Mary Rose Museum's Queer Lense

Chat GPT has this to say on the matter

The discovery of numerous nit combs on the Mary Rose can symbolize the hidden stories of LGBT individuals throughout history. Just as nit combs were tools for grooming and caring for one's physical appearance, LGBT history has often been obscured or overlooked due to societal norms and prejudices.

In the context of LGBT history, the Mary Rose and its nit combs can be seen as a representation of how personal stories and experiences have been preserved and uncovered over time. Just as the excavation of the Mary Rose revealed a wealth of historical artifacts, modern historians and researchers have been unearthing the hidden narratives of LGBT individuals who lived in different eras.
Throughout history, many LGBT individuals faced challenges related to their sexual orientation or gender identity. The nit combs on the Mary Rose can symbolize the grooming and appearance-related challenges that people within the LGBT community may have faced in expressing their true selves while conforming to societal expectations. These challenges, much like the nit combs, have been a significant part of the lived experiences of LGBT individuals, even if their stories were not always recorded in historical records.

As society has evolved and become more accepting of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, the stories of LGBT individuals have gained greater visibility. The analogy of uncovering nit combs on the Mary Rose can be seen as a reflection of how these hidden narratives are gradually being revealed, acknowledged, and integrated into the broader tapestry of history.

In conclusion, the connection between LGBT history and the nit combs found on the Mary Rose lies in the metaphorical exploration of hidden stories and experiences. Just as the nit combs were artifacts that symbolize personal grooming and appearance, LGBT history speaks to the personal and often hidden struggles faced by individuals within the community. The process of uncovering and acknowledging these stories mirrors the archaeological discovery of historical artifacts, allowing for a more complete understanding of the past.

However, asking for something combining bananas and Queer History is rather amusing;

The banana, often depicted as a straightforward and common fruit, can symbolize the diversity of queer experiences that have been historically overlooked or oversimplified. Just as a banana's exterior may seem simple, its richness and complexity lie within. Similarly, LGBTQ+ history is marked by a myriad of stories, identities, and struggles that extend beyond surface-level understanding.

In the history of LGBTQ+ rights, the concept of "coming out of the closet" is central. The banana's peel can be seen as a metaphor for the closet, representing the protective layer that queer individuals often felt compelled to hide behind due to societal stigma and discrimination. Just as a banana's peel conceals its sweetness, queer individuals' authentic selves were often concealed by societal pressures.

The idea of "going bananas" can also reflect the vibrancy and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite facing challenges, discrimination, and violence, this community has shown incredible strength and solidarity, embracing their unique identities and standing up for their rights. Just as bananas are often associated with energy and vitality, queer history is marked by the energy and vitality of individuals who have fought for acceptance and equality.

Bananas have been used in various LGBTQ+ contexts, from colorful banana stickers used as symbols of queer identity to the famous "banana skirt" worn by Josephine Baker, a queer performer who challenged gender and racial norms. These instances illustrate how seemingly ordinary objects can become powerful symbols of resistance and identity within queer history.

Furthermore, the banana can serve as a reminder of the ongoing work needed to combat stereotypes and discrimination. Just as bananas can be mischaracterized based on their appearance, LGBTQ+ individuals have faced misconceptions and prejudices rooted in ignorance. By challenging these assumptions, the LGBTQ+ community and its allies continue to educate and advocate for understanding and acceptance.

In conclusion, bananas can be an intriguing and thought-provoking lens through which to explore aspects of queer history. From the hidden complexities beneath their surface to the symbolism of peeling away societal expectations, bananas provide a unique perspective on the diverse experiences, challenges, and victories that make up LGBTQ+ history.

Also I loved this picture in response to this on Twitter.

What really makes me cross about this is the amount of genuine gay history that is ignored. You will still see times when two same sex people are discovered having been buried together and historians still say that they must have been friends or such like.. Or the life of a famous person who spent their adult life living with a same sex ‘companion’ and there will be much question about why they never married.
There needs to be talk about how so many gay men and women would have been forced into relationships they didn’t want or who were imprisoned for being gay not that long ago. This bollocks is nothing to do with anything. Here is an item - sometimes a gay person used this item is just nothing.

I've always suspected that the charge of buggery against Hungerford was probably added to humiliate Cromwell (the were executed together) - ie look at this guy a known associate of Cromwell and look at what he got up to - an attempt to play with association fallacy. (Rather like the incest charges for Anne and George Boleyn.) After all they'd already done him for treason. That is of course pure conjecture on my part but rather better grounded than that in this article!

This is the sort of massive reach I might have made as a teenager in an exam I'd not revised for and didn't really know much about the subject. 😂

I suspect this has nailed it as the author was an intern who'd probably read a couple of books on gender theory and thought that you could take what is (when well used and understood) and interesting historical tool and apply it to random archaeological artefacts in an unthought out manner.

Really depressing as I volunteered for the Mary Rose for 3 years whilst at school and I had lots of interesting things to do that were actually constructive like helping to clean the nit combs and mounting the nits on slides for the archaeology team to look at down microscopes. I also got to take groups of the public to see the boat (in those days it was still on its side and being sprayed) and give them a talk that was full of facts rather than conjecture. Margaret Rule would have been unimpressed by this sort of nonsense.

There was a case a few years later when a master at Eton was accused of the same thing, and he was pardoned - probably because of his family connections. So yep, the accusation against Hungerford probably was for the humiliation value.

A charge of treason meant that Hungerford would be attainted, always a Brucey Bonus, and executed. It has been said that the charge of buggery was added for insult value.

The most common personal objects that we found on the Mary Rose were nit combs. There were 82 in total. These nit combs would have been mainly used by the men to remove nits from their hair, rather than using the comb to style their hair (which would have usually been covered up by a hat). However, for many Queer people today, how we wear our hair is a central pillar of our identity. Today, hairstyles are often heavily gendered, following the gender norm that men have short hair, and women have long hair. By ‘subverting’ and playing with gender norms, Queer people can find hairstyles that they feel comfortable wearing.

That's just completely an utterly 'how do I shoehorn my favourite topic of conversation that obsesses me to the point of excluding everything else?' comment that's got zero relevance to Tudor hairstyles. It doesn't inform, explain or do anything apart from tell the onlooker that the person who wrote that will use any excuse to bring queer into the conversation, however irrelevant - and if I'd been visiting the above is the sort of feedback I'd be leaving.

Re the Buggery Act mentioned upthread - the only person I can recall being executed under it was Walter Lord Hungerford, who was beheaded at the same time as Thomas Cromwell for sodomy with his manservants, employing a traitor as chaplain and trying to determine the length of the king's life (which was treason). Interestingly very few men seemed to have been executed under the Act then or subsequently, and I've a suspicion it was the treason and being a friend and supporter of Cromwell that really did for him.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history/walter-hungerford-and-the-buggery-act/

They could have used the comb as a jumping off point to explore the different norms of hair styles in Tudor England according to age, social status, marital status and sex. That would have been interesting.

Now I’ve gone off down the rabbit hole of Tudor sailors’ clothing and discovered Monmouth caps and the thrum hat.

Umm, the Mary Rose combs are double sided with a wider toothed and narrower toothed side. The wider side is going to be fuck all use for removing nits so I think we can say they did use it to style or at least tidy their hair. Hats were removed as part of making a courtesy and in the presence of a superior so the idea they didn’t care what their hair looked like because they wore hats is utter bobbins.

First rule of object based research: look at the actual object.

Looking forward to seeing Kew Gardens do an interpretative dance that covers all of the 36,000 fungi sexes.

My apologies if I've got that wrong. It seemed to be too coincidental with the other one (Dr) writing about queerness and hair.

I think that’s maybe a different Hannah McCann?

There’s -a Hannah McCann at the Mary Rose museum that’s the Collections Development and Curatorial Intern.

There’s a post on the Mary Rose Facebook page - the replies aren’t impressed with “queering” the Tudors either.

Queerness as an interpretative tool is there a dance for this as well? Surely there must be an interpretative dance.

Being serious what a load of absolute and utter wank that page is, please tell me no money was paid for that risible nonsense.

That’s pit rivers mentioned above. There is a doorway linking the two, they are separate museums though.

Also, if you read the nit comb nonsense im the style of Philomena Cunk it's 817% funnier.

It's pure Cunk!

Desperately want to see the queer mushroom cabaret now. I'm getting Fantasia vibes.

Also, if you read the nit comb nonsense im the style of Philomena Cunk it's 817% funnier.

😂 A teenager who doesn’t realise that the world existed before they/it/ were/was born

I read a little of the article in the nit comb hyperlink, it was all about scripts and performance, fgs it sounds exhausting. It was boring, who has time for all that navel (tee hee) gazing.

Don't you have one in your make up bag?! I never go anywhere without a bottle of Hedrin and a Nitty Gritty comb, especially if I'm off on a hot date. 🔥

And once again Mumsnetters have created humour and sanity from a depressing story. Thanks for making me laugh instead of tearing my hair out! I’ll come to Millicent’s fat museum too, as long as there’s a well-stocked cafeteria.

I assumed it was written by their teenage non binary intern!

Today, hairstyles are often heavily gendered, following the gender norm that men have short hair, and women have long hair.

And just think of all the people subverting those "gender norms" in the 20s with women with short bobs, the 60s/70s with men with long hair, and the 80s/90s with women with all manner of short hairstyles. Why is today considered more progressive exactly?