Research Catalog

The poisoned bowl : sex, repression and the public school system

Title
The poisoned bowl : sex, repression and the public school system / Alisdare Hickson.
Author
Hickson, Alisdare.
Publication
London : Constable, 1995.

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Description
250 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits; 25 cm
Summary
  • The architecture and organization of today's boarding school is to a great extent the product of over one hundred years of homophobia. One might imagine that the post-Tom Brown evolution of the boarding school was conditioned by the gradual ascendancy of liberal reformers over uncompromising traditionalists.
  • Such a verdict would be highly misleading, for the great reforming headmasters also had an illiberal agenda; the desire to manage the sexuality of adolescent boys and, above all, to prevent any manifestation of homosexuality.
  • Dr Hickson puts forward his thesis at the outset based on evidence drawn from biographies, novels, diaries and school histories, but the greater part of the book is made up of anecdotal accounts and memories obtained by the author from old boys of various backgrounds - including generals, members of parliament, headmasters and leading figures from the clergy, the legal professions and the City.
Subject
  • Students > Sexual behavior > Great Britain
  • Students > Sexual behavior > Great Britain > Anecdotes
  • Boarding schools > Great Britain
  • Boarding schools > Great Britain > Anecdotes
  • Homosexuality and education > Great Britain
  • Sexuality
  • Great Britain
Note
  • Includes index.
Bibliography (note)
  • Bibliography: p. 241-244.
Contents
1. Devilish Desires: The Demonization of Homosexuality -- 2. Goodbye Mr Chips: The Twilight of the Candid Tutor-Pupil Friendship -- 3. Living Dangerously: Homoerotic Friendships Between Boys -- 4. From Cold Showers to Coeducation: Homosexuality and Homophobia at Boarding Schools 1965-1995 -- Tales Out of School: Old Boys Reminisce About Homosexuality at Public School.
ISBN
0094742006 :
LCCN
gb 95035151
OCLC
ocm32747376
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries