Policing Gender and Sexuality in the 17th Century Dutch Beterhuisen

Jeffery Dennis, Minnesota State University

Beginning in the 17th century, Beterhuisen functioned as an alternative to corporal punishment or incarceration for Dutch juveniles and adults who committed minor offenses. Soon they were opened to any citizens interested in shielding themselves from public embarrassment by incarcerating their relatives who were intoxicated in public, got into fights, or broke gender norms. This paper explores how the elites of the Dutch Republic increasingly used Beterhuisen to identify and criminalize men with gender-atypical behavior or same-sex romantic interrests, until by the 20th century, they functioned as homoerotic subcultures.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 187. Transnationality and Gender II