Of all Times, in all Cultures - Leontine Bijleveld

Robert Aldrich’s Gay Life and Culture: A World History

Even just to admire the 250 or so beautiful illustrations, Robert Aldrich’s Gay Life and Culture:
A World History, is worth examining. The red boots on the cover, a detail from Rudolf Schlichter’s
painting, ‘Women’s Pub’ of 1925, subtly demonstrates that ‘gay’ is a loose term that
covers a range of meanings. Women and men all over the world have always felt attracted to
members of the same sex emotionally and/or physically, but in the course of history there
has always been a huge variety in these attractions, not just in the terminology used for them,
but also in social and cultural contexts.