I think it is interesting to examine the issue of sexuality during the 1800s, when religion was such an integral part of the majority of people’s lives. Throughout history, what have been central to many people’s arguments involving sexuality are the moral issues that arise when one chooses and alternative lifestyle.  Most of the world’s major religions regard the traditional model of sexuality to be the “correct” model.  This is where a man and a woman are attracted to each other, wed, and procreate.  To my knowledge, there is little to no mentioning in the Torah, Bible, or the Koran of homosexuality, males choosing to lead lives as females, and vice versa.

We are able to see in the article about Yun Ch’i-ho, one of Warren Candler’s confidants and the leader of the Methodist Episcopal Church’s missionary work in Korea, how prejudices, often fueled by religion, made such a respected man feel insecure and self-concisous in his position at the University.  As we all know from our country’s long history, race has been key to the majority of hate that is demonstrated.  Often times, many people felt that their hate toward minorities was justified because they were preached these types of ideals in a religious setting.  Yun expressed in his diary how he had to “sit in Church and hear a missionary lecture about the barbaric habits of Asians, lamenting that the white women he met in Oxford would never have him as a husband, or pondering if the Korean people might perish in a racial “survival of the fittest,” race.”  As mentioned in a previous post and in line with the racial prejudices of the time, Yun tells the story of M.T. Cleckley, who was dismissed from Emory because he was found in bed with a negro woman.

Yun’s diaries reveal how his insecurity about his race plagued his thoughts at all times.  Yun felt that he would never deserve to be at the side of a white woman, even though he comments on end about how beautiful and dazzled he is by their appearance.  One of the most painful stings came from his best friend Warren’s wife, Nettie Candler, who condemned him for thinking about having relations with white females because he was Korean.  Yun seems shocked by her words, as he felt that she would treat him as a Christian equal.

The fact that Yun was such a prominent figure in the missionary movement in the late 1800s yet was still discriminated against because of his ethnicity shows how powerful the ideals of religion can be.  We see in today’s society that the majority of hot topic debates all stem from some sort of religious concern.  Therefore, although society is definitely more open now to the idea of non-traditional forms of sexuality, I think it will take a substantial amount of time for the stigma that religion has attached to these issues to be completely eliminated.  Religion is the most powerful thing in many people’s lives, and it is controversial, but safe to say, that is has hindered a lot of progressive movements in the world.

Once upon a time society associated biological with gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. This is our traditional model of male as man as masculine and attracted to women. However, we all know that this no longer is completely applicable to a society such as ours today – which brings us to the inclusive model. With so many different combinations between sex, identity, expression, and orientation, our generation sees sexuality in a completely new, different light. Sexuality continuously is evolving. Beginning in 1879, “sexuality” first appeared in the dictionary, leading to “heterosexual” and “homosexual” in 1892. From there on, many new types of sexualities were being defined for society.

The change from our traditional model to the inclusive model of defining sexuality has made me realize that sexuality was much more black and white in the past. Right now, we are seeing sexuality evolve in to many different shades of grey. Queer movements are popping up across the nation causing fiery political debates, riots, parades, and so on. What was once unacceptable in society is rising, as is all types of sexuality. I find that the concept of sexuality is becoming more acceptable to younger and younger generations. I think MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” has really shown us this.

Emory in the late 19th certainly had a much more restrictive environment. In “A Brief History” by Gary S. Hauk, “The catalogue of 1891-92 banned students from attending any ball, theatre, horse-race or cock-fight; from using intoxicating drinks; from playing cards; from playing at any game for stakes; from keeping fire-arms or any deadly weapon, a horse, a dog, or a servant; from engaging in anything forbidden by the Faculty; from associating with persons of known bad character; from visiting Covington or other near points beyond the limits of Oxford without permission of some member of the Faculty, and from visiting points more distant without written permission from parents or guardians and the permission of the President of the College; from visiting any place of ill-repute, or at which gaming is practiced, or intoxicating liquors are sold; from engaging in any ‘match game,’ or ‘intercollegiate’ game of football, baseball, whatsoever.” Certainly now, the gentlemen of our fine fraternities are visiting places where intoxicating liquors are sold, and our athletes are engaging in match games of intercollegiate sports. The fact that Emory’s environment has become so much less restrictive, the idea of sexuality at Emory has also become less restrictive. Emory’s LGBT club announces on their current about page that “the mission of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Life is to engage the university community in the creation of an affirming and just campus environment while supporting the development of students of all gender and sexual identities.” The black-and-white view of sexuality has transformed and developed at Emory to include all those that struggled to fit on the traditional model of sexuality.

Society struggles to accept new types of people, especially when it comes to a different type of sexuality. I think our generation is the new generation of an evolving sense of sexuality. Perhaps, our generation will learn not to accept the traditional model as normal – rather, accept that there are many different kinds of identity and expression, that orientation isn’t necessarily engrained in us.

In today’s society, there are so many conversations regarding sexuality that it becomes easy to believe that this topic is one more closely associated with current generations. However, the accounts of Yun Ch’i-ho prove otherwise. Sexuality as it relates to race, culture, and social status brought on a particular level of concern and distress in his time here in the United States. It is known that race has historically been a characteristic to bring about particular societal influence and treatment. However, in the context of Yun’s experiences, race interacted with class and sexuality and brought about a cocktail of concern regarding whether Yun would find the love he desired and to what extent the scrutiny of his actions would impact his life.

In one experience, Yun notes that a student was expelled as punishment for being caught in Covington in bed with a black woman. Yun quoted “I don’t think he is any worse than many other dandies whose immaculate shirts and patent leather shoes make them look like gentlemen while their corruption out-heathens a heathen.” In other words, this boy, according to Yun, was punished more for being caught in bed with a black woman than other individuals with wrongdoings in their past simply because, well, apparently the act of sex in this context was seen as a greater misdeed. It is difficult to decode this situation because at one hand it seems as though it is the act of sex with a paid sex-worker that brought down the student, and yet the relevance of the race of the woman is just too large of a factor to ignore. In these times, being a black paid sex-worker was likely worse than being a white sex-worker.

This underlying theme of lust was also intertwined with love in Yun’s accounts. There seemed to be a particular insecurity on Yun’s behalf in multiple situations but in particular when Nettie Candler made the joke regarding Yun’s time at Oxford and the possibility, or lack thereof, of Yun finding a women; a white woman. Yun hastily interpreted the joke as a humiliating insult suggesting that no white woman would want Yun. It will never be clearly understood as to what way Candler meant the joke to be heard, yet what is clear is how Yun heard it and therefore the mental processes behind his thought. This relates to current times in the sense that societal generalizations are still internalized by populations of the public. For example, how many times do black men go into interviews already believing they won’t get the job? Perhaps these insecurities are what lead to the downfall of Yun’s relationship with Miss Tommie. Whatever the case, these times clearly brought about particular discomfort surrounding the sexuality of a “racial outlier.”

Yun’s quoted in his diary entry of September 10, 1891 “I don’t like using the phrase ‘come over and help us’.” This seemingly suggested a particular acceptance of the conditions as they were in the hopes of their gradual improvement. Yet with situations like that of Kitty’s cottage in which the construction of a single cottage for a freed slave can split a church, there is no wonder why it has taken so many years for conditions to still be in the process of improvement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCCaKuWQLp8&feature=player_embedded

Last Thursday’s class was my first time getting a brief glimpse of what the MARBL had to offer, besides the amazing view of Atlanta. To be honest, prior to this class, I never went above the 7th floor in the library, and now I wish I had. The vastness and  of the MARBL collection was explained with a few examples (handwritten religious texts, 1800 novels, Alice Walker’s notes). Another thing I wasn’t aware of, besides the existence of a tenth floor, was the delicate and careful handling of the items in the collection. In addition to the research in this class, I will surely pay a few visits to Samuel Beckett’s collection. Pluto out.

Talks with S

09/11/2012

I have often heard about the Manuscript, Archives and Rear Book Library to have existed on the 10th floor of the Woodruff Library, however, Thursday was the first time I ever visited this remarkable location. I found the MARBL brewing with years and years of informative knowledge, data and worldly experience. The entire experience of viewing the oldest Southern Bible of the 13th century, handwritten in Latin, holding Alice Walkers Papers that contained her penned down thoughts and scribbled words, and several other such papers written by great minds, was in itself a great treat to the eyes. I was surprised to see that Emory’s MARBL houses the working and published papers of so many distinguished legends, and how it collectively functions as a world in itself that provides data that one may not necessarily find elsewhere. Thursday’s class taught me the basic techniques of archival research, how and why these books, papers and the like are maintained and stored by the employees of the MARBL so that they can be available and usable for others for years to come. It was a visual treat to visit the MARBL and I am excited to go back there again this week!

Last Thursday during class in the archives, it was interesting to observe the vast amount of resources that are available to us and the legitimacy of these resources. By legitimacy I mean that these books, letters, essays, and notes  are originals that date back centuries. I was surprised by how much the Emory Archives receives and has collected over the years as well as the intricate process by which the articles are preserved. Most obviously I learned how to use these files and gain access because it is something I was not fully aware of. But additionally I learned how useful these archives could be and how difficult it can be to decode historical articles and pieces as seen by the photograph exercise. Lastly, I learned about the balcony.

In a time of e-books and siblings who consider kindles as an extension of their body, I have difficulty seeing the value a tangible book can offer. Yet it would be hard not to appreciate the history of a bible from the 13th century or the reasoning behind why Dicken’s books were sold in parts. I was definitely a little anxious that the book wouldn’t hold up or I would end up smudging the pages- my typical clumsy behavior does not seem welcome in a place called Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

I never knew that Emory had a MARBL collection and kept such a wide array of materials from manuscripts to computer hard drives. It is amazing that books from the 13th century are still kept in phenomenal conditions and books back then were completely handwritten perfectly. I am excited to start this year’s journey by looking through these materials to learn a lot about sexuality and how it affects Emory’s community.

Although Thursday’s class was not my first time in MARBL, it was the first time I was able to get an in depth look at what the collection had to offer.  It was unbelievable to see how well maintained a book from the 13th century is  and how archivists have preserved rare gems such as a scrap piece of toilet paper. In a time where the vast majority of us use online databases and the internet to access information, it was refreshing to see print sources that could be used as an alternative research tool.