Intro to LGBT Studies
Case Study Part 1: Historical Context
Due September 22, 2017
The topics of same-sex marriage and same-sex parental adoption have been controversial and ongoing topics in recent years, which is a drastic change in mainstream society. People of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGT) community have had a difficult time in gaining visibility and equal civil liberties, one of which is marriage equality. Same-sex couples have only recently been recognized under the law as legal candidates for marriage rights, and adoption is now an additional option; however, although the rights have been granted, there is still much more work to be done concerning the full benefits of same-sex marriage and adoption rights.
…show more content…
The word “lesbian” first made an appearance in the works of Sappho, a Greek poet whose origins date back to seventh century BCE.
“A notable exception [to nearly all Greek literary production being written by men] was the poet Sappho, who lived in the seventh century BCE on the island of Lesbos (thus the word lesbian).”/ “Many young, wealthy Greek women were sent to Lesbos to study the arts with Sappho. Much of Sappho’s surviving poetry is love lyrics to these young women” (Meem, Gibson, & Alexander 2018).
The birth of lesbianism being a derivative of Sappho 's Lesbos makes Sappho the rightful creator. In a more modern context, the traditional societal views prohibited lesbian-identifying women to be open, thus forcing them to conceal their true affections.
“Before the rise of the lesbian-feminist movement in the early 1970’s, twentieth-century women writers were generally intimidated into silence about the lesbian experiences in their lives. In their literature, male personae took the voice of their most auto-biographical characters, and they were thus permitted to love other women” (Faderman 1979).
Faderman continues to explain how Sappho 's island of Lesbos became a type of code in the vernacular in the time of Lady Mary Montagu; her love letters to a woman named Anne Wortley included illusions to the fictitious island and what it would be like to “fancy ourselves in Lesbos”
The exquisite society to emerge will be governed by an elite comprised of gay poets. One of the major requirements for a position of power in the new society of homoeroticism will be indulgence in the Greek passion. Any man contaminated with heterosexual lust will be automatically barred from a position of influence. All males who insist on remaining
As Tamsin Wilton explains in her piece, “Which One’s the Man? The Heterosexualisation of Lesbian Sex,” society has fronted
In “The Metaphorical Lesbian: Edna Pontellier in The Awakening” Elizabeth LeBlanc asserts that the character Edna Pontellier is an example of what Bonnie Zimmerman calls the “metaphorical lesbian.” It’s important to distinguish between Zimmerman’s concept of the “metaphorical lesbian” and lesbianism. The “metaphorical lesbian” does not have to act on lesbian feelings or even become conscious of herself as a lesbian. Instead, the “metaphorical lesbian” creates a space for woman-identified relationships and experiences in a heterosexually hegemonic environment.
In 2008, President Barack Obama stated there are too many children who need loving parents to deny one group of people adoption rights (eQuality, 2005). A child will benefit from a healthy, loving home, whether the parents are gay or not (eQuality, 2005). With that statement in 2008 from the individual who holds the most powerful authority in the United States, why are gay and lesbian couples today still battling adoption laws? When in fact while trying to adopt and raise children a couple’s sexual
Sappho is an ancient Greek poet who is known for her capability in the theorization and processing of love, though in The New Sappho her curiosity and amusement tends to turn its perspective to the idea of age. While we are used to the common concept of love and appearance of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, in Sappho’s poems, it seems that The New Sappho is both a play on her age, as well as a metaphor for her new subject. The poem’s title seems to suggest a rebirth or a renewal of being, yet in contradiction her physical form is aging.
Irene’s queer personality lives repressed in her id and the attraction can be noticed through many too detailed descriptions of Clare body parts and personality. “Her lips, painted a brilliant geranium red, were sweet and sensitive and a little obstinate. A tempting mouth” (45). It is impressive to see how this supposedly straight woman describes Clare’s mouth as tempting, yet she does not stop there, because Irene also describes her voice, “What was it about Clare's voice that was so appealing, so very seductive?” (52). The utilization of these adjectives is questionable because even when Irene talks about her husband Brian, she never uses adjectives that could express desire or even love. Irene is aware that her marriage is an arrangement where according to Brian sex is a just grand joke (60).
They must be put to death” (Leviticus 20:13) however there is still no mention on lesbian practices.
There are different forms of love, ranging from the lust of one another to a familial fondness. Two poets, Sappho and Catullus, each represent a different type of love in their respective poems. Sappho, a female poet born in the early sixth century B.C. on the Greek island of Lesbos, was said to be the tenth Muse and a supreme lyric poet of her time. Her life remains mostly a mystery, but through her poems it has been found out that she had a husband, and a daughter named Cleis. Catullus, a Roman poet that lived from roughly 84 to 54 B.C., found inspiration in and was influenced by Sappho, opting to write about love rather than politics like the rest of the poets of his time. He also popularized the style of “love elegy” in poems. Sappho and Catullus, as seen in “Sleep, Darling” and “If Ever Anyone Anywhere” respectively, use diction, the speaker, figurative language, and imagery in similar and different ways to express varying versions of love.
The androgynous were made of male and a female, a male and a male or a female and a female. After they were separated, it is the female and male who would reproduce on hugging. The same sex would enjoy intercourse when they hugged. Today, each one of us has a better half. Men who split from androgynous are attracted to women and look for them to form relationship with. Lesbians are women who split from women while the men who split from other men are the gay men in the society today. Aristophanes refers to these men as lovers of love, masculine, and brave and bold. He says that they are naturally manly and this makes them the best
Though Sappho’s poetry has been interpreted like a lesbian poetry, it seems that it would be wrong to label it like this, because relations between people need to be put in a historical context and one should not forget that in ancient Greece, men traveled a lot and had to fight wars, while women generally waited for them, so, it was normal that men would socialize with men and women with women, for a longer time and not necessarily with physical consequences. In antiquity, Sappho was admired for the elegance of her writing, but also for her daring tone and for the courage to speak up for women and for bringing up very personal feelings, presented in a very sensual
There are currently 107,011 kids in the U.S. foster care system that are hoping and waiting to be adopted, so just imagine how many of those children could be adopted if more lesbian and gay couples were able to adopt. According to lifelong adoption agencies more and more gay and lesbian couples are becoming parents through artificial insemination, a surrogate, or LGBT adoption. It’s hard for same sex couples to adopt because adoption agencies that have religious beliefs against same sex couples reject them, or a state law prohibits same sex parents. Same sex couples face much opposition from a large number of people even though they do not have well supported arguments for their beliefs. Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure
“About 19 percent of same-sex couples raising children reported having an adopted child in the house in 2009, up from just 8 percent in 2000.” As society changes there opinions on same-sex marriage they more gays and lesbians are adopting. There was recent rise in same-sex adoption but there is still people in U.S. that are against same-sex adoption. Recently a judge in Kentucky objected gay and lesbian adoption. This caused a huge uproar and had people thinking whether or not gay and lesbian adoption is okay for the children. One article feels that state legislators are putting more hurdles in the way of adoption and preventing children from getting into loving and caring homes (“Adoptions are declining,”2017). Gays and lesbians being able to adopt will provide loving homes, get kids out of foster care, and they choose to be parents.
The “New Woman” refers to a category of women, beginning in the late 19th century, who adopted feminist ideals, wishing to break gender roles and gain independence from and equality with men (Newton, 560-61). While not one specific, real person, the “New Woman” is an overarching term that encompasses the many women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first generation of these women strove for economic and social autonomy with roles separate from the home and family spheres of domesticity (Newton, 561). For example, they would not marry, but instead receive a higher education and work in a profession (Newton, 561). To replace their commitments to men and family, they instead formed close and passionate relationships with other women, though these relationships were not sexual in nature, people viewed women as passionless and pure. The second generation, however, living in a more modernist culture of sexual freedom, began to discuss female sexuality, and wanted to participate in more opportunities only offered to men, including drinking and smoking (Newton, 564). Because of the societal idea that only men were sexual beings, New Women had to explain the intimate relationships among them, which had become sexual in the second generation. Thus, they created the idea of masculine lesbians, who had male souls that caused them their sexual feelings (Newton, 566). The “mythic mannish lesbian” refers to these women who dressed and acted in a masculine manner
When Sappho expressed herself through her wonderful poetry, she spoke on behalf of many women of her time. Interestingly, she lived through verbal expression and spoke about it so refined in her own poetic style. She knew what women in antiquity wanted and expressed it so well in her writing style.
Unlike twenty-first century America, ancient Greece viewed human sexuality depending on the person’s control on their sexual impulses. Bisexuality was very accepted and the most widespread same – sex relation was between an adult man and a pubescent boy. This relationship was usually just for sexual pleasure, than an actual emotional committed relationship. Like mentioned before ancient Greeks did not believe in sexual orientation rather, it depended whether the person was the penetrator or the penetrated. As a dominant male centered society, men imposed their