Unruly Desires: American Sailors and Homosexualities in the Age of Sail

by William Benemann

In its voracious hunger to fill its decks and spars with the bodies of strong young sailors, nineteenth century maritime culture welcomed eccentrics, criminals, freaks and misfits. Sailors were to a large extent outcasts from society, but they were outcasts into a community of the marginalized, one that held very different values and expectations than the towns and villages from which the young men fled, a community that offered these men a tentative refuge. The United States Navy and the commercial maritime industry during the Age of Sail unwittingly created an environment where men who were attracted to other men — later to be known as homosexual or gay — could explore their sexuality at a distance from family and friends, with a freedom and openness they had never known on land. William Benemann is the author of A Year of Mud and Gold: San Francisco in Letters and Diaries, 1849-1850; Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships; and Men in Eden: William Drummond Stewart and Same-Sex Desire in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Gay, Queer, Audiobook

328 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Terry Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Benemann writes an engaging history of homosexuality in the British and American mercantile and national navies. The issue is difficult to research because except for captain's logs and some archival legal information, little information exists on the life of sailors before the 20th century. Benemann takes us way back in history for a few chapters, but he spends most of his time examining the lives of a few individuals in the mid-19th century.

The book could use some trimming—the chapter on Big Dick and Dartmoor Prison went on too long, despite the promise that "big dick" had a double meaning. Alas, it didn't. It was simply the moniker for a large man with influence.

The author certainly knows how to use end notes and a bibliography. The book demonstrates Benemann's fine skills as a historian and archivist. He must have spent a lot of time poring over some very old documents. To him and other serious chroniclers of the homosexual experience, I offer my sincere thanks. The book is interesting, engaging, and pays great respect to the men who love men who came before us.

[Iceberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 for me, but I will round up.

Unruly Desires would have benefited from better editing. Not on a sentence-level -- it's perfectly well-written -- but in terms of the arrangement of its contents. Chapters needed better introductions and more connections drawn to other chapters. Some sections should have been trimmed or summarized, or if Benemann couldn't bear to cut, then moved to an endnote.

That said, this book surfaces primary sources that would otherwise be hard to find. As I wrote in a status update, "Imagine you and your friend are in the reading room at an archive. Your friend is really into gay sailors, so that's what he's researching. He has records, letters, diaries, and logbooks spread out before him, and every fifteen minutes or so, he goes, 'Duuude, listen to this!!' and reads you an excerpt. That is what this book is like."

Fair warning, criminal acts were more likely to make it into the written record than consensual ones, so expect repeated descriptions of sexual assaults.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was suggested for me on Kindle Unlimited and I ended up purchasing after reading it. Much of the history of LGBTQ+ individuals has been assiduously (and ignobly) been avoided in the American history classroom which leaves the impression of historical societal invisibility. This book was cathartic for me and helped me to connect more personally with other historically marginalized members of my "tribe." This book is a MUST read for queer men seeking to have a greater understanding of how gay men in the United States have been systemically marginalized. I found myself wishing I had known about this history in high school or college. I found myself fantasizing about my parochial teachers reading this history (which they have not and probably will not). I wish my family and extended family would read this book (they won't). If you are queer or have an LGBTQI+ individual in your life, please read this book.

[Lila Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very niche but interesting subject! It’s more academic than reader-friendly in terms of the writing style, definitely reads like a doctoral dissertation adapted into a book. You’ll definitely learn a lot you didn’t know about sailor culture. I appreciate how thoroughly the author worked to recapture or reconstruct this piece of queer history which could have been easily overlooked/forgotten.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gruesome but fascinating and informative. Do not read if you find accounts of assault and rape, including of children, triggering. They are all throughout this book.

Most of the actual accounts of m/m sexual encounters in this book are assaults and rapes (including of children), and the author doesn't do a thorough job of explaining why he (or the publisher) chose to frame this as "homosexualities" rather than "oh look, rape." That choice seems irresponsible given the ongoing moral panics that try so hard to link queerness to the raping of children.

However, the research seems very thorough and valuable, and I learned a lot about American sailors during the Age of Sail and added some new odd facts to my repertoire of odd facts. If you're an Age of Sail junkie who grew up reading the Bloody Jack books (like me), you'd probably find this interesting. The oddest part is that the Bloody Jack books don't seem to have been that far off the mark in their representations of sailing culture, which surprises me.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although ultimately the author didn't have a ton of evidence of the presence of homosexuality among US sailors in the 19th c. specifically (as opposed to British or continental sailors or the 20th c.), there was a fascinating chapter on tattoos among US sailors (many of which apparently did point to homosexuality). Also had interesting chapters on US perceptions of North Africa as a culture filled with somewhat-accepted homosexual behavior (but didn't do a great job sorting out perception from reality, since it was so US-focused) and on British prison hulks and Dartmoor prison holding US prisoners-of-war during the War of 1812 (where most of the homosexual behavior was not documented among US prisoners, to be clear).

[Christopher Van note · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting study on Sailors and homosexual behavior. Although there is little available in the way of journals, studies, etc, it is an interesting read, esp the detail of the Dartmoor Prison Massacre in England during the War of 1812. One does wonder what there actually was before the individual/families/editors removed or destroyed the letters and other details written in the journals or records.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author went to a great deal of trouble to gather records of homosexual conduct in the navy, on commercial vessels, and in seaports. The average gay man today thinks this conduct was rampant then. It happened it was mostly discreet and treated at best as a flaw in human nature. The book reads a little scholarly. This might be off-putting for some readers. If you read gay history this is essential material.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There appears to be quite a great deal of evidence that homosexuality was quite common among American seamen in the 1800s. Be it the navy, the merchant marine, or whaling boats. A lot of sources would intermittently punish homosexual behavior, but more often, officers looked the other way. The author goes through many historical documents to shed light on this phenomenon of homosexuality on the high seas.

[Jim KABLE · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Absences and Distance

An interesting historical study on men at sea and how that condition and its attendant distortions of regular society and life ashore either attracted or made space for other expressions of human connection - treated in variously generous or repressive fashion.

[Yukio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book, the audiobook is also very good. This is exactly what I‘d like to read more. LGBTQ+ History collected and put into perspective with a lot of new things to research during and once you‘re done. I‘ll definitely buy the book and add it to my growing library of LGBTQ+ history.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed historical information. I learned quite a bit reading this book. I would recommended it to American/British Navy history buffs.

[Ryofire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book I don’t currently have the spoons to finish. Barely got through the first 14%.

[John Siebelink · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well-researched and very insightful read. A bit repetitive at times, and it ends without really foreshadowing the next chapter in this area of history. Other than that, a good read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, informative, and thought provoking!

[Neil Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello sailor

Interesting well researched. But repetitive at times. Quite shocking the difference between the attitudes to this topic in the US navy and the Royal Navy.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 homosexual stars

[VvTired (Lauren) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just so so very bored

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good book! It starts off on the dry side with the inevitable trials of prisoners in the British and American armies during the War of 1812, but it opens up amazingly when we get out to sea and yes, it's just that the homosexual identity had not been invented yet that allows for the issues of identification. It IS, however clear, that, if you were a man who liked other men before the Civil War, your best bet was to go to sea especially because you probably wouldn't be the only one who had that idea. The last two chapters, on Alfred Thayer Mahan and Moby-Dick, are worth the price of admission.

[Michael D. Villecco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of male bonding and men who have sex with men as related to maritime sailors both in the United States and other parts of the world, particularly Northern Africa and how male to male sexual escapades were very common in this area over the years where sailors often entered many of the ports and mixed with the local culture
Book is quite long and can be somewhat dull reading at times, perhaps it could have been shorter while still giving the reader the relevant history, it appears the author did his research well