WITHOUT PENS: WOMEN BEYOND HETERONORMY IN SHAMIM SARIF’S THE WORLD UNSEEN AND CHINELO OKPARANTA’S UNDER THE UDALA TREES Operational Definition of Terms and Acronyms
• Heteronormativity - Societal lifestyle and standards that prioritize heterosexual marriage and encourage the assumption that heterosexuality is the acceptable sexual orientation
• LGBT - acronym standing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
• Othered -To treat a person or groups of people as different and alien to oneself.
• Lesbianism -refers to sexual and romantic desire between women
• Pens - figurative representation of the phallus
Background of the Study
The controversies surrounding the issue of homosexuality …show more content…
Artemis and Callisto are portrayed as lovers, Zeus disguises himself as Artemis so as to lure Callisto to his embrace. Sexual relationships were also evident in the mid-19th century among women. This attribution was due to very strict gender based roles that widened women’s’ social circles for emotional help. These relationships were majorly formed basing on socioeconomic status. Since lesbianism was not well defined during that time, this kind of relationships were often seen to be homosocial. Although this kind of relationship existed, heterosexual marriages were still the norm. It is, however, highly likely that sexual relationships developed beyond an emotional level. In the 20th century, many literary writers addressing homosexuality emerged. The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe Hall, the first novel in English with lesbian themes. It sequences the life of a woman, Stephen Gordon. Her sexual orientation is of no secret but the people around her do not sit well with it. Stephen meets Mary and the fell in love but their relationship is met with strong rejection. It was later found to be obscene by a British court and was banned for it defended unnatural practices among women. The emergence of the feminist movement saw the …show more content…
A. (2010). Our sister Killjoy, or, Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint. New York: Longman.
Butler, J. (2015). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge
Butler, J. (January 01, 1997). Imitation and gender insubordination. Second Wave: a Reader in Feminist Theory. New York: Routledge
History of lesbianism. (2018, January 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:30, February 16, 2018 https://africacheck.org/reports/same-sex-relations-illegal-in-34-african-states-likely-35/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/lesbian-feminism Lauretis, T. (1991). Queer theory: Lesbian and gay sexuality. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press.
Lesbian literature. (2018, January 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:29, February 16, 2018, from Okparanta, C. (2017). Under the Udala Trees. London: Granta.
Sarif, Shamim. (2017). world unseen. s.l. bywater books.
Sigmund Freud's views on homosexuality. (2017, November 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:57, February 18,
• Heteronormativity - Societal lifestyle and standards that prioritize heterosexual marriage and encourage the assumption that heterosexuality is the acceptable sexual orientation
• LGBT - acronym standing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
• Othered -To treat a person or groups of people as different and alien to oneself.
• Lesbianism -refers to sexual and romantic desire between women
• Pens - figurative representation of the phallus
Background of the Study
The controversies surrounding the issue of homosexuality …show more content…
Artemis and Callisto are portrayed as lovers, Zeus disguises himself as Artemis so as to lure Callisto to his embrace. Sexual relationships were also evident in the mid-19th century among women. This attribution was due to very strict gender based roles that widened women’s’ social circles for emotional help. These relationships were majorly formed basing on socioeconomic status. Since lesbianism was not well defined during that time, this kind of relationships were often seen to be homosocial. Although this kind of relationship existed, heterosexual marriages were still the norm. It is, however, highly likely that sexual relationships developed beyond an emotional level. In the 20th century, many literary writers addressing homosexuality emerged. The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe Hall, the first novel in English with lesbian themes. It sequences the life of a woman, Stephen Gordon. Her sexual orientation is of no secret but the people around her do not sit well with it. Stephen meets Mary and the fell in love but their relationship is met with strong rejection. It was later found to be obscene by a British court and was banned for it defended unnatural practices among women. The emergence of the feminist movement saw the …show more content…
A. (2010). Our sister Killjoy, or, Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint. New York: Longman.
Butler, J. (2015). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge
Butler, J. (January 01, 1997). Imitation and gender insubordination. Second Wave: a Reader in Feminist Theory. New York: Routledge
History of lesbianism. (2018, January 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:30, February 16, 2018 https://africacheck.org/reports/same-sex-relations-illegal-in-34-african-states-likely-35/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/lesbian-feminism Lauretis, T. (1991). Queer theory: Lesbian and gay sexuality. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press.
Lesbian literature. (2018, January 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:29, February 16, 2018, from Okparanta, C. (2017). Under the Udala Trees. London: Granta.
Sarif, Shamim. (2017). world unseen. s.l. bywater books.
Sigmund Freud's views on homosexuality. (2017, November 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:57, February 18,