Christine and the Queens - at Glastonbury

[NotHavingIt]

I'd never been fully aware of Christine and The Queens ( Heloise Letissier) before her set at Glastonbury on Saturday, but the complete performance of her new album was pretty phenomenal and worth a watch ( Link to BBC IPlayer below).

As I understand it she has recently 'come out' as a transman and sometimes now uses the stage name of 'Redcar'. Up until recently she has been experimenting and performing as a woman playing with 'masculine tropes'.

She has been in a relationship with a woman called 'Ocean' who has herself now transitioned - but in her case she has documented, on French TV, her transition journey, involving recovery from a mastectomy and the use of testosterone ( she was a good looking woman, not so much as a man).

Heloise says, in an interview I've read, that people keep suggesting to her ways she could do 'being a transman' better - by which she assumes they mean 'top surgery', hormones and cutting her hair short and so on - but she has held back because she says she doesn't feel the need to do all of that to explore her 'transness'. Good on her, and hopefully she holds out on that.

Her performance at Glastonbury was extraordinary. True art; although at times just a little bit mental. It involves numerous interior monologues as she documents her recent experiences ( and traumas) around her mother dying, her mental health struggles, suicide ideation, sex, and finally her re-birth as a boy.

She strips off her waistcoat near the beginning of the set to reveal intact breasts ( I was getting nervous that would not be the case at that point) but with her nipples covered with plasters ( this must have been on BBC guidance, as I think a public display of nipples on a woman is what is considered offensive, whereas not for a man). She performed the rest of the set topless.

So much food for thought and reflection on the back of this stage set - but as peice of complete art it was pretty amazing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ft6v6z

Well, my old dad did moan about gender non conforming David Bowie, and struggled with Marc Bolan.

I seem to remember fulminating over Boy George (and Dexys Midnight Runners for some reason, lol).

Never went for Madonna's "Sex" phase either (and the less said about Madge 2023 "vintage", the better).

Whatever we all felt about or gender bending cultural triggers being, um, triggered, I don't think we ever thought we'd see a situation where the reed bent so much in the wind that it snapped clean in half.

For me, whatever I think about Christine or the music, the trans declaration means that my conclusions are of an individual that is selfish (what is the effect on young girls, and boys, in thrall?), narcissistic (belief you can transgress biology), and not quite all there (another demonstration of pain and confusion, not serenity and strength).

Another victim of frailty projected as invunerability, 2023 version.

Just like we were all meant to view self harm, cutting, drug addiction, anorexia/bullimia, cult memberships, as projections of strength, and self belief.

It's just so tedious.

I think glittery stars are all within their aesthetic but also serve the practical purpose of preventing her bass strap from rubbing. She’s quite vocal about women’s freedom to go topless if they choose. She is Danish after all and collective/public nudity is a lot more socially acceptable. There’s a long line of hard rock and punk artists going nude and partially nude from Iggy onwards: GG Allin, Hawkwind, Siousxie, L7, the Slits, RHCP …

it’s art. Or attention seeking. Which kind of goes with the territory if you’re a rock star.

That all sounds very self obsessed, self centred and egotistical. Par for the course then.

I'm talking about Victoria from Maneskin.

re: Boy George - he's known these days as being vaguely GC, a small point of interest is that in his excellent 90s autobiography 'take it like a man', he did (kinda) describe himself as a "transvestite", and per the title was absolutely clear that this meant 'man'.

Well, that's an important point.

Transvestites hardly ever claimed they were women. The female equivalent didn't really exist. And there was no trans sector in the original Stonewall, Section 28 fight, the battle against AIDS.

Thank you Malcolm Clark for the real history lesson, not the after the event historical revisionism of the current trans activists.

I look at Christine, and can think great music. I also look at the transing and can think what a sell out Christine is.