--- Bratt Ian <Ian.Bratt at Colorado.EDU> wrote:
According to
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/stafflag/mattachine.html, the
word
matachin or matachine has been derived from the
Arabic of Moorish Spain,
in which mutawajjihin, relates to masking oneself.
-Insula
On Sat, 1 Mar 2003, Alice K. Turner wrote:
I just did a google on this--quite fascinating!
-a-
Back in the 60s, before the Stonewall Rebellion,
before gay liberation of
any note, the Mattachine Society on the East
Coast (and for all I know on
the West) was a coded name for a quite sizeable
male homosexual club or
group here; I expect the historical note is an
ironic nod to being
"closeted." I doubt that Wolfe knew that!
-alga
According to the History Channel, the
Mattachines were an Italian
tradition of court jesters who were indulged
to "speak the truth" when
appearing masked and hooded. Not to doubt the
veracity of the Hitler
Channel, but has anyone else heard of this, or
suspect that it folds
into the torturers' tower?