arts + lit LGBTQ+ Pride in the arts

With Pride Month now in full swing, Rosie Batsford, News Editor, discusses LGBTQ+ representation in arts and lit

LGBTQ+ individuals and relationships have a longstanding place within arts and literature but, up until recent decades, these voices have been heavily censored and regarded with suspicion. The Well of Loneliness (1928) by Radclyffe Hall was initially incredibly controversial due to its depiction of a lesbian relationship. Due to concerns that it may influence women to become lesbians, it was banned in England under the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 and remained banned until 1959. However, in 2023, literature depicting LGBTQ+ lives is (generally) less taboo.

Many contemporary authors are building representations of LGBTQ+ lives into their works. Felix Ever After (2020) by Kacen Callender is a young adult novel narrated from the perspective of a black trans teenager as he seeks to understand his identity on a path of self-discovery and relationships. What Belongs to You (2016) by Garth Greenwell features a gay relationship and explores how your past and not being accepted for who you are influences the way you love. Call Me by Your Name (2007) by André Aciman follows Elio, a young man who engages in a gay relationship with his father’s assistant. Although their relationship is temporary, it helps Elio uncover and understand his sexual identity. The novel was adapted into a film in 2017 and has become one of the most popular titles on Netflix.

HE SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND HIS IDENTITY ON A PATH OF SELF-DISOVERY AND RELATIONSHIPS

The same deconstructing of censorship has taken place in art. Based in London, the Vagina Museum dedicates itself to “vulvas, vaginas, and gynae anatomy”, offering exhibitions of artworks and sculptures. Many of these works capture LGBTQ+ encounters, including “Siesta” (1928-1932) by Otto Schoff, “La Femme Damnée” (1859) by Nicolas Francois Octave Tassaert, and “Les Deux Amies” (1739-1821) by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée. Similar artworks are found in other museums, too, such as the engraving of “Three Women Bathing” (1548) by Sebald Beham, currently held in the National Gallery of Art.

My final recommendation is the artist Dora Carrington. Born in 1893, Carrington was often known for her ‘boyish’ looks and was known to push against typical feminine archetypes. She was primarily a painter but

Female rage

also created decorative pottery, book designs, and quilts, among other mediums. Her career began at the Slade School of Art in 1910, through which she met the founder of The Bloomsbury Group, the openly gay Lytton Strachey, with whom Carrington formed an intimate relationship. Carrington has previously been in a relationship with Henrietta Bingham, the muse for many of her artworks.

Arts and Lit writers recommend books that fuel their rage against the patriarchy

READING about a powerful woman letting out her feminine rage can help release some of my own, without having to do any of the screaming myself. As an avid fantasy reader, I am drawn to female rage projected through magic, and this is found in its extremity in R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War

The protagonist, Rin, is the embodiment of female rage. The story begins with her family trying to pawn her off to a man, and that is where Rin’s fury begins to brew. She will do anything to escape this fate: joining a military academy to become a soldier instead of a wife. However, Rin cannot escape prejudice. Amongst prestigious nobles, she must ward off attacks on her gender, class and her darker skin, until she finds a way to hone her anger into a weapon.

Rin can access the power of the phoenix. Yes, her fire within becomes actual fire that she can use to slay her enemies. Her rage is her greatest weapon, and it is intriguing to read how she changes with such power. This story explores how formidable our emotions really are. Although you will be rooting for her from the start, throughout the course of the book trilogy, you may start questioning whether there is a point when one’s rage can be taken too far. This is even when her rage is fully justified, and perhaps essential for a woman to survive in her world.

Rin must strive for justice, consumed by her rage, leaving only ashes in her wake.

Emma Kennedy

SYLVIA Plath’s The Bell Jar is a prime example of feminine rage that is ignored and suppressed to the point where it is put in a bell jar and labelled as something entirely different: teenage confusion and depression. It’s easy to see why this happens.

Plath wrote The Bell Jar in the 1960s, at a time where women’s mental health was always glossed over or simply someone else’s problem. Throughout the story, the deeper subtext shows us that rather than just being stuck in a rut with her academic and personal life, Esther struggles a lot with finding her place in the world because she is constantly reminded that what she brings to the world is replaceable and therefore finds it difficult to find her place. The novel can feel familiar as students with high academic ability who can sometimes feel like their efforts will never be enough.

The rage isn’t particularly evident throughout but underneath the surface, it