of that energy through the release of sperm. To the “capitalism” of heterosexual intercourse(with its implications of male domination and ownership) Whitman opposes the “socialism” of nondirected sex(21). While all of these criticisms remain consistent with the times in which they were produced, they succumb solely to the attitude of the times, as sexuality changed in face and content; and none do measure accurately the force behind Whitman’s poetry. Even the contemporary critics who openly and justifiably discuss Whitman’s homosexuality, fail to draw a sturdy line between the concept of Whitman as homosexual and Whitman as poet. The suppression, marginalization and finally the full-blown analyses of the homosexual content of Whitman’s poetry has negated the crucial medium of homosexuality as an important influence upon Whitman’s poetry, yet one which by no means dominates it. Whitman challenged literary conventions, celebrated sex, internalized and universalized all people. His idea of homosexuality is and was, according to David S. Reynolds's Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography, "never adequately placed in [its] 19th century context"(391). Whitman pushed the limits for everyone. And, regardless of the many different interpretations, when taken into account the various homoerotic writings of Whitman's time, it may justifiably be concluded that: whatever the nature of [Whitman's] physical relationships with [other men], most of the passages about same-sex love in his poems are not out of keeping with then-current theories and practices that underscore the healthiness of such love. Most important were the cult of romantic friendship, the phrenological notion of adhesiveness, and the idea of passionate social bonding(Reynolds, 391). The term “homosexual” was not coined until the ear...
