Does a person's sexual orientation matter when it comes to art, poetry, or even at all. A beautiful

Frances Willard and Walt Whitman are two significant nineteenth century American figures. Although Willard and Whitman are famous for different reasons, they do have one characteristic in common: they have both been accused of being homosexuals. However, most people do not know this because it is not put in history textbooks or taught in the classroom, for good reason. Public school students should not learn about Willard and Whitman’s homosexuality through their textbooks and teachers because it does not affect the significance of what these two Americans had accomplished. Not only does it not affect their importance in United States history, but it also cannot be proven. Teaching public school students that Willard and Whitman were homosexuals would be disrespectful to the brave and inspiring acts they have made towards the history of America.

The question of “why feminism?” has been presented to a number of female artists who deal with strong constructions of gender in their work. The answer, overwhelmingly, has been the desire to modify stereotypes about women that have prevailed in male-dominated art history. In the 1960’s, women who explored “feminist” issues in their art were criticized, causing mass mobilization and conscious raising as to what, exactly, was the purpose of feminist art (Crowell, 1991). Since that time, women have been trying desperately to overturn the art world and rescind the traditional stereotypes and images that have plagued them. Feminist artists created somewhat of a unified front during that

"WHITMAN WAS MORE MAN THAN YOU'LL EVER BE," said a student of Louisiana State University. When asked questions of your sexual preference or thoughts on the issue of sex, I would venture to say it makes most people uncomfortable. This is an age-old topic that people know about, yet do not want to talk about. He was particularly reticent about his issues regarding sex and his particular sexual preference. In fact, of Whitman's struggles the most difficult for him to deal with was his ever so strong homosexual desires (Hubbell 283). Whether homosexuality is right or wrong is not for me to decide. Though I feel it should not be used so explicitly in works of

"Education should seek to bring its subject to the perfection of their moral, intellectual, and physical nature in order that they may be the means of the greatest possible happiness of which they are capable, both as to what they enjoy and what they communicate." - Emma Willard. Emma Willard was a leader in women’s education. She opened Troy Female Seminary, the first school for girls offering them an education equal. (Lutz, A. (1964). Emma Willard: pioneer educator of American women)

Throughout the 1950’s, the United States belonged to the Leave It To Beaver era. Families were structured around a strong, hard working father and a wonderful homemaker mother. Children were brought up with solid ideologies on what society expects from them and were warned about living a different and dangerous life. Only one-year separates Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room from there publishing dates during this decade of unwavering beliefs. These texts were seen as extremely controversial during their time due to their themes of homosexuality. Sexual orientation was an awkward topic during such a “to the book” time period and these texts pushed the limits, making them remarkable and memorable works. Both Tennessee Williams and James Baldwin explore the panic men experience while trying to comprehend what sexual orientation they belong to and highlight the masculine gay man. These texts also examine the woman’s role in the mist of it all.

During the second half of Shaw presidency the organization included many professional married women such as Susan Walker Fitzgerald, Bryn Mawr and Katherine Dexter McCormick (Franzen, 2008). The relationship among the women of the organization was strong and there were no core of officers during the presidency of Anna Howard Shaw. The success of the organization during Shaw presidency was perhaps because of her social position; she had high tolerance for discord. During Shaw presidency the organization had more connections to other progressive era organizations and associations than any other period in the existence of its existence. Shaw had strong connections to the Frances Willard and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) (Franzen, 2008). WCTU was the largest women’s organization in the United States during the 1900’s. Many joined the wealthy benefactors of NAWSA such as the leaders of the settlement houses, prison reform, and women socialites. During Shaw presidency a diverse range of women and men attended NAWSA conventions. In these conventions Shaw personally spoke about the issues beyond suffrage, such as opposition to American imperialism and the different needs of working women. NAWSA expanded by making many other groups become NAWSA family such as the College Equal Suffrage League and the National Men’s League (Franzen, 2008). NAWSA needed the collision of these groups to expand its base. NAWSA needed the financial support of the wealthy women and

How do the works of Yasumasa Morimura, Julie Rrap and Anne Zahalka challenge conventional ways in which gender has been depicted historically in the visual arts?

Paragraph 9:Whitman sexuality was judged rather he was homosexual or bisexual people that because of the way he wrote on his poems most of his poems were depicts love and sexuality in a more earthy individualistic way. Though Leaves of Grass was often labeled pornographic or obscene.

The “Rejection Quintet” was finished in the order of “Chicago Rejection Drawing”, “Childhood Rejection Drawing”, ‘Female Rejection Drawing”, “Rejection Fantasy Drawing” and finally “Rejection Breakthrough Drawing”. The series’ exploration begins with the first line of “Chicago Rejection Drawing” which asks “How does it feel to be rejected?”. Chicago describes an exhibition her husband was having her hometown. She explains she felt a little jealous so she was interested when a friend of hers told her about a gallery owner who would possibly be willing to give Chicago a show in her hometown. Ultimately the gallery owner rejected her work and turned her down and Chicago was devastated. The second drawing in the series “Childhood Rejection Drawing” addressed the contradiction between Judy Chicago’s “rhetoric” and art. She calls it a gap and explains that the structure that masks her content stems from her time in graduate school where artists would reject her work that lacked structure. Chicago realized that she could not artistically be herself if she wanted her degree. She goes on to describe the rejection she felt from her father because he disapproved of what she exposed. ‘Female Rejection Drawing” is very profound in it she explains how male culture denies that women have separate experience. She addressed the contradiction between her art and rhetoric and explains that it comes from her attempt to use the male established art language to explain her female experience. She ends this piece with what feels like a call to action she uses anaphora to ask how many people will move forward and appreciate women? “Rejection Fantasy Drawing” describes Chicago’s fear of rejection from her mother and friend after they read her manuscript for a book she continues

Throughout history many artistic works have been deemed "great" and many individuals have been labeled "masters" of the discipline. The question of who creates art and how is it to be classified as great or greater than another has commonly been addressed by scholars and historians. The last quarter of the 20th century has reexamined these questions based on the assertions that no women artists have ever created or been appreciated to the level of "greatness" that perpetually befalls their male counterparts. The position that society has institutionalized on women as unable to be anything but subordinate and unexpressive is a major contributor to this claim. Giving a brief history of gender discrimination in the art

Poetry is much different than any other style of writing. Poets have a way of communicating their message in a much more indirect way than regular writers. One reader may interpret a poem in a way that is drastically different than another. To truly understand a poem, one must understand the author as well. Sharon Olds, an American poet, who is known for her morbid and unhappy poems, writes about various themes including political violence, family relationships, and sexuality (Gale). In Olds’ poem, “The Death of Marilyn Monroe” we see her examining sexuality not only in 20th century, but in today’s age as well. Olds uses the death of a famous sex icon to really show how women were, and are still being sexualized in society.

Robert Mapplethorpe is another example of a queer artist making gay art. He took photography of hot men.

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

Within the purview of new scholarship conducted on the expression of black queer sexuality during the Harlem Renaissance, scholars are quick to acknowledge the longstanding critical reticence to address such expression. Only relatively recently have scholars been willing to analyze queerness not just as negligible intimation of sexual otherness, but as a significant thematic pulse that shaped and fashioned the Renaissance into the dynamic literary and artistic movement that we study today. In many ways, the historical silence of literary critics on homoerotic love mirrors the hesitation by early Renaissance writers to explore these topics in their poetry and fiction for fear of confirming racist sexual stereotypes. In keeping with the “New Negro” creed of respectability, intellectuals such as W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke espoused a code of racial uplift that necessitated a certain kind of asceticism vis-à-vis human sexuality. But the cadre of young Harlem Renaissance writers known as the Niggeratti changed the face of the movement significantly when they challenged the prudish, conservative critics and intellectuals by writing shocking stories and poems that directly confronted themes of primitivism, overt sexuality and homosexuality (Schwartz 122). Chief among them, Bruce Nugent, “refused to bear the black artist’s ‘burden of representation,” rendering his queer characters shamelessly and rebuffing the

To group a subsection of artists under the umbrella term “lesbian artists”, is to do them and their art a disservice. Lesbian artists are just as varied in their work as any other group of artists. Possibly it is just easier for people to have labels so as to easily identify what they like or dislike. It seems as though for some, it has been a selling point or marketing tool, for better or worse. According to Sadie Lee in her essay for Outlooks, “This means there exists a certain amount of tokenism where if someone were in need of a lesbian artist (for equal opportunity reasons or in an attempt to be ‘alternative’ or controversial) my chances of being selected are rather good.” She continues on to say that had she been viewed on her skills as an artist alone, and not her sexuality, she would not have been given the opportunities for exposure that she has had (Lee 124). So, is it imperative that we give a definitive label to it? No, but Harmony Hammond puts it eloquently when she states, “I like to think of lesbian art as a braid with three strands, gender, sexuality, and art, though from time to time other strands, such as history or identity are woven in and out...a flexible rope of incredible strength and beauty” (Hammond 10). Although it defies singular definition lesbian art is as fluid and dynamic as the groups it tries to encompass: women, lesbians, feminists, dykes, bisexuals, gender queer, and so on.