Löfström J
Ethnology Department, University of Jyväskylä, Helsinki, Finland.
J Homosex. 1998;35(3-4):53-79. doi: 10.1300/J082v35n03_03.
Homosexual acts between women were criminalized in Finland in the 1889 Penal Code which also criminalized men's homosexual acts for the first time explicitly in Finnish legislation. The inclusion of women in the Penal Code took place without much ado. In the article it is argued that the uncomplicated juxtaposing of men and women was due to the legacy of a cultural pattern where man and woman, as categories, were not in an all-pervasive polarity to each other, for example, in sexual subjectivity. A cultural pattern of low gender polarization was typical of preindustrial rural culture, and it can help us apprehend also certain other features in contemporary Finnish social and political life, for example, women obtaining a general franchise and eligibility for the parliament first in the world, in 1906. A modern image of "public man" and "private woman" was only making its way in Finnish society; hence, there was not much anxiety at women's entry in politics, or, for that matter, at their potential for (homo)sexual subjectivity becoming recognized publicly in criminal law.
1889年芬兰《刑法典》将女性之间的同性恋行为定为犯罪，该法典也首次在芬兰立法中明确将男性的同性恋行为定为犯罪。女性被纳入《刑法典》的过程没费多大周折。文章认为，将男性和女性简单并列是由于一种文化模式的遗留，即作为类别，男性和女性在性主体性等方面并非完全对立。性别两极分化程度较低的文化模式是工业化前农村文化的典型特征，它也有助于我们理解当代芬兰社会和政治生活中的某些其他特征，例如，女性于1906年在世界上首先获得普选权并具备进入议会的资格。“公共男性”和“私人女性”的现代形象当时才刚刚在芬兰社会中形成；因此，对于女性进入政治领域，或者说对于她们的（同性）性主体性在刑法中被公开认可的可能性，并没有太多担忧。
