Chapter 25 - Sex and Sexuality

Summary

Mailer engages provocatively with themes of sexuality in a number of his novels, in a variety of ways – from the overt and somewhat shocking sex scenes in An American Dream to the exploration of sex and mysticism in Ancient Evenings to the subplot focusing in on closeted homosexuality in Harlot’s Ghost. Many of the theories of sexuality posited in these works are grounded in previous essays and nonfiction, and reflect not only the culture in which Mailer lived but provide insight into his ongoing attempt to represent sexuality in language. For example, the exploration of homosexuality in Ancient Evenings can be traced back to The Prisoner of Sex, where he was also interested in the way sex is used to enforce hierarchies of power within the prison system, and then back as early 1955, where, in “The Homosexual Villain,” Mailer was still working to flesh out “the edges of the rich theme of homosexuality,” struggling to find a place for it in his construction of contemporary masculinity.