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Baden-Powell and sexuality

As a naturalist Baden-Powell was open about sex:

• "Sexual desire comes from perfectly natural causes." [ 58]
• "But here we are in God's earth, with these processes of Nature going on around and among us, and all the time, through some man-made rules of etiquette and convention, we are not allowed to mention them. They are "improper." " [ 330]
• "The very fact that the subject is taboo between the boy and grown-ups is provocative." [ 52]
• "There is no sin in sex. The sin arises when sex is abused." [ 77]

Baden-Powell was therefore a strong supporter of sexual education, even as a task for Scouting. He was annoyed that this was not done because of "some prudent sentimentality." [ 324]. He reassured the Scoutmaster: "the question seems a very difficult to approach. It is in reality as easy as shelling peas." [ 52] He therefore gave this education as far as allowed, especially in his book for elder Scouts: Rovering to Success.

The tenth Scout law (A scout is clean in thought, word and deed) and his strong objection against masturbation gave him and Scouting a prudish, anti-sexual reputation, or even a fear for sex. [ 106] But with the previous citations this is unlikely.

His objections against masturbation was not moral but real concern about the risk for health, resulting in weakness, shy, headaches, palpitation of the heart, finally becoming an idiot. [ 330]. How strange this looks today, it was a common opinion, even until the fifties of the previous century. However in a later version of Rovering to Success it sounds quite different: "It is often used to be taught that self abuse is a very dreadful thing leading to insanity... Now this is a grossly exaggerated picture to say at least". "No, the desire is natural, so don't blame yourself for this." He even suggested that masturbation was caused by the unnatural moral laws and social conventions of civilised society with forbids natural desires "which we cannot escape", although "it is a form of self love, which is obviously not a thing to cultivate." [ 60]

In the "dirty" language he appalled the inferior role of the woman in these stories: "The danger is the risk forgetting the chivalry to women." [ 56] . It lacks the "deep respect and tender sympathy" which man should have for women. [ 2] "If there were sex-equality in this matter it would be a great step towards a healthier attitude."[ 78] An important reason for sexual education was the danger of venereal diseases or abuse of woman for only sex. This gave his education an anti-sexual impression. However he explains also how beautiful it is to have family, get children, a woman as an equal comrade. There was not so much moral. For instance when a boy got a disease, Baden-Powell did not blame him with "etiquette", but advised to go to a doctor and "tell him straight out." [61]

Baden-Powells sexual orientation

Several biographers of Baden-Powell suggested that he was homosexual because of their suspicion of a physical relation with his best friend Kenneth McLaren, a boyish looking British Army officer whom Baden-Powell met in India. But according Tim Jeal there is no evidence that he was engaged in sexual activity with any man or boy. Strong emotional relationships between man were normal in the nineteenth century, sometime even were encouraged. [ 83] He does however argue that Baden-Powell was a repressed homosexual, although he married and had three children. [ 74, 82-83] The possibility of a non-heterosexual Baden-Powell has been controversial, given his iconic status in Scouting.

It is clear that Baden-Powell was not strongly drawn by women. He could not tell when woman were good-looking and when his brother married, he commented "and it will then be my turn - and I shall have no excuse for evading it." [ 84-87] But according Tim Jeal this can only incline a homosexual orientation of it co-exist with an attraction to man. [ 91] And Baden-Powell expressed his great admiration of the male body. When he visited an old friend, a teacher of his old public school, he saw his large collection of photographs of public school life and wrote in his diary: "Tod's photos of naked boys and trees etc. Excellent." [ 93]. He was appalled when the police started to prevent boys swimming naked in the river Serpentine, which was normal in that time, or admired some men "with their strong well-built naked wonderfully made bodies." [ 92]

However Tim Jeal also remarks that pictures of nude males were not uncommon in that time, like Henry Scott Tuke's paintings of nude boys, which were hung in the Royal Academy each year and therefore were also admired by heterosexuals. [ 93] Tod's photo's were not secret, the boys and their teachers knew this, without causing problems. It is also remarkable that Baden-Powell put nude boys at the same level as trees. Admiration of man for male bodies is not unusual. Ancient Rome was full of naked male statues, while the Romans disfavoured homosexuality. Body builders work hard for a beautiful body, reading magazines with naked man, without being homosexual. In this line Baden-Powell admired strong and healthy "fine athletic sunbrowned bodies." [ 95] They were the best example of the beauty of nature, and with that of God, the creator: "A clean young man in his prime of health and strength is the finest creature God has made in the world." [ 70] . He even argued defaintly: "that God can be found in a sheep's trotter." [ 330] As an example Baden-Powell told about some Swazi chiefs with whom he met some gymnastic instructors. The chiefs were not fully satisfied until they had the men stripped and had examined themselves their muscular development. [ 71] It is clear that Baden-Powell did not connect nude males with (homo)sexuality, otherwise he would never have made the notes about nude boys in his diary, which he knew would be read in the future by others, nor would he accept boys swimming nude in public.

There can only be a suspicion of homosexuality when the attraction to a male body is sexual. There is no evidence of this. Baden-Powell never wrote or made drawings (he was a good amateur-artist) about males in a sense which can be regarded as erotic. It could be, as Boehmer suggests, that the wrong questions are asked. The suspicion seems to arise from the very narrow limits we nowadays accept for relations between hetero-sexual men.

Baden-Powell wrote only marginal about homosexuality, although he must have know this "danger" from his military profession. Only in his book "Aids to Scoutmasters" he warned about sexual education by young Scoutmasters, which was "sometimes a real danger " because of the small difference in age. [ 53] Although he recommending flogging scoutmasters who indulged in sexual escapades with their charges, in practice he was as always less fanatical. In these cases his diary only remarks the man "had problems". [ 95]. Anyway no homosexual orientation can be found in Scouting.