Lacan. Ao mesmo tempo, a posfácio de Preciado, chamado Terror Anal, é muito impressionante, uma leitura muito mais agradável e contestadora que o texto de Hocqueghem, que vale a compra do livro, mas entendo que sem o pioneirismo do autor da publicação ele não teria a possibilidade de existir. Assim, O Desejo Homossexual acaba, na minha visão, tendo um papel de importância muito mais de pioneirismo, ineditismo e de marco de uma luta do que em seu conteúdo em si.
May 4, 2017
comme c’était rafraîchissant de lire un texte sur la vie/la culture gaies qui n’était pas basé dans le contexte anglo-américain!
November 15, 2024
4.5/5⭐
April 16, 2013
An excellent text in queer/gay theory exploring the resistance and difference that homosexual desire produces in relation (or distinction) to the traditional Oedipal structuring of the family unit that also structures most social 'discursive' spaces (politics, education, economics, etc.). If Deleuze and Guattari are a little too inaccessible this text works with similar themes, has just as much punch, and is more stylistically accessible.
February 5, 2017
Three stars because I could barely understand it (not the fault of the author), but the points I did understand were great!
January 14, 2024
This is a pretty interesting book on queer theory which draws heavily upon psychoanalysis(mostly Freud and D&G)and a healthy dose of literature. Some of it feels almost naive in our political landscape — the gay liberation movements he hails as revolutionary have either been dismantled or neutralised into a palatable liberal form, analytical psychiatry is almost nowhere to be seen and the rhetoric of gay rights is one of biology rather than one of desire and its limitless expressions.
Still a very interesting psychoanalytical look into the social imaginary regarding homosexuals, how they represent the polyvocal undifferentiated desire present at the start of our lives, how they are boxed into models and ideas which only serve to stem the tide of desire and how institutions manage to capture and manipulate desire in all its forms.
Still a very interesting psychoanalytical look into the social imaginary regarding homosexuals, how they represent the polyvocal undifferentiated desire present at the start of our lives, how they are boxed into models and ideas which only serve to stem the tide of desire and how institutions manage to capture and manipulate desire in all its forms.
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August 25, 2023this was a wild ride...
prventstveno početak koji je bio ispunjen vulgarnostima (razumijem da je cilj teksta biti kontroverzan i da upadne u oko), međutim ta perpetuacija opisa eksplicitnih radnji je za mene u trenutcima bila malo previše
ostatak knjige, iako dosta zgusnuto napisan, zapravo ne donosi previše informacija koje queer osoba već i sama nema kroz iskustveno znanje
that being said, djelo je iznimno korisno u sagledavanju suvremene psihoanalitičke teorije, kako i queer teorije
(hocquenghem u srcu)
prventstveno početak koji je bio ispunjen vulgarnostima (razumijem da je cilj teksta biti kontroverzan i da upadne u oko), međutim ta perpetuacija opisa eksplicitnih radnji je za mene u trenutcima bila malo previše
ostatak knjige, iako dosta zgusnuto napisan, zapravo ne donosi previše informacija koje queer osoba već i sama nema kroz iskustveno znanje
that being said, djelo je iznimno korisno u sagledavanju suvremene psihoanalitičke teorije, kako i queer teorije
(hocquenghem u srcu)
February 8, 2009
you need a dictionary for it but it's really worthed
December 23, 2025
“Aquilo que causa problema não é o desejo homossexual, é o medo da homossexualidade”
Como colocar aquilo que existe fora da lei, dentro dela? O “Desejo Homossexual” de Guy Hocquenghem é uma obra polêmica, sem papas na língua, vai nos dizer e colocar através de exemplos como a figura homossexual (predominantemente de um ponto de vista masculino) é vista pela sociedade. Considerado um dos primeiros trabalhos de teoria queer, ele vai colocando muitas vezes em cheque essa noção da criminalidade associada à homossexualidade, justamente por essa periculosidade que ela oferece aos modelos idealizados de relações. Ele usa também de vários elementos da psicanálise, recomendaria inclusive ter uma bagagem de leitura prévia antes dessa já que por muitas vezes é necessário saber alguns termos debatidos para entender o ponto onde o autor queria chegar.
É um livro que fala muito sobre desejo, causando até uma estranheza para aqueles que se sentem tímidos ou envergonhados quando falamos de sexualidade. Além disso, ele toca nesse desejo de uma forma muito peculiar: olhando para as nossas relações através desse modelo de produção capitalista. Ele traz muito desses embates entre identidades, colocando o homossexual como um produto amendrontante, parte de um conjunto de normas necessárias para o controle e a exploração, assim como o proletariado.
Eu entro muito brevemente – e até de maneira rasa – sobre tudo que o autor escreve neste livro. É uma ótima referência para quem estuda teoria queer, recomendo bastante. E recomendo mais ainda o posfácio do Paul Preciado que traz um resumão perfeito e até menos teórico que o autor, sintetizando muito bem o teor grandioso dessa obra.
Como colocar aquilo que existe fora da lei, dentro dela? O “Desejo Homossexual” de Guy Hocquenghem é uma obra polêmica, sem papas na língua, vai nos dizer e colocar através de exemplos como a figura homossexual (predominantemente de um ponto de vista masculino) é vista pela sociedade. Considerado um dos primeiros trabalhos de teoria queer, ele vai colocando muitas vezes em cheque essa noção da criminalidade associada à homossexualidade, justamente por essa periculosidade que ela oferece aos modelos idealizados de relações. Ele usa também de vários elementos da psicanálise, recomendaria inclusive ter uma bagagem de leitura prévia antes dessa já que por muitas vezes é necessário saber alguns termos debatidos para entender o ponto onde o autor queria chegar.
É um livro que fala muito sobre desejo, causando até uma estranheza para aqueles que se sentem tímidos ou envergonhados quando falamos de sexualidade. Além disso, ele toca nesse desejo de uma forma muito peculiar: olhando para as nossas relações através desse modelo de produção capitalista. Ele traz muito desses embates entre identidades, colocando o homossexual como um produto amendrontante, parte de um conjunto de normas necessárias para o controle e a exploração, assim como o proletariado.
Eu entro muito brevemente – e até de maneira rasa – sobre tudo que o autor escreve neste livro. É uma ótima referência para quem estuda teoria queer, recomendo bastante. E recomendo mais ainda o posfácio do Paul Preciado que traz um resumão perfeito e até menos teórico que o autor, sintetizando muito bem o teor grandioso dessa obra.
April 16, 2023
albeit (understandably dated) and my apparent apprehension of many French intellectuals in contribution of that signature, Hocquenghem's queer theory still remains as an important kaleidoscopic transition of queer theory in lieu with the constant transformation of nuclear family and capitalist structure while also innovative enough to provoke changes and retrospective of Freudian psychoanalisis and many borrowed concepts from D&G's Anti-Oedipus as an aphoristic reflection of queer as self and how they're placing themselves within the oedipalized world.
i find it interesting that it doesn't really particularly searching for further solution of solidarity but to confront the repressed desires, which begs some kind of further thinking enrichment to actually making me able to interpret many of his arguments esp. regarding what constitutes queerness as liberation, will linger on my mind quite a while and to remind me to finish AO for real this time
i find it interesting that it doesn't really particularly searching for further solution of solidarity but to confront the repressed desires, which begs some kind of further thinking enrichment to actually making me able to interpret many of his arguments esp. regarding what constitutes queerness as liberation, will linger on my mind quite a while and to remind me to finish AO for real this time
November 3, 2024
I dropped it. Neurotic freudian mind contamination. He’s criticising patriarchy but follows the same patriarchal style that Lacan has.
Feels like his trying so hard to make you buy it but it just generally feels shallow and pretentious, like all those mental “hence” and “thus” and “obviously”. Feels like a 14 years old is trying to sound significant.
What else can I say ? 1. My mind is anti-French.
2. French philosophers are just a fraud. 3. Maybe anarcho-communist nerds might like it but that’s not me.
I guess that the AI summary of that book can be much more interesting than the book itself.
Feels like his trying so hard to make you buy it but it just generally feels shallow and pretentious, like all those mental “hence” and “thus” and “obviously”. Feels like a 14 years old is trying to sound significant.
What else can I say ? 1. My mind is anti-French.
2. French philosophers are just a fraud. 3. Maybe anarcho-communist nerds might like it but that’s not me.
I guess that the AI summary of that book can be much more interesting than the book itself.
October 7, 2022
Love it when my boys both pull from and at, importantly, critique and develop the works of Guattari, Reich and Freud in a way that is affirming itself without reactionary basis and still relatively easy to take the fundamentals of and play with it's application to the current times.
Anticipates Foucault's critique's in the initial volume of History of Sexuality too.
When I learn french, i WILL be bringing over more hocquenghem texts, dont you worry.
Anticipates Foucault's critique's in the initial volume of History of Sexuality too.
When I learn french, i WILL be bringing over more hocquenghem texts, dont you worry.
April 19, 2022
My Bible.
December 30, 2023
I was running out of money in LA and this was the most expensive book in the used book shop (15 dollars!!) but not once did I regret this purchase
July 13, 2024
Exceptionally good and you can see exactly where queer negativism is deeply indebted to Hocquenghem. The constant references to Anti-Oedipus made me want to read that text again
April 11, 2025
L'autore era chiaramente un twink di filosofia and it shows
November 21, 2020
Ein wichtiger (grundlegender) Beitrag zu einer radikalen Queer Theory. Obwohl der Dialog mit Psychoanalyse und (der französischen) Linken sehr kritisch ausfällt, schafft es Hocquenghem dennoch, einen hoffnungsvollen Blick auf die Schwulenbewegung seiner Zeit zu werfen. Besonders erhellend ist in diesem Zusammenhang auch die Schlusserläuterung mitsamt kurzer Biografie des Autoren durch die Herausgeber und Neuübersetzer Lukas Betzler und Hauke Branding.
July 14, 2025
A bracing experiment in hybridizing psychoanalysis, schizoanalysis and queer theory more broadly. The section on paranoia is excellent and the analysis of the privatization of the anus wonderfully lampoons a heterosexual masculinity terrified of its anal drive.
August 28, 2013
slightly dated but still relevant
June 13, 2019
For me: a wonderful illustration of what has been lost in the transition to assimilation and contemporary queer identitarianism.
September 28, 2007
pilot study of sexualities
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews