I know we have left the topic of sexual orientation behind and probably discussed it enough...but after my Eng 543 class on Thursday, on Shakespeare; I had to share some more thoughts. I found it ironic that we are currently reading "Twelfth Night," as our bi-weekly play and this week happened to be discussing gender, cross dressing etc. in the histories. It occurred to me that a classic work such as a Shakespeare play may be a safe place to explore some of these sexual orientation issues, without crossing foreign boundaries on text. For instance, in "Twelfth Night," you have cross dressed characters as Shakespeare plays always had young boys playing the female roles and within this play a boy actor playing a female who disguises as a boy (I know too confusing.) Also, there are some illusions to possible same sex desires and homoerotic suggestions. It also opens up the discussion on of gender and its importance or unimportance. More on my book for this week later,
Staci
2 comments:
I like the idea of using some of Shakespeare's plays to facilitate a discussion of gender identity and cross-dressing.
I do think, however, we need to keep the issues of gender identity and cross-dressing distinct from issues of sexual orientation. The young male actors who played the female roles in Shakespeare's plays did so mainly because of the inequity between the sexes--women were simply not permitted to act on the stage (which can lead to a whole other conversation regarding sexism and the oppression of women). There was no connection between a young actor's role as a woman and his/her sexual orientation, just as there is no true correlation between cross-dressing and sexual orientation. I'm afraid that conflating the two (or even discussing them simultaneously) might confuse adolescents, or--even worse--lead to misconceptions about sexual orientation.
There are some rather subtle distinctions among gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation; we must tread carefully on this turf.
Yes, what you say about the actors and cross dressing is true. The boy actors playing a female role had nothing to do with sexual orientation. I wasn't suggesting that.
However, certain Shakespeare plays explore homoerotic desires through dialouge, "Twelfth Night," being one. We just read scholarly articles exploring characters in this play that are in love with characters of the same sex...and the ways in which the plays were a safe way for the audience to explore these desires even in the 16th century. This made me think about the way this play in paticular from the character stand point, not the necessarily the boys as cross dressed actors, opens up the discussion of sexual orientation in maybe a more scholarly manner, possibly because it is explored through history. I don't think adolescents would be confused by the cross dressed actors, because it should be explained like you mentioned as a part of the society's rules. I know the professor of Eng 543 said that his undergrads greatly enjoy this play; and maybe it is in terms of gender and gender identity. However I think it opens up a small window for other discussions if certain students were interested. I guess that was my point being that bringing sexual orientation into the secondary classroom is a touchy subject and if teachers want to breach that barrier in some way, the safest way would be through a text such as this where the issue of sexual orientation is hidden under many other discussable themes etc.
Staci
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