Homoerotic

Homoerotic describes content or behavior that contains or hints at same-sex attraction and desire, even when the people involved do not identify as gay or queer. The word joins the Greek prefix homo, meaning same, with erotic. It is often used to analyze culture rather than to label a person: classical sculpture, war poetry, buddy films, locker-room and sports imagery, and countless works of literature and visual art are read through a homoerotic lens. Scholars distinguish it from homosocial, which describes same-sex bonding without sexual desire. Homoerotic tension can be unspoken yet unmistakable, and tracing it has long been a way of reading queer meaning into works that never state it outright.