Throughout history, the LGBTQ
community is a group of people that have been ostracized, verbally abused, and
physically assaulted. Depression and
suicide has also plagued this group of people.
While many have hypothesized their own reasons as to why these people
have been treated this way, in this essay, we will examine how the rising
awareness of this community is providing a growing sense of a collective
identity in which these individuals can feel free to express themselves, thus
contributing to their society.
In
Jeanette Winterson’s, “The Poetics of Sex,” she writes a poetic piece in which
she details the life she is building with her lesbian lover and how this
relationship provides her with a sense of empowerment. To this day there are many individuals who
are greatly against this community, and some even deny their existence. Winterson write’s a moving piece in which she
calls her lover “Picasso” and describes how she is going through her “blue”
phase (1446). Her connection between her
love life with another woman and art provides an interesting manner of writing
that serves as an attempt to bring legitimacy to her relationship. For thousands of years, heterosexual
individuals have written poetical pieces describing the love of their lives and
comparing their partners to the muses of the gods. Winter’s writings attempt to suggest that the
love between hetero and homosexual couples is no different. It is in this way that Winterson’s piece acts
as a bridge between those who belong to this community and those who actively
fight and/or ignore it.
The
act of actually writing this piece serves a purpose in and of itself. Heterosexual individuals have entire
libraries filled with narratives about their form of love, but historically,
homosexual couples do not have much literature devoted to them save for the
reference in the DMT referring to individuals feeling how they are feeling as
having a mental disorder. It is only
until recently that homosexual literature is being written and published in a
more mainstream sense. While this form
of written expression may have been underground even decades ago, today most
book stores have sections devoted solely for homosexual literature. Today
you can find scenes in books such as “flesh of her flesh she fucked her” (1449)
while 50 years ago it would have been more rare. It is through writing that others possessing
the same belief as Winterson can find legitimacy and begin to move forward in
finding creative ways in which to express their own emotions.
Winterson’s
work also serves as a form of social advancement for the LGBTQ community. The concept of gay marriage is something that
our society is currently wrestling with.
Winterson wrote this text in 1999 and she alludes to this desire to
obtain these rights. In the text she
writes, “When you have sunk me to the pit I’ll mine you in return and we shall
be husbands to each other as well as wives” (1450). Clearly the concept of marriage is not lost
on this group of individuals. Winterson
also provides hope to those who wish to be together throughout their lives, but
are not legally allowed to yet. Towards
the end of her piece she writes “Picasso has loved me for fifty years and she
loves me still” (1452). Even though she
never marries Picasso they still find a way to have a lifelong relationship
together, proving that members of this community can in fact, sustain
relationships, regardless of what society believes.
After
examining Winterson’s text, The Poetics of Sex, we can see how this work serves
as a way in which to help other homosexual couples find a sense of
identity. Historically, homosexual
couples could not find these forms of literature and were condemned by
society. It is through the writing and
publication of works such as this that members of the LGBTQ community can begin
to find a sense of belonging.
Works
Cited
Winterson,
Jeanette. “The Poetics of Sex”. The
Norton Anthology of Literature by Women Vol. 2. Ed. Gilbert, Sandra M. and
Gubar, Susan. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1446-1452. Print.
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