BA (Hons) Philosophy student, Emily Carter, shares her literary recommendations for Pride Month 2021.
By Emily Carter
BA (Hons) Philosophy
Pride is a movement forged in protest. The Stonewall riots began in the early hours of 28 June 1969 where members of the gay (LGBT) community fought back against police brutality. Pride Month is aforementioned as ‘The Mother of Pride,’ where LGBT+ people can openly express their sexual orientation without fear of prejudice.
Camus once said, ‘What’s true of all evils in the world is true of the plague as well’. Hatred and homophobia against those who love should be thwarted. Amidst the pandemic, pride is looking a little different this year, events are being cancelled and as a friend expressed to me recently queer spaces are becoming even more remote and unreachable. Even though spaces are beginning to open back up, people still feel anxious being in large groups. Yet, love should be expressed, and we can and should choose to accept love, through our choices in literature.
Sappho – Stung with Love
Sappho was a classical poet, who told the classic stories of the Trojan war from a women’s perspective. She muses on the female experience of love and passion. Writing about ‘eros’, an ancient Greek term for erotic love, as a troublesome and uncontrollable creature, which need not be tamed, but instead ought to be celebrated.
Oscar Wilde – A Picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde’s novel was first published in 1890. Its gothic and philosophical writing tells the story of Dorian, a young and beautiful young man who forms a relationship with two other men, Basil Hallward an artist who paints his portrait and Lord Henry, who tells him beauty is the only thing in life worth pursuing. Many critiques despised Wilde’s novels homoeroticism, between its characters, calling it ‘unclean,’ ‘effeminate’ and ‘contaminating’. The Picture of Dorian Gray was heavily censored and even used as evidence against Wilde when he was put on trial for gross indecency.
James Baldwin- Giovanni’s Room
Baldwin writes: “Much has been written of love turning to hatred, of the heart growing cold with the death of love.” In Giovanni’s room, the protagonist struggles with his relationships with other men in his life, meeting Giovanni in a gay bar as an open expression of his sexuality. Yet, he feels “closeted”, in many other aspects of his life. Sexuality is not simply a conflict between who the protagonist feels like he can love in a heteronormative society, but also between homosexuality and bisexuality.
Audre Lorde- Zami a New Spelling of my Name
Zami is a Carriacouan name for women who work together as friends and lovers. Lorde argues she owes her power and strength to the women in her lives and the book is dedicated to portraits of other women in her life. She describes the work as a biomythography that combines history, biography, and myth. It describes how lesbians lived in New York, Connecticut, and Mexico during 1950-1970 and how Black identities intersect with queer identities.
Pride is all about celebrating love. We can still choose love, despite public marches and displays of love being ill-advised this year. I challenge you to pick up one of these books and begin to understand the intersections and myriad of ways love can be expressed.