oh-sewing-circle:“Lesbian subcultures of the era responded in their own unique ways to Hollywood cin
oh-sewing-circle:“Lesbian subcultures of the era responded in their own unique ways to Hollywood cinema. Some working-class lesbians expressed their sexual identity by adopting either butch or femme personas, rigid roles that in some way parodied the very structure of heterosexuality. They often latched on to films and figures that spoke to those constructs. For example, Julie Harris’s tomboy in The Member of the Wedding (1952) and Joan Crawford’s butch gunslinger in Johnny Guitar (1954) became important lesbian icons. The love/hate relationship between Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in Johnny Guitar, a rare female western, also fueled lesbian fandoms, as did James Dean. Apparently Dean’s rumored bisexuality and his combination of both “tough” and “soft” masculine characteristics made him a role model for “baby butch” lesbians. Another key butch image of the 1950s was Doris Day as the title character in Calamity Jane (1953). Jane wears buckskin breeches, talks in a low raspy drawl, and repeatedly challenges any man to try to outdo her. The film plays with all sorts of gender turmoil: Wild Bill Hickok dressed up as a squaw at one point, and a male character named Francis is assumed to be female named Frances. Perhaps most memorably, the butch Jane and the femme Katie become roomates and move in together. Their duet about interior decorating, “A Woman’s Touch,” certainly had extra meaning for lesbian audiences of the era. Jane’s anthem “Secret Love” also became a huge hit in lesbian and gay bars because of its obvious ties to life in the closet.“ -From Queer Images: A History of Gay and Lesbian Film in America by Griffin Benshoff -- source link
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