National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) Scientific Advisory Board member James E. Phelan has some peculiar views. In the second edition (2011) of his book, 
Practical Exercises For Men In Recovery Of Same-Sex Attraction, he has a section called “Allying your wife or girlfriend,” in which he writes:
If you are married or dating, in most cases, your wife or girlfriend has not struggled with SSA and will not understand your recovery process. It is up to you to help educate her about your needs.
And what does this education entail?
Tell her, also, “I need to be the man of the house. Let me be the man of the house.” Dominant women only demasculinize men. (emphasis mine) A man has got to be the lion of the den. Not in an abusive manner though. (p. 61)
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan — along with current president Barack Obama — would be shocked to know that they have been demasculinized by their wives. Both Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush were famous for being strong-willed women who took no guff in the West Wing. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are both accomplished women and lawyers who have a commanding presence. I can’t imagine George H.W. Bush telling Barbara that he has to be the lion in the den. My point here, is that powerful men can still be lions with a lioness in the den — and such family structures have zero to do with one’s masculinity or sexual orientation. Insecure men like Phelan and his clients need to understand that being a man comes from within, not by suppressing or putting down talented women.
The public must realize that NARTH’s therapy involves much more than failed attempts at sexual conversion. To pursue NARTH’s plan, clients must abandon modernity and adopt the group’s anachronistic worldview that includes submissive women who know their place. What this group is really after is the creation of a Leave it to Beaver world that never really existed. Once the public understands what NARTH truly stands for, their already shaky support with evaporate.
Phelan’s views cannot be separated from those of NARTH because he is a key member who is central to their defense of reparative therapy. For example, when the American Psychological Association came out with a landmark report in 2009, Phelan released a bogus and widely ignored “study” to preempt the APA’s findings against “ex-gay” programs. In other words, NARTH’s go-to guy is the one claiming that “dominant women demasculinize men.”
And we are supposed to take this group steeped in male chauvinism seriously? Are we supposed to believe that this organization cares one iota about science?
I don’t think so.
I’ll end this post with a bizarre little poem by Phelan that appears on page 87 of his silly handbook. It is called “Changed.”
If I had not changed…
Then where…where are my chains?
If I had not changed…Where is death’s sting?
…If I had not changed a thing.
I would not be here, but there
…In that dirty, stinking, filthy, polluted city, with only my soul to pity…
…If I had not changed!
I could not say, “I love you.”
…nor could I.
…If I had not changed
I would not be able to explain…what was meant by the sorrow…the pain
…If I had not changed
Then where…where are my chains?
Hahahahahahaha — yeah, pretty funny stuff. Somewhere, Robert Frost is spinning in his grave. Don’t you just love when wingnuts try to be artistic?
Note to Phelan: Have you checked the Eagle’s dungeon for your lost chains?
