Le Sommeil [The Sleepers], which depicts two women entwined in a post-coital embrace, caused a stir when it was first shown in the 1870s. The police were called in, and the painting was not shown again until the 1980s. But its brief showing had an influence on a number of contemporary artists, and helped challenge the taboos associated with lesbian relationships. For modern audiences it’s a good reminder that people in the 19th century were not ignorant of lesbian relationships, as we tend to believe. And it’s pretty damn sexy, don’t you think?
Pride month is coming up, so here’s a reminder that the Stonewall riots (in which trans women of color fought for us to have rights) wasn’t about marriage equality, it was about police brutality.
and that the fight for marriage equality wasn’t about being heteronormative it was about lgbt couples being able to have the same legal rights as straight couples regarding their relationship especially during the aids epidemic. it was so that lgbt people could be with their partners while they died.
This will always remain my favorite vintage lesbian art… Do I even have to break it down for you?
I just thought it was a mermaid trapped under ice
the caption says “Are Parisian women becoming more thrifty? Seeing a lot of different types of panties this year!”
presumably half those girls are commando or wearing thongs. this is totally lesbian pinup ads.
If it were just a mermaid trapped under ice, there would be no reason all the skaters above the ice are wearing skirts and are presumably women. also look at that mermaid’s smile she knows what’s up.
I feel the need to correct the French translation, primarily because I’m garbage, but also because the actual translation has a significantly different meaning than what is written above.
The French says, “La Parisienne deviendrait elle économe ? … On voit beaucoup moins de pantalons, cette année ?” “Are Parisian women becoming thrifty? Seeing much fewer pant(ie)s this year!”
I know I’ve reblogged this 5000x before but 1. Never with that corrected translation and 2. I don’t care
this is a great ad but how is she smoking under water?
Lesbian mermaid magic
The cigarette indicates it’s sexual too.
Although I agree that it being usable underwater is a baffling detail
I think the cigarette is to make damn sure you know it’s sexual.
Cigarettes were often used in movies and art to indicate that that woman is a lesbian!
Also see how she has 2 fins not one? It symbolises trousers instead of a skirt, another way to hint at the woman being a lesbian in artwork at the time.
I’m just incredibly relived for the corrected translation, the nonsensical-ness of ‘thrifty = more pants’ has troubled me for a while now.
GUYS.
Although it is made to look like a cigarette–look at the box next to her. It’s a sardine box. She is holding her last sardine like a cigarette. So it actually makes more sense than a cigarette under water….
(Obviously the sexy cigarette imagery is still there, it’s just a clever way to work around the water bit)
this post is just the gift that keeps on giving.
I can’t even imagine being SO STRAIGHT that I’d think this was “just a mermaid trapped under ice” smh
if you’re lgbt and a transmisogynist like i’m really sorry you’re an idiot and don’t realize trans women literally created this community cause that’s really sad, like we wouldn’t have a community without them. you waving your pitchfork and incomprehensible rhetoric to thank them is sad. and all i’m gonna feel in response is utter secondhand embarrassment for how stupid you are. like you’re dumb bye
don’t just like this, reblog it! let trans women know you love and support them in this community!
As we approach June and the anniversary of Stonewall, I just want to remind everyone that twerfs/terfs have no connection to the spirit of Pride or Stonewall. Those were founded by the very people they want to dehumanize, and twerf ideology aligns with the anti-lgbt.
Trans women were the founders of LGBT liberation and too many people are trying to deny that (these people are transphobes)
I am genuinely unclear on why a school shooting victim would relevant to the business of the Centers for Disease Control
@tanoraqui There is a law that prevents the CDC from studying gun violence. It’s the NRA’s fault, like so many things, they keep blocking attempts to get the law repealed.
I’m reading this queer anthology and the first story is a fairytale about a queer Latina girl whose anger was so fierce it literally poisoned the rich white men who unfairly captured the transgender soldier she was in love with and my heart is literally bursting I’m going to cry
the second story is about two queer girls who leave their husbands-to-be at the altar and flee together on a boat to become pirates IM FUCKING SCREAMING THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF GAY CONTENT I SIGNED UP FOR
okay this is the anthology and it’s entirely written by queer authors and inspired by the stories of real queer teens in history and it’s the most wholesome and epic thing I’ve read in a long while
Fun fact: Though being gay in the 40s sucked, being gay in the military was easier, and pretty common. There were apparently, at one point in time time so many lesbians in the military that when they tried to crack down on it, the girls wrote back and said “Look I can give you the names, but you’ll lose some of your best officers, and half your nurses and secretaries.” And they pretty much shut up about it unless you were especially bad at subtlety. (Source: Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers. A good source for gay history from 1900s onwards.)
Sergeant Phelps worked for General Eisenhower. Four decades after Eisenhower had defeated the Axis powers, Phelps recalled an extraordinary event. One day the general told her, “I’m giving you an order to ferret those lesbians out.’ We’re going to get rid of them.”
“I looked at him and then I looked at his secretary. who was standing next to me, and I said, ‘Well, sir, if the general pleases, sir, I’ll be happy to do this investigation for you. But you have to know that the first name on the list will be mine.’
“And he kind of was taken aback a bit. And then this woman standing next to me said, ‘Sir, if the general pleases, you must be aware that Sergeant Phelps’s name may be second, but mine will be first.’
“Then I looked at him, and I said, ‘Sir, you’re right. They’re lesbians in the WAC battalion. And if the general is prepared to replace all the file clerks, all the section commanders, all of the drivers—every woman in the WAC detachment—and there were about nine hundred and eighty something of us—then I’ll be happy to make the list. But I think the general should be aware that among those women are the most highly decorated women in the war. There have been no cases of illegal pregnancies. There have been no cases of AWOL. There have been no cases of misconduct. And as a matter of fact, every six months since we’ve been here, sir, the general has awarded us a commendation for meritorious service.’
“And he said, ‘Forget the order.’
– The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America
I’ve reblogged this before but it didn’t have these comments and HOLY HOT DAMN DID IT NEED THEM.
So, when someone sits down to write a fiction about Women commandos, and a Dudebro steps in to say “Huh, that is so unrealistic huh.”
Harold… oh, Harold…sit down, shut up, and stay out of our way.
History is infinitely gayer than a lot of people want to admit ❤
Steel Phoenix Studios 