Jungian Templates for Contemporary Gay Men; Or “What Does Mary Want With That Bear and What’s the Diva Dishing?” ‘Micuaet G. DeVott and CunistoPHER BLAZINA University of Houston ‘Using Jung’s archetypes, one can derive models of gender specific behavior for gay men. While not necessarily endorsing the exis- tence of a priori universals, we suggest that these archetypal tem- plates are socially constructed models of behavior. Further, just as ‘many within the mythopoetic movement have used various mythic themes like the Wild Man, King Warrior, Magician, and Lover for heterosexual men: we suggest that mythic themes can also be used to guide gay men. These models/guides are discussed as well as clinical implications for therapist. Key Words: Jungian archetypes, sexual orientation, masculinity, ‘Bay men, therapeutic guides ‘Some of the most passionate political arguments today center around gay and les- bian issues. In the past few years, we have seen public referenda on gay marriage defeated, protests over company policies for domestic partner benefits, court batles ‘over adoptions by gay and lesbian couples, and heated debate over the law enforce- ‘ment of hate crimes related to homophobia. Additionally, we have witnessed several high-profile murder cases involving gay victims. Counselors, psychologists, and ‘other mental health professionals (for simplicity, henceforth referred to as “thera- pists”) need to be equipped to help gay men and lesbians cope with the myriad issues that could arise asa result oftheir sexual orientation. Hopcke (1989) suggests that gay people must cary the burden of going through 4 special psychological process of self-consciousness in both their sexual and emo- tional development. This is due in large part to the lack of models for homosexual, self-image and relationship. The exploration of the soxual identity ataeta with the MEL, LPs Correspondence concerning this article shouldbe seat to Michasl G. DeVoll, Episcopeligtr coo, Soar talae Tras Tt Eero ral mayb eto meiner Bex 910439 Mpvsteg 17231-2439 Prchacl@derfecnsekag, comm ‘The Journal of Men's Studies, Vol. 1,No. 1, Fall 2002, pp. 29-36 (© 2007 by the Men's Stadies Press, LLC. Allright exerved. 29DeVout and BLAZINA basic questions of “Who am I, and why am I this way?” These questions can cause such inner turmoil when asked by a gay youth because we live in a culture focused upon heterosexuality as the norm. This can lead to the internalized message that being gay is wrong, perverse, immoral, or deviant. Some of the ways that the result- ing turmoil manifests itself includes poor self-acceptance, extreme sensitivity to bbeing misunderstood, social withdrawal, poor school attendance or performance, substance abuse, participation in prostitution or pornography, running away from home, and suicide ideation and/or attempts (McDonald & Steinhorn, 1990). When underlying issues are not resolved, difficulties may also continue into adulthood. McDonald and Steinhorn (1990) suggest that there are societal pressures that increase lesbian and gay men’s susceptibility to alcohol and drug abuse that have been estimated to be as high as 33 percent, as compared to 10 tol2 percent for the general population. Similarly, Simonsen, Blazina, and Watkins (2000) recently found that gay men who felt conflicted about adhering to stereotypical male gender roles were more likely to have symptoms of depression and anxiety. While there is a dearth of research about how gay men adjust to societal pressures of a largely het- erosexual-focused culture, historically we know that it was only inthe past 30 years that the American Psychiatric Association suggested that being gay was not a mental illness. Further, theorists from Freud onward have seen homosexuality as largely a regressed state of immature functioning. With these notions still a part of cultural lore, gay men need to have positive models to emulate, We believe that therapists need to be aware of potential positive templates in an effort to share them with clients. In order forthe therapist to be of assistance, there must also be an understanding of sexual orientation, both what it is and where it comes from. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer or explanation for either of these questions. However, by examin- ‘ng notions inspired by Jungian theory, some assistance is provided in understanding the psychological process of gay individuation. In particular our focus is upon Jung's use of archetypes. Most evident is the mythopoetic movement's use of this Jungian notion that includes Robert Bly’s “Wild Man” (1990), Jungian analyst Robert Johnson's (1988) use of the Warrior, and Moore and Gillette's (1990) use of the notion of psychic integration. Each of these theorists use the Jungian inspired perspective, claiming their models are derived from archetypes, universals, ora pri- ‘ori templates to which all humankind can relate. Even if one calls into question the ‘existence of archetypes, each of the theorists mentioned above use myth and mythol- ogy as templates for men’s gender roles. That is, the way that myth is interpreted leads to a prescriptive notion for how men should conduct themselves, be it Bly’s Wild Man or Moore and Gillette’s integrated King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover. This use of mythos is historically consistent with what humankind has done over the course of its existence, that is, derive models for “appropriate” behavior from the stories of heroes, villains, demi-gods, and the like. What we suggest here is that just as Jungian templates derived from mythic stores guide heterosexual men, 50 too can ‘gay men use templates. So, in short, gay men need descriptive and prescriptive mod- cls as well. In this paper we present some possible templates for gay men using the Jungian notion of individuation, which stresses integration of stereotypical mascu- line and feminine characteristics. We will focus on gay men to the exclusion of les- 30JUNGIAN TEMPLATES FoR CONTEMPORARY Gav MEN bians withthe realization that although the individuation process may be similar, it would be better dealt with separately. ‘TEMPLATES FOR GAY INDIVIDUATION ‘To examine gay individuation from a Jungian perspective, it is necessary to have some basic understanding of Jung's concept of the collective unconscious and arche- ‘types. Jung built on Freud’s concept of the unconscious by dividing it into two dis tinct parts. The more superficial, individual component he referred to as the “per- sonal unconscious” and the deeper more universal aspect he called the “collective “unconscious” (Jung, 1959/1969). In terms of the later, Jung saw this as universal and common to all people. He also saw the collective unconscious as being com- posed of archetypes—symbolic figures that were a priori templates for human ‘behavior. So these archetypes are symbolic types of characters or personalities that populate our collective unconscious and can potentially guide our behavior as we identify with them. We acknowledge that some claim “archetypal” material is derived from univer- sals; however, we are mostly interested in them as a product of social construction ‘and therefore will refer to them in the spirit of “templates.” That is, these are models, that cultures create to provide guidance for their people. Many of the mythopoetic writers have taken myths, reinterpreted them beyond their original contextual mean- ings, and then subsequently developed templates for men’s gender roles. With that said, it does not, however, diminish their use on the cultural level. Whether one is of the belief that these templates are taken from a universal collective or a socially con- structed descriptive and prescriptive model, both approaches lead us to the same place; we use these models to guide our gender-specific behavior. These can be used as psychological guides for the individual, inthis case “how to be a man,” or cul- tural templates as guides to resolve social tension (Blazina, 1997). Archetypal tem- pilates provide blueprints for both. However, before looking at the role these archetypal templates play in gay ‘men’s lives, itis important to briefly examine the Jungian notion of homosexuality. Jung seemed to believe that straight men would identify with their personas as they are socially and culturally observed or biologically defined, whereas gay men would instead identify with their anima or feminine aspect (Downing, 1989). Jung dealt very little with homosexuality in any direct way, but others have examined his views. For instance, Hopcke (1989) explores Jung's writings over the course of his, ‘career to see the maturation of his view of homosexuality. He then proposes four attitudes that Jung held regarding homosexuality: (1) homosexuality ought not to be 4 concern of legal authorities; (2) homosexuality is best understood when put in a historical and cultural context; (3) an individual's homosexuality should be distin- guished from other aspects of the individual's personality; and (4) an individual’s ‘homosexuality has a meaning peculiar to the individual in question, and psychologi- cal growth consists of becoming aware of that meaning for the individual. From these four autitudes, Hopcke proposes three Jungian assumptions/theories ‘of homosexuality: (1) homosexuality is nearly always a result of a particular rela- tionship with the feminine, (2) homosexuality may result from an incomplete 31