Misunderstandings of language: homoeroticism in the place of homosexuality

Abstract

The denomination “homosexual” or “homosexualism” remit us to the
conception and representation of homogenital sexual practices as pathological, perverse, and diverted. Many authors prefer the notion of “homoeroticism” because of the major clarity of this term, since it better describes the plurality of practices and wishes of men oriented towards the same sex. Homoeroticism moves away from the possibility of association with illness, divergence, anormality or pervertion. It denies the idea that there exists something like a “homosexual substance,” organic or psychiatric, that is common to all men with homoerotic tendencies. Moreover, the term does not have a noun form which indicates identity, as is the case of homosexualism.