The Joan of Arc theatre group are at it again

[Definitelyrandom]

This time with a play about Elizabeth Southerden Thompson who painted military subjects in the 19th century, was a Catholic convert, married a British officer, went with him round the British Empire, raised 6 children and retired to a castle in Ireland. While she was a keen amateur military historian, there is more than a suggestion that she started painting military scenes as a wheeze to distinguish herself from other women artists.

But......

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/apr/18/victorian-war-artist-elizabeth-southerden-thompson

"“She was transgressing gender and the expectations of women at the time,” says Milk Presents’ Luke Skilbeck who will co-direct the production with Smith. “That’s a queer act.”"

If that statement isn't putting women into a stereotypical box, I'm not sure what is.

The "cast is made up of drag performers including Death Drop’s LJ Parkinson and Emer Dineen who plays Elizabeth. Drag kings will depict the academicians, those men intent on keeping Thompson from having a seat at the table. “If we had men saying the things that they said it would be gross. We’re sending it up a little bit,” says Brammar.......

The show will also be informed by the spirit of music hall, Smith explains, because it was a popular form of entertainment at the time and it accommodated different forms of gender expression. While the language of the period may have been different, says Skilbeck, “If I was transgender at the time and wanted to find other trans people, I’d probably find them in the music hall.”

“I want people to have the sense that they are in a queer space,” he continues. “So, we cast people who really know how to work the crowd.”"

This is all far more tangential - indeed irrelevant - to the subject than even the Joan of Arc one was. Poor woman will be turning in her grave.....

I had a laugh at that article. From it, I deduced I must be queer and infuriating, just like her.
Somebody does need to do a comedy about all of this stuff. When you step back and observe it from a biological and historical ‘lens’ it’s ridiculous.

Oh for godssake.

Ffs 🤷‍♀️

Oh FFS. My response to non-binary is that I’ve never met a binary person in my life, now it turns out that most people I know are all queer now too. Maybe because I’m an engineer, not an artist, I won’t get outed and have to join the lgbtqia+ network at work.

FFS, are they trolling women at this point? Any historical woman doing anything beyond child rearing and house keeping is 'queer' now. Whatever that means?

Looking forward to Marie Curie: Transgressive Scientist where a succession of drag kings educate the audience on how she queered science

"“She was transgressing gender and the expectations of women at the time,” says Milk Presents’ Luke Skilbeck who will co-direct the production with Smith. “That’s a queer act.”"

Right. So any woman who deviates from some tradwife/Barbie type of norm is going to be labelled 'queer', now, are they?

Progressive. Much bold.

She wasn't transgressing expectations of a well educated upper class woman of that era. Someone like Mary Anning certainly transgressed expectations of both her class and sex, for comparison.

So any woman doing anything against society norms must really want to be a man or not a woman.

God this is so boring now

Should we all be queer now, Father?

“She was transgressing gender and the expectations of women at the time,” says Milk Presents’ Luke Skilbeck who will co-direct the production with Smith. “That’s a queer act.”

Someone this stupid probably needs watering twice a day.

How do "expectations" change if no one transgresses them?

Men used to wear nightshirts.. were the first men to wear shorts instead transgressing expectations?

They want free advertising. You are giving it to them.

Sounds dreadful!

I think the Guardian is doing the majority of the heavy lifting there.

*Somebodiesmother · Today 16:00

They want free advertising. You are giving it to them.*

Wouldn't want anyone buying a ticket by accident!

Yes, child. Say three Judith Butlers and continue to recite anime memes if you wish to reach the promised land.

Sent to my teenage Dd. Her reply: ‘how f*cked up is that. Rewriting the story of the dead to fit your needs. It’s callous.’

I feel so desperately sorry for these modern young women who feel they can only be exciting and do things that make them happy if they disclaim being women. Fgs what convinced them that that women can't do that unless they're men. Or queer. Or other exciting labels?

Do wtf you like in female biology- you're womaning. Enjoy it ffs.

If anyone would like to read Elizabeth Butler's entirely delightful autobiography, which strangely enough gives no hint of transgressive queerness but simply details her endeavours as an artist, albeit one who was drawn to what she called the 'warrior spirit', it’s freely available on the Open Library

Thank you for the link! Looks v interesting.

This is like watching reverse suffrage. You wonder who they see as left in womanhood - surrendered wives and saggy titted service provision units..... and male people with long fingernails and high heels.

Looks fab, thank you!

I bet you could get Arts Council funding for that (as long as you can shoe horn in some Transwomen)

This is appropriation from feminism. The queer (a group anyone can now join, however privileged that person actually is on the woke scale) is arguing that early activism to widen women's roles was just another form of queering, i.e., making everything meaningless without actually producing any change (however tiny).

It makes the way inequality actually worked in that society invisible by turning it into something about one individual only and by focusing on her membership or presumed membership in both an oppressing and an oppressed demographic group. That doesn't increase our understanding of the vast underlying causes for the existence of those groups or that those underlying causes are not at all the same.

I have come to detest queer theory, because in reality it only benefits those who use it to disguise their own privileged status (to use their own language) and tends to harm people with less privilege. It also decreases our ability to communicate or to make real changes in those underlying causes.

Can't wait for the arts to discover it's new trendy topic.

A few years back every production was somehow about S&M. Never thought I'd be wistful for the gimp masks and bondage.

This strikes me as “any woman who has ever done anything is queer.