queer spots

Let's just say, we've come a long way in being gay

2008-11-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

“Helen Furr and Georgine Skeene lived together then. Georgine liked travelling. Helen Furr did not care about travelling, she liked to stay in one place and be gay there. They were together then and travelled to another place and stayed there and were gay there. They stayed there and were gay there, just gay there. […]
They were in a way both gay there where there were many cultivating something. They were both regular in being gay there. Helen Furr was gay there, she was gayer and gayer there and really she was just gay there, she was gayer and gayer there, that is to say she found ways of being gay there that she was using in being gay there. She was gay there, not gayer and gayer, just gay there,that is to say she was not gayer by using the things she found there that were gay things, she was gay there, always she was gay there. […]“

I bet you are asking yourself right about now if the she-author of this was a) seriously demented, b) totally wasted or c) had a date with some “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” while composing this, aren’t you? Admittedly, this text is kind of ‘different’ but, above all, it is pretty unique once you consider its (historical) context.
Would you be surprised, if I told you that this piece of art work was written by one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century? Does the name Gertrude Stein ring a bell? Surely, anyone who has ever stumbled across one of her writings before will recognize her typical, repetitive style immediately: a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose...

Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as a daughter of educated German-Jewish immigrants in 1874 and received her education at what is now Radcliffe College. In 1903, she moved to Paris and her home at 27 rue de Fleurus quickly became a meeting place for the literay and artistic avant-garde of that time. In 1907, she met Alice B. Toklas who was to become her lifelong partner until Stein died in Paris in 1946.

What makes her especially interesting for eurOut, I think, is that she produced all of her literary work in Europe where she found herself at the beginning of the twentieth century in the midst of an experimental climate in the arts movement. Only Europe, more precisely Paris, back then offered an open-minded atmosphere for many artists from all around the globe to gather there regularly to experiment and be inspired.

In any case, what can be read here is just a brief excerpt from the whole short story…but, believe me, you get a pretty good idea what it is about! After all, she goes on using the word ‘gay’ more than one hundred times throughout the whole narrative. This story was actually published in the magazine Vanity Fair as early as 1923. Are you wondering now how it was at all possible to publish a (bold) story like that?! I mean considering that the 1920s, even though a relatively tolerant time compared to most others in recent history, were still a homophobic era and homosexuality was officially considered a (mental) illness. In general, everyone had to communicate “their little secret” through codes and coded language. Writers for example used metaphors so recurrently in their texts that people who “knew” were able to understand the allusions right away.

Now I bet you are thinking: “Allusions? Codes? Whatever! This text is a f…ing punch in the face!” Well no, it isn’t - or at least it wasn’t. Understanding this text correctly, and with it the implicit derision, is to know that the word ‘gay’ underwent a radical change in meaning within only a couple of decades. While it meant exclusively “happy” and “merry” until the end of the nineteenth and a few years into the twentieth century, this original meaning slowly turned into the meaning of ‘gay’ as we know it today. During the 1920s then, this change was in full swing: for the homosexual subculture it was a code-word for being ‘gay’ and for the oblivious rest, aka “heterosexual mainstream society,” it still simply meant “happy.” Consequently, homosexuals could easily decipher the ironic, even cynical, message this text ubiquitously transmitted: while ‘the gays,’ here especially women, learned about a very ‘gay’…ummm “happy” couple and their very ‘gay,’ that is “happy” existence, those who where oblivious of this double meaning of the word read about the (apparently) “happy,” that is ‘gay’ spinsterhood of two unmarried women. Now…I am confused ;-)

Anyway, logically “unmarried” couldn’t possibly have meant “happy” for mainstream culture since everyone knew true happiness for women lay in marriage... (yeah!) But with this in mind, this great text was full of irony and mocked those living in oblivion while supplying the ‘gays’ with a reassurance of their existence.

I love the gays - a 'gaydactic' analysis...

2008-10-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

first of all, listen closely to Mandy Steckelberg's song "I love the gays"

and now see what comes out after focusing on the most interesting lines (for us girls).

# 1) "...to see the Indigo Girls, surrounded by beautiful ladies,
at least I think they were ladies..."
Let's see, what can be concluded from that? Lezzies love the Indigo Girls and sometimes look, ummm, not so lady-like...but still: yeah, we're all richly rewarded with beauty...er...

# 2) "they screamed full-throated and hearty,
and I looked around at their ecstatic faces,
I thought, 'man, these bitches really know how to party.'"
I deduce: IN CASE the lesbians love the music they're listening to, they love to party and get really, well, "excited"!? ...which is kind of an understatement since "ecstatic" in the Merriam Webster's dictionary says the following: "a state of being beyond reason and self-control" or "a state of rapturous delight" which reminded me of, hmm well...something else actually...
I couldn't help it but suddenly there popped up this picture in my mind of a 'heartily' screaming all-women audience (er, scary!) attending an Indigo Girls concert everyone being "in a state of rapturous delight" ............... "OMG NO! don't go on thinking...!!" Most logically, this very situation can only occur, of course, if there's a girl group playing!
Lastly, she refers to lesbians as "bitches"...which I generally like to interpret as a compliment ;-)

# 3) "If there were no gays (...)there’d be no women’s basketball"
Such a statement is generally not incorrect! Yet, it's not as true as the night is dark. Mandy might as well have sung: "If there were no gays, there'd be a total oversupply of tight pants" But then...there are too many syllables to fit in that line.

# 4) "(...) the gay republicans, I think they are social retards"
Hell yes! So true, so true! Isn't a "gay republican" an oxymoron???

# 5) "and if I have children I hope and pray, someday they grow to be good and gay,
and if I were president, I'd make every day a homo apreciation celebration day"
Let's draw some attention to the words: "children that grow up to be good and gay." Well, that is a nice alliteration for once, is it not?! I bet some conservative musician will soon work in something with "straight and great"...there ya go!
Plus, isn't it ironic that "pray" rhymes with "gay"? But maybe that's just me thinking it... Anyway, "gay" does, thankfully, also rhyme with "day" cuz otherwise this little political pun wouldn't have been possible...go for president, missy, I'd definitely vote for you!!

After all, it's a very cool song! A little dependent on stereotypes but that's how popular culture works, isn't it?

p.s. who are the Indigo Girls?

Wie jetzt...du bist hetero?

2008-10-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ich habe letzte Nacht geträumt, ich stehe vor einem großen Schrank mit ganz vielen Schubladen. Jede Schublade hatte eine Beschriftung, schwarz auf weiß mit großen klaren Buchstaben. Auf der einen in der Mitte stand "hetero". Die nächste, die ich sah, war mit "schwul" versehen, und die nächste rechts daneben sagte "lesbisch". Ich erinnere mich noch, wie ich dachte: "ja, schon klar...ich sehe, wohin dies hier führt...ich wette, wenn ich unter "lesbisch" gucke, springt mir bestimmt gleich Ellen entgegen, bei den Schwulen wär's dann Elton und bei den Heten...hmmm, naja, Thomas Gottschalk oder so..." Schwarz-weiß...ich ließ sie alle zu...die Welt ist nun wirklich spannender als das! Das Laden-Wirrwarr ging weiter: transgender, cisgender, queer, intersexuell, bisexuell, pansexuell, polysexuell, asexuell...what the hell?!
Vor dieser "Ladenfülle" fühlte ich mich plötzlich ziemlich verloren. Des Menschen Individualität ist ja (s)eine Sache, aber forcierte Abgrenzung durch konstruiertes schwarz-weiß-Denken, das scheinbar keine Grenzen kennt? Ich weiß nicht. Ich war verwirrt und brauchte Zeit zum Nachdenken.
Als ich etwas später wieder vor demselben großen Schrank stand, war es plötzlich ein gewöhnlicher Kleiderschrank, mit mehreren großen, verspiegelten, unbetitelten Türen. Ich sah mich selbst im Spiegel und lächelte. Mensch, war ich froh!

Vielfalt leben, ohne Abgrenzung. (LesBiSchwule) Kulturtage in Göttingen vom 18.10.2008 bis zum 16.11.2008

one tricky quiz question...

2008-10-02T04:06:00.000-07:00

Woher kommt das Original? In welchem geschichtlichen Zusammenhang steht es?

Hier die Kopie:

ich gebe euch ein paar Tipps: a) es hat mit der (langen) Geschichte des Feminismus zu tun, b) es handelt sich um eine (inter)textuelle Anspielung, d.h. es hat nix mit dem Bild zu tun, c) USA!
Ideen einfach ins Kommentar!

Infiltrating the straight world...

2008-10-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

about the infiltration of queer characters into straight books, and especially the covering of it as a strategy to sell! Well, maybe you'll soon find yourself infiltrated by, ummm let's see, some transsexual male-to-female figure (operation completed!) who identifies as lesbian and takes a little vacation time in the straight world, that is with a man...and realizes that she is a lesbian after all? How's that? If that plot strand wasn't on the back of the cover (as it is often in order not to scare the "heterosexuals" away), well...you'd have successfully been infiltrated by the queer world! Congrats!

So if you want to be infiltrated (maybe you do?!?) check out these books.

Rachel Weisz hottest babe in Hollywood...

2008-10-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

according to a poll taken by THE SUN.co.uk with 4.000 lezzies...and who is it that won?? The English actress: Rachel Weisz. I assume that the poll was taken by British women only (--> "women" as in "adult for quite some time") since there are strikingly many British/Australian actresses, who are well into their thirties and even forties, among the top 10. I think the "Hollywood" in the Sun's title is kinda misleading...but well, who cares as long as the number of clicks goes up, right? Anyway, the winners are:

1) Rachel Weisz (Constantine, The Mummy)

2) Nicole Kidman (Practical Magic, Mouline Rouge, The Others, The Stepford Wives)

3) Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting)

4) Kate Winslet (Heavenly Creatures*, Titanic, Sense and Sensibility)

5) Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive*)

6) Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, Bend It Like Beckham*)

7) Thandie Newton (E.R., L.A. Crash)

8) Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, My Summer of Love*, The Jane Austen Book Club*)

9) Catherine Zeta-Jones (Ocean's Twelve, America's Sweethearts)

10) Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, Lord of the Rings, Notes of a Scandal*)

* movies with lesbian interest

hier sind die Ergebnisse auf deutsch, (da ich niemandem das Original in THE SUN antun will)

und wer noch weitersurfen mag OUT! IST IN! (Fotoserie)

(ich persönlich finde, dass viele dieser Leute, die in der Serie vorgestellt werden, ein wenig zu schnell in eine Schublade gesteckt werden!!! Also bitte nicht zu naiv sein und alles schlucken, was einem hier so angenehm mit dem schwarz-weiß Label "schwul-lesbisch" geboten wird)

dyke drama...internacional

2008-10-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

apparently, matters of the heart ain't no different in Spain ;-)

OMG! THE JOURNAL OF MALE PLEASURE!

2008-10-02T03:05:00.000-07:00

Kuriositäten im www...oder auch der ganz normale Wahnsinn der Sexindustrie?

Da a) niemand ignoriert werden soll (vernachlässigt ja, denn frau muss Prioritäten setzen), und b) jeder gerne "das Neuste" über S-E-X erfährt (kommt schon, gebt's zu!), hier einfach zwischendurch mal etwas Positives(?) für das ~~angeblich~~ starke Geschlecht. Nach all den Jahren, in denen Mann unter dem Druck stand, die weibliche Anatomie genauso gut zu kennen wie das Interieur seines Autos (~~total failure~~), hier nun ein bahnbrechendes Buch zur "sexuellen Funktionsweise des männlichen Körpers" Also, Mädels, Ohren auf!

Ach ja, und die kleine Einleitung zum Thema "make a diet and SHIT YOURSELF THIN" ist jetzt nicht so relevant für diesen Blogeintrag...

p.s. wer/was hat gewonnen: Anatomie oder Auto???

what's up with all this girl-on-girl action lately?

2008-10-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

Wer hat mit dem ganzen Knutschekram usw... eigentlich angefangen? Madonna und Britney? Christina und Madonna? Christina und Britney? (schon verwirrt?) Ms.Gellar und Ms.Blair in "Cruel Intentions" aka "Eiskalte Engel"? T.a.t.u.? Da fällt mir ein, noch viel früher diese heiße Poolszene in "Wild Things" mit Neve Campbell und Denize Richards...remember?? Die beiden da:

Das war 1998! Und seitdem? Tja...seht selbst:

want more? Here we go:

und wer immer noch mehr Input braucht / möchte (bitte ignoriert die Paris Hilton Episode, genauso wie die Pamela...die kann man nicht ernst nehmen!!!):

eine Sache hat sich trotz der vielen fröhlichen Fummelei bis jetzt noch nicht geändert: je bekannter die "celebrities", desto mehr Wind gibt's um die Sache. In Woody Allens neustem Streifen Vicky Christina Barcelona, der jetzt bald in die Kinos kommt, küssen sich Scarlett Johansson und Penélope Cruz (Foto unten), nachdem Penélope 2004 bereits das Vergnügen hatte, von Charlize Theron gekü...ähm... gebissen zu werden (siehe erstes Video oben), die wiederum 2003 in Monster mit Christina Ricci intime Momente teilen durfte (schon mal jemand auf die Idee gekommen, darüber eine ourChart zu basteln? Ich glaube, das wär' ein riesen Spaß!)

in letzter Zeit gesellt sich die Musikbranche vermehrt dazu...Kate Perry's "I kissed a Girl" oder ganz neu The Veronicas mit "Take Me on the Floor" (bis 1:40 vorspulen und hören und gucken!):

Das war dieses Jahr aber noch nicht alles und nächstes geht's auch lustig weiter...d.h. es ist noch kein Ende in Sicht... Es wird zwar weniger "celebrity-lastig", aber dafür, ich bin mir fast sicher, umso heißer in unseren Mainstream-Kinos...aber (leider) keineswegs intelligenter...................................hmmmm, egal!

1) Ende 2008 kommt ein A-C-T-I-O-N Film (bitte zweideutig verstehen!) mit dem einschlägigen Namen Bitch Slap. (ich will den lustigen Trailer niemandem vorenthalten...) Enjoy:

2) wahrscheinlich ebenso anspruchsvoll (ich kann's kaum erwarten): release 2009 Jennifer's Body mit Megan Fox und ??? ich habe doch jetzt den Namen von ihrem blonden co-star vergessen...

Anyway, von dem Film gibt es noch nicht viele Infos/Fotos/Eindrücke etc. Allerdings eine kritische Zusammenfassung vom plot (nur die ersten 30 Sekunden):

noch Fragen?

Nachtrag

Nicht dass falsche Eindrücke entstehen: die Videos/Lieder aus diesem Beitrag sollen ohne irgendeinen weiteren gesellschaftlichen/politischen Kontext betrachtet werden... Mit anderen Worten: u.a. sind die oben gezeigten Lieder und Filmausschnitte mit dem Hintergrund der Darstellung von "Lesben" (im weitesten Sinne) bzw. Homoerotik durchaus kritisch zu betrachten...darum soll es hier aber nicht gehen!

Jedes Land braucht (s)eine Anne Will...

2008-10-02T02:35:00.000-07:00

...nicht wahr? Nach Deutschland nun die USA: "Rachel Maddow Becomes First Out Lebian to Host Prime-Time News Show. Openly gay political commentator Rachel Maddow, 35, i getting her own show in MSNBC, the cable news channel confirmed on Tuesday." Read more @ http://www.afterellen.com/TV/2008/8/rachelmaddow

hmm, ich weiß gar nicht, wen ich hübscher finden soll...Just kidding...ich würde sagen: ganz eindeutig 1:0 für Deutschländ!!!

quotes

2008-10-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

been reading and reading and in almost every book i find really intriguing passages. actually, this section is probably more for myself so that i won't forget what struck me most in these mind-fucking books that i've been attracted to... but i guess everyone is welcome to read them. Enjoy!

J.D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye (1946) - I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.

Jeanette Winterson in "Written on The Body" (1992) - in Wonderland everyone cheats and love is Wonderland isn't it? -

Sarah Waters in "Affinity" (1999) (plays in Victorian England 1874-75, talk about marriage...) - But now, keeping her eyes upon me, she rose and stretched. 'Your sister,' she said, 'that you're so envious of. What do you have to envy, really? What has she done, that is so marvellous? You think she has evolved - but is it that? To have done what everyone does? She has only moved to more of the same. How clever is that? [...]

But people, I said, do not want cleverness - not in women, at least. I said, women are bred to do more of the same - that is their function. It is only ladies like me that throw the system out, make it stagger -

(talk about spirits) - 'Are you a man or a lady?' But the guides are neither, and both; and the spirits are neither and both. It is only when they have understood that, that they are ready to be taken higher.' 'How could it be? It would be chaos! It would be a world without distinction. It would be a world without love.' - 'It is a world made of love. Did you think there is only the kind of love your sister knows for your husband? [...] And what will your sister do if her husband should die, and she should take another? [...] It may be someone she would never think to look to on the earth, someone kept from her by some false boundary...' -

Virginia Woolf in "Women and Fiction" [the working title for what would become A Room of One's Own] (published in 1929) - [...] men who had no qualifications save that they were not women, chased my simple and single question - why are some women poor? [...] To show the state of mind I was in; I will read you a few of them, explaining that the page was headed quite simply, WOMEN AND POVERTY, in block letters; but what followed was something like this:

Condition in Middle Ages of,

Habits in the Fiji Islands of,

Worshipped as godesses by,

Weaker in moral sense than,

Idealism of,

Greater conscientiousness of,

South Sea Islanders, age of puberty among,

Attractiveness of,

Offered as sacrifice to,

Small size of brain of,

Profounder sub-consciousness of,

Less hair on the body of,

Mental, moral and physical inferiority of,

Love of children of,

Greater length of life of,

Weaker muscles of,

Strength of affections of,

Vanity of,

Higher education of,

Shakespeare's opinion of,

Lord Birkenhead's opinion of,

Dean Inge's opinion of,

La Bruyère's opinion of,

Dr Johnson opinion of,

Mr Oscar Browning's opinion of,...

[...] what is so unfortunate is that wise men never think the same thing about women. [...] Are they [women] capable of education or incapable? Napoleon thought them capable. Dr Johnson thought the opposite. Have they souls or have they not souls? Some savages say they have none. Others, on the contrary, maintain that women are half divine and worship them on that account. [...] Goethe honours them; Mussolini despises them. Wherever one looked men thought about women and thought differently. It was impossible to make hand or tail of it all [...]. It was distressing, it was bewildering, it was humiliating. Truth had run through my fingers. Every drop had escaped.

I could not possibly go home, I reflected, and add as a serious contribution to the study of women and fiction that women have less hair on their bodies than men [...] -

Sarah Schulman in "Empathy" - all his life doc had been told that america was the freest country on earth. america is the most powerful country on earth. we're number one. we're number one. and americans believed it because, after all, what did they know? -

Kate Millett in Sita (1976): "Wenn das Leben eine Zeitung wäre, so groß, vielfältig, langweilig, dann wäre die Liebe ein Comic, so reizend und kurz."

Judith Butler in Gender Trouble (1990): "To make trouble was, within the reigning discourse of my childhood, something one should never do precisely because that would you get trouble. (...) The prevailing law threatened one with trouble, even put one in trouble, all to keep one out of trouble. Hence, I concluded that trouble is inevitable and the task, how best to make it, what best way to be in it."