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Dean + the scientific theory of Sexual Fluidity

posted 12 years ago by SpiceTea
4 replies | jump to latest

It's funny how this movie--which I've liked since it came out--can be so chock-full of cinematic cliches and stereotypical romantic comedy (and gay)themes and yet still also have a bunch of interesting, atypical things about it.

One of the interesting things is the reversals of some common queer themes. For instance, instead of the struggling queer character pushing themselves to feel something (either romantic or sexual or both) for a member of the "other" sex, you have the opposite: an apparently heterosexual character (more on that below), Dean, who struggles to try to make himself feel a sexual attraction to a special man (Henry) in his life.

A lot of you have questioned whether Dean was really Gay or Straight (unsurprisingly and regrettably, most ignore the concept of male bisexuality). I argue that some of the recent research on sexual orientation might help explain the turmoil Dean seems to be going through. I'm speaking specifically of the theories of Lisa Diamond, the prominent researcher behind the theory of Sexual Fluidity. However, Diamond focuses on women, precisely because, due to women's less-consistent distribution of sex hormones as compared to men, sexual fluidity appears much more common among women than men. (Sexual fluidity in women is more likely to occur when a woman's sex hormones are at a low ebb during certain points in her cycle).

But in addition to those biological factors, I think the different socialization of men and women is also a factor in sexual fluidity being less apparent among men. In any case, even if it's not common among men in a statistical sense, fluidity's still a possibility for at least some men. I think Dean's one of the many men who *doesn't* display a capacity for sexual fluidity, and this explains his tormented behavior in BIG EDEN.

Briefly put: I think that Dean was a heterosexually-oriented character who fell in love with/had a romantically-tinged love for Henry. (Contrary to pop/folk belief, sexual desire is NOT the same thing as romantic affinity; the two are separate things governed by separate parts of the brain, and it's quite possible to feel one but not the other for someone). Although such a thing as "sexual fluidity" exists (i.e. certain triggers causing you to feel sexual desire for the "wrong" sex for your orientation), Dean--like many men--- just doesn't have a high capacity for fluidity. Here, Dean fell in love with Henry, but never experienced an episode of "sexual fluidity" toward him.

Such was the basis of Dean's turmoil in the movie: he LOVED Henry, wanted to be in non-sexual but loving physical contact with Henry (i.e. all those times he danced with Henry, roughhoused with him, swam with him, hugged him, and even picked him up and dragged him around)---but, he just couldn't SEXUALLY DESIRE Henry. The reason he couldn't sexually desire Henry was twofold: (1) first, he had a Heterosexual orientation, and (2) his Heterosexual orientation could not be overcome by an episode of Sexual Fluidity.

When you put those two things together, it makes for great turmoil in the person (here, Dean) who doesn't understand how it is that he can feel such strong, warm, enveloping feelings towards someone, yet not be able to feel a spark of sexual interest in them. The romantic interest does not align with the sexual one, and the dissonance is painful, especially in a culture in which we're taught that romantic love and sexual desire are inseparable parts of the same package.

Dean's behavior seems very consistent with the old 19th/early 20th century idea of a "smash" (as opposed to a crush). Smashes were the nickname given to the same-sex romantic yearnings that often appeared between (heterosexually-oriented) girls in all-girls schools. The girls would develop fixations on one another that went beyond the usual close friendships; they would want to look into the eyes of the person they were "smashing" on, hold their hand, lie next to them, and sometimes even (non-erotically) kiss them.

While in some people, a smash is the trigger that causes Sexual Fluidity to ignite and makes someone able to sexually desire "the wrong sex" for them, in others, their low capacity for Fluidity means the smash never gives rise to sexual desires. The romantic fixation remains purely that--a romantic, not erotic, fixation.

Smashes of the latter sort--i.e. the type that never trigger sexual fluidity---have been observed and recorded among the young men in many different cultures and eras--from ancient Greece to indigenous tribes in contemporary Africa. These men are friends who have a strong loving attachment to one another--perhaps even an emotionally passionate and physically affectionate one like Dean's in BIG EDEN-- yet their proactive sexual desires fuel them to seek out women, not their beloved male companion, for sexual gratification.

I think this not only explains Dean's tortured and "muddled" (as many of you here have put it) behavior, but it further explains how it is that he's linked with the nondescript blonde woman towards the end of the movie. My guess is that his heart still belongs to Henry, but that, like most men, he instinctively privileges his sexual orientation over his non-erotic emotional attachment.

Interestingly, many women--whether due to socialization or to biological traits or both--do the opposite: they privilege their emotional connections over their proactive sexual desires/sexual orientation.

Anyway, I first saw this movie in 2001, several years before all of this research on orientation and fluidity came to light. I enjoyed it then despite some of the awful acting, and yes, despite the muddled Dean situation. The filmmakers managed to convey enough of the main point: that Dean loved Henry in a special way--a way perhaps more than is usual between friends, especially male ones---but that love just wasn't enough to overcome his inability to sexually desire Henry.

The scientific theories just add a further layer of plausibility to a situation that many have automatically rejected as outlandish. There are tons of improbable and implausible things about BIG EDEN, but the complex relationship between Henry and Dean is not, IMO, one of them.

[–] jgrv-1 12 years ago

I think you've described the Dean character's "sexual fluidity" (or lack thereof) as well as anyone could. Here's hoping your post is read by many fans of the film.

[–] SpiceTea 12 years ago

Hey, thanks for that. It was just evident to me (at least the way the actor played Dean) that Dean had more than brotherly love for the protagonist. But a special kind of love (i.e. romantic in flavor) doesn't always come hand in hand with sexual desire.

I think it's really interesting to see this at work in a movie where the characters are men, because there's a lot of talk of hetero women having long histories, especially as young girls and adolescents, of these romantic-yet-not-quite-sexual "smashes" on each other. It's good to see the subject addressed with men, even if filmmakers didn't consciously intend to.

[–] MikeGrossman34 10 years ago

It's an interesting analysis of Dean's character. I wonder what the filmmakers would have to say about it.

[–] jaroslaw99 8 years ago

I remember reading "Gone with the Wind" when I was in 7th grade and I knew all the "plumbing" aspects of sex very thoroughly. But I didn't understand the actual sex act itself, passion, etc. So when I got to the part in the book where the doctor told Ashley if Melanie got pregnant again, she would die, (and she did get pregnant again and died in childbirth) ... I asked my parents why Ashley had sex with her again knowing this. And their answer was that when you "love" someone deeply, sexual intercourse is a part of that expression. They obviously didn't talk about being horny, which is also part of it, I kind of was getting glimmers of what that was about. But if meant the death of your spouse, I figured there were other outlets for sexual release. At least I was aware that I didn't know it all in 7th grade, however.

So.......as others said elsewhere on this board, Dean's character was all over the map and like people in real life, behavior can be confusing and contradictory. But...........if he was that close to Henry, and could kiss him that hard, one would think Dean would at least try homosexual activity at least once. I mean they're in their early 40s, Henry's grandfather is close to death or dead. These things usually make people think - hey there aren't endless chances....

I'm not accepting the sexual fluidity of women being "more likely" at low level hormone times without a lot more research. More likely could be defined any number of ways etc. Women by nature, have to be more open with their sexuality - just their exams, until recently were all by men. And it is much more intrusive. I remember complaining to my grandmother about having a prostate exam when I was considering military service. She laughed and said " don't have a baby. You're up in stirrups with everything spread open and there are fingers probing everywhere!

Last but not least, somewhat now, but much worse in the past - men often treat women pretty badly. It is not surprising they might have sexual feelings and act on them with women. One more - society also shuns male/male activity much more severely than it does woman/woman. Most straight guys are turned on by that.