“Went out last night with a crowd of my friends; they must’ve been women, ‘cause I don&r
“Went out last night with a crowd of my friends; they must’ve been women, ‘cause I don’t like no men …”— Ma Rainey, “Prove It on Me Blues” (1928)“… [Ma Rainey’s] ‘indiscreet’ lesbian behavior even got her into trouble in 1925 when she was arrested for a lesbian orgy at her home involving the women in her chorus. A neighbor called the police because of the noise. Reports say the women scrambled for their clothes and ran out the back door, but Rainey’s escape was foiled when she fell down a staircase. She was accused of running an indecent party and thrown in jail, from which Bessie Smith bailed her out the following morning. The news of her arrest did not hurt Ma Rainey, however. Like Gladys Bentley, she even capitalized on the shock effect that could be produced by hints of her bisexuality. Her recording of ‘Prove It on Me Blues,’ a blues monologue by a woman who prefers women, was advertised with a picture of a plump black woman, looking much like Ma Rainey, in a man’s hat, tie, and jacket, talking to two entranced feminine flappers. In the distance, observing them, there is a policeman. The copy that accompanies the picture tries to pique the potential buyer’s salacious interest by hinting at the possible autobiographical nature of the song: ‘What’s all this? Scandal? Maybe so, but you wouldn’t have thought it of “Ma” Rainey. But look at that cop watching her! What does it all mean?’ The record company rightly assumed there were enough buyers in the 1920s who would not only understand the image and the implications but would be intrigued.”— Lillian Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers (1991) -- source link
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