Slang -- or rather, a set of code words and euphemisms -- was used just as often by sneering heterosexuals: "Is he so?", "Is he one of them?" or "that way", "Is he musical?", "Is he a nonconformist?"
No endnotes referring to where he sourced those particular euphemisms, though he gives notes for some that follow ("it smells of garlic here" = "there are lesbians around", heh).
Even without a citation, I'm tempted to believe that "non-conformist" was used as a euphemism for homosexuality, because it's just so obvious. Not conforming. Not one of the majority/accepted/state-approved group. And it has the benefit of being discreet. I can *totally* hear it in my head. (Yeah, I know this is not strong evidence. I'm just saying that it has the ring of truth for me, for whatever that's worth.)
As for SCAN and the Paget illustration... I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say that Holme's reaction to Adler -- the woman, the only one who has ever affected him -- and the fact that she just happens to crossdress are, well, suggestive. Especially in light of much more explicitly queer texts like A rebours that were popular in aesthetic/decadent circles at the time, and which included multiple encounters between queer male characters and boyish women. (I haven't read A rebours but Cook's "London and the culture of homosexuality" has a longish section on it and its connection to Dorian Gray.) It's hard to read "aesthetic guy attracted to boyish woman" and not make those connections.
So if you start from "Holme's fascination with the boyish Adler is a bit queer", the "non-conformist" seems to me like a subtle little nudge in that direction too. Not like a big red flag waving saying CHECK OUT TEH GAY, but a gentle, discreet reference to a euphemism one might have heard used in polite company to refer to people who were "that way".
After all, there's no strong story reason for Holmes to choose that disguise. He just needed something that would gain Adler's sympathy. He could just as well have used the elderly bookseller disguise he used in EMPT, for instance.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-05-05 05:39 pm (UTC)No endnotes referring to where he sourced those particular euphemisms, though he gives notes for some that follow ("it smells of garlic here" = "there are lesbians around", heh).
Even without a citation, I'm tempted to believe that "non-conformist" was used as a euphemism for homosexuality, because it's just so obvious. Not conforming. Not one of the majority/accepted/state-approved group. And it has the benefit of being discreet. I can *totally* hear it in my head. (Yeah, I know this is not strong evidence. I'm just saying that it has the ring of truth for me, for whatever that's worth.)
As for SCAN and the Paget illustration... I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say that Holme's reaction to Adler -- the woman, the only one who has ever affected him -- and the fact that she just happens to crossdress are, well, suggestive. Especially in light of much more explicitly queer texts like A rebours that were popular in aesthetic/decadent circles at the time, and which included multiple encounters between queer male characters and boyish women. (I haven't read A rebours but Cook's "London and the culture of homosexuality" has a longish section on it and its connection to Dorian Gray.) It's hard to read "aesthetic guy attracted to boyish woman" and not make those connections.
So if you start from "Holme's fascination with the boyish Adler is a bit queer", the "non-conformist" seems to me like a subtle little nudge in that direction too. Not like a big red flag waving saying CHECK OUT TEH GAY, but a gentle, discreet reference to a euphemism one might have heard used in polite company to refer to people who were "that way".
After all, there's no strong story reason for Holmes to choose that disguise. He just needed something that would gain Adler's sympathy. He could just as well have used the elderly bookseller disguise he used in EMPT, for instance.