Historical Uses
Homosociality is a term sometimes used in discussions of the all-male world of knightly life in medieval culture. It is also used for historically largely male occupations such as being a sailor (for example, historian Marcus Rediker uses the term to describe the pirate world). Homosocial relationships are not obliged to be sexual relationships, they are merely same-sex social interactions.
Predominantly homosocial arrangements include:
- Single-sex educational institutions
- Fraternities and sororities
- Monasteries
- Military (historically exclusively male, although presently both sexes are accepted in some forces)
- Prisons
- Yeshivot
- Sports club teams, particularly geared toward single-sex membership or to one unique all-male or all-female sport
- Exclusive male clubs or female clubs
'Generally, the more polarized the gender roles and restrictive the sexual code, the more homosociality one expects to find in a society'
Read more about this topic: Homosociality
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