Transgender arts and culture, January 2024

 Last year I wrote a number of items about art and photography shows, plays, films, etc. with a trans theme or slant. To judge by the number of views, they were popular so I plan to do more of these every month or so. 

Here I aim to show that in the world of creativity, being trans can be a status worth celebrating. This month I have spotted various items in France and Italy, with contributions from further afield.

 

Art

Paraventi: folding screens from the 17th to the 21st centuries at the Prada Foundation in Milan (to 26 Feb) may seem an odd exhibition to include here, but it is receiving much praise. It includes a section on how the queer community has turned a screen for dressing behind into something transgressive. 

From the Mousse Magazine review:

“Painting or sculpture? Art or furniture? Utilitarian or ornamental? Decorative, functional, architectural, or theatrical? This innovative exhibition examines the many questions and paradoxes surrounding the unfolding history of the paravent." (Curator Nicholas Cullinan)

Queer aesthetics are at the center of another series of works that transform this everyday object into an overtly subversive decoration element. From an Omega workshop screen by Duncan Grant from the Bloomsbury haven of Charleston to a rare 1929 screen made by Francis Bacon and World of Cats (1966) by British actor, writer, and collagist Kenneth Halliwell through to works by contemporary artists such as Kai Althoff, Marc-Camille Chaimowicz and Francesco Vezzoli, a culturally disruptive narrative is told. 

There are many online reviews of this exhibition but the most entertaining is this one from Designboom. 

 

Theatre

(1) In the port of Savona, NW Italy, the show Finora [Up till now] performed Anna Giusto and Giancarlo Mariottini, covers the personal search by actor and actress into male and female identities through the exaggerated femininity of drag queens and faux queens, so as to challenge the irrational threat that some people experience if they believe in rigid gender norms. 

Officine Solimano promotional material for Finora in Savona, Jan 2024

(2) Vladimir Luxuria, former member of the Italian parliament and trans actress, continues to tour with Princesa, a show about the difficult life and tragic death of Brazilian trans woman Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque, based on her autobiography. There was also a 2001 film about Princesa.

 

Promotional material for the Princesa tour

Film

Arche de Noé (Noah's Ark), starring Valérie Lemercier, is a French comedy drama about a centre for young LGBT people who have felt it necessary to leave home. They have six months to find their feet. 

There doesn't seem to be an English version yet, though, but the French trailer is here:

 

It has mixed reviews.

I discussed such a centre last year: Like a Box of Chocolates (second item: La Bulle).

 

Obituaries

Vincent Honoré, exhibitions curator at MO.CO. (the unique Modern Arts 'ecosystem' in Montpellier, France) died on November 29th last. His exhibitions included the highly acclaimed 2020-21 Possédé·e·s (Possessed) on the theme of "deviance, performance, resistance", exploring

the relationship between resistant or excluded bodies and esoterisms: a means to reappropriate and perform feminist, queer or decolonial identities.

The centre's pages, including videos and photos of the exhibition and a 32-page illustrated booklet you can download, are on there site here: Possessed.

Especially relevant were: M. Mahdi Hamad Hassanzada from Afghanistan's pictures of Divs, supernatural hermaphroditic creatures from Persian mythology; Pierre Molinier, a surrealist French artist (died 1976) who explored drag and fetish culture in his photography; Antonio Obà from Brazil who explores Afro-Brazilian animist religions, especially the Pomba-gira deity who represents beauty and desire and is seen as protective of the LGBT community; and Apolinia Sokol's fabulous transgender upgrade of Botticelli's Primavera that is the second image in the rolling photos on MO.CO.'s exhibition page (link above).

Incidentally, Montpellier is a pleasant and interesting historic city, worth visiting anyway. I was there a year ago: French holiday

 

Wishing you a good transition to February, with its lengthening days, Valentine's Day, Carnival and leap day.

Sue x

My photo with no clothes, or how to deal with pests

Let's talk about sex pests and some ways to stop their attention from escalating. 

From time to time we all get some inadequate man contacting us wanting to start a conversation that we know has only one direction, don't we?

This week I've had one who's kept pestering me with "Hi" and "You look beautiful" and "Good morning". 

In an idle moment earlier today I wondered if perhaps he wasn't the usual kind of pest as, to be fair, there are some genuine people out there. Indeed, I've made a good friend and ally from one such unpromising opening. So I replied with "Good morning. You keep contacting me but, to be honest, you may be wasting your time."

"You very beautiful," was his non sequitur.

"Thank you. That's the power of makeup!"

"Pls send photo with no clothes."

So I sent him this photo of my drying rack, with no clothes. 

I've not heard back from him!

Similarly, if you receive an unsolicited dick pic, I and other friends have found one effective response is to ask them, "Thanks for the picture, but what exactly is that? It looks a bit like a weird sort of penis thing, only smaller." 

As for one trans friend's priceless response to an aggressive and overcurious person who wanted to know why the hell 'he' was dressed like that, said friend replied that she was off to the clubs to pick up women. "Did you know," she said, "more women than you'd imagine are bi and there's nothing they love more than a crossdresser. It gives them the best of both worlds. I'm going to get laid tonight. How about you?" She continued on her way, leaving him open-mouthed, perhaps the gears of his mind slowly beginning to churn around the question of whether his lack of success with women was due to his not being a crossdresser, too. Hey, buddy, new recruits always welcome!

Stay safe out there and online. 

Winter sunset from home

 

Sue x

Winter fairy

 Now to talk about pretty things. Although these last two weeks have been mainly cold, clammy and grey, and my mood sinks in such weather and in the shorter days of winter, I watched a video earlier of someone making a winter fairy garden in a basket, with evergreen plants like holly and ivy, a tiny pool of water in the centre and unusual pieces of wood, stones and other material. The end result was lovely and it inspired me to tidy up my garden that gets very messy and neglected in winter.

I remember how one of my sisters loved fairies when she was little. Her favourite books were the little Flower Fairy volumes by Cicely Mary Barker. I won't put an example up here as they are still in copyright and trademarked but you can look at the website of her estate here: Flower Fairies: Meet the Fairies. 

There were many other such fairy books at home, beautifully illustrated by superb artists such as Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite ...

"Fairy Islands", illustration by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite for the book "Elves and Fairies".

I loved these books, too, but I was supposed to be a boy and they were definitely only for girls so I had to pretend to hate them and I was quite nasty to my sister about them out of sheer jealousy and the pain of having to stick with gender norms. Abuse passes down the line... 

But I still love fairies. I don't believe in fairies, but I love their delicacy. As I've said before, being trans is not just about the clothes.

 

"A fairy" by Arthur Rackham; pen, ink & watercolour.

So maybe I'll make a fairy garden, too, with plants and water that might attract delicate winged creatures like butterflies or dragonflies. I do like the little animals here, mainly small reptiles. But remember,

    Newts and blindworms do no wrong, 

come not near our fairy queen.

(Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Another magical thing happened yesterday. Occasionally, when the air is very clear, you can see the island of Corsica from here. It's not just a question of good seeing, though, but refraction since the whole island, even the highest peaks, are actually below the horizon, 200 km (125 miles) away and more.

Corsica, from western Liguria, January 21st 2024, by Paolo Valbusa on Facebook

Corsica is often visible in late May when the setting sun reflects off the last snows on the highest mountains and makes the whole thing an ethereal pink, like a blancmange floating on the sea. It's an amazing sight. I'd never seen it in January before.

Maybe it's true that the best things in life are free.

Weight loss

In my bid to become a fairyweight transwoman, I've lost another 3 pounds (1.36 kg) over the last week (although my bathroom scales were doing some very odd things this morning - maybe the battery's running low). That's over 18.5 pounds (8.4kg) so far, with 31.5 to go. 

You Spotted Snakes, by Will Shakespeare

You spotted snakes with double tongue,
⁠Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
⁠Come not near our fairy queen.

⁠Philomel, with melody
⁠Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby:
⁠Never harm,
⁠Nor spell nor charm,
⁠Come our lovely lady nigh;
⁠So, good night, with lullaby.

Weaving spiders, come not here;
⁠Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
⁠Worm nor snail, do no offence.

⁠Philomel, with melody
⁠Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby:
⁠Never harm,
⁠Nor spell nor charm,
⁠Come our lovely lady nigh;
⁠So, good night, with lullaby.

"Titania sleeping in the moonlight protected by her fairies", by John Simmons

 

Sue x

Turning the tables on male violence - a lesson from a lady

 I took a day trip to Genoa yesterday, to have a mooch around and see an exhibition on Artemisia Gentileschi and other female painters. I was blown away by it. And by the lesson to be learnt.

Genoa (or Genova) is the Mediterranean port that used to be capital of a powerful little maritime trading empire hundreds of years ago and its rich past is seen everywhere. My previous posts on Genoese culture include the origins of jeans and local trans life in the 1960s. 

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656) was the first woman to be admitted to the academy of Florence, and the other painters on display like Sofonisba Anguissola, Rosalba Carriera, Elisabetta Sirani, etc. had similar accolades. Prior to that, female painters were usually nuns working in churches, so this was a new era in which an independent professional woman could make her own career.

The paintings were stunning and the curators had done a grand job.

The formative moment in her life was being raped at knifepoint by her father’s associate. She was able to secure his conviction and imprisonment. Ever after, her main theme was the determined woman getting the better of leering, strong or powerful men: Judith cutting off Holofernes’ head is a favourite subject; Cleopatra choosing suicide by snake rather than falling into the hands of the Romans; Delilah giving Samson a buzzcut; and Susanna and the Elders who want their wicked way with her as she bathes. This is likely a nude self-portrait, a bold statement of her feelings on this matter. 

Attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders, c. 1610

 

Fearing the violence of men is a constant concern for women. I too have taken the longer but better lit route home at night rather than increase the risk of attack, or crossed the street to avoid groups of men, even in a safe city like London. Bringing rapists to justice remains very difficult. Artemisia's testimony was subject to the most rigorous testing, by judicial torture. Even so, she did not back down on her story, and that gained the confidence of the court. We do not resort to such horrible practices today but securing convictions for such crimes remains hard. The world is seeing an upsurge of male aggression, bullying, war and violence, tapped into by some very unscrupulous politicians, and women are bearing more of the brunt of that, not to mention the reduction of the rights of the LGBT+ community. More on that another day. 

This woman turned the cruelty in her life to good effect, creating formidable paintings that inspired a whole movement in the art of the era that depicted strong women, by contrast to all too prevalent male notions of women being the weaker sex.

More of Genoa

It was quite a grey day for the most part, with stormy seas, so I wasn't able to get the best photos, but a few odd bits and pieces include this jolly lion guarding the steps of the cathedral:

 

wheels of cheese in this shop window (I think that customer buys a lot of cheese!):

 

and this beautifully painted building on the dockside with a centrepiece of St George slaying the dragon:

I couldn't get a better shot because, as in so many places in the world, a major road passes right in front of it on an elevated section, which you can see a bit of in the top left corner. Ah, the 1960s, age of free love and flyovers!

Most of the rest of the time I spent enjoying the shops and stalls, took the metro just for the fun of it and strolled through the narrow streets of the old city. A good day out.

Sue x

PS Thanks for your patience with the previous post - sometimes I have to take time out here to deal with thoughts unrelated to trans life.

The ire-land of Doctor Moron

 I was hoping to post last week about quite positive trans news but instead I've spent many days puzzling over what to do about a friend of mine. We've known each other since our teens but I wonder if it's time to call it a day. Maybe readers can inject some wise ideas into my mind? 

My friend has a PhD but is acting idiotically and it's making me cross. Hence the title of my post.

My friend's father was a minister of religion. Like a lot of ministers, he was a bully. He was even unpleasant to me the first time we met. I was also brought up in a bullying religious household so I guess that's why my friend and I clicked to start with. However, I lost my religion half a lifetime ago; my god was brutal and I still suffer frightening flashbacks to that time. My friend continues in faith. That's OK: it's a free country. But the problem is that the religion has a significant moral component and, despite being a decent person, my friend acts a lot through guilt and shame. This usually consists of giving lots of money away, which would be fantastically kind if it were directed at organised charity or those in real want. Instead it usually consists of my friend insisting on paying for meals in restaurants and giving the staff inappropriately huge tips. It can be embarrassing at times, and not a little condescending. 

Worse, though, is that my friend, who is pretty wealthy, is the target of conmen because people get wind of the excess generosity and come up with all sorts of stories of misfortune, poverty and illness to obtain immense gifts. My friend even bought someone a house on the strength of some sob story. That's right, a whole house! Another person seems to have received a plot of land. I and other friends, even those working in law and government, keep advising and warning about the company my friend keeps, about the obvious crooks and the more devious lovers. To little avail. 

Last year I ate out with my friend and, as is so often the case, when the bill came, the meal was paid by them quite insistently - almost rudely when I protested - even though my food cost twice theirs. Shortly after this I was invited by my friend's aunt to join a large dinner arranged in a restaurant by my friend's extended family, about a dozen people. The bill was to be paid out of the proceeds of a property sale, as a sort of celebration. It was kind of them to invite me. But my friend wanted to ovverride the arrangements and pay the bill for all of them. And therefore would I contribute half the cost? 

I said no. 

And at the end of the meal this friend showered banknotes on the tabletop and insisted the next meal was on them.

My feeling is that if you deem yourself so unworthy of your own family that you have to regard yourself as a paying guest at your own family gathering, then you have a problem. If you are so wracked with guilt and frightened of what your god will do to you if you don't be generous, no matter how inappropriate or unnecessary that is in some contexts, then you have a problem.

I and others have previously tried to assist with the problem, without success. My friend is pushing 60 and that's probably too old to change ingrained habits now. In fact, it's a bit like dealing with a junkie, but in this case they're addicted to debasement.

So, should I turn mean and take advantage of my friend as so many others have done? It's not in my nature but, hey, free dinners!

Should I try to encourage, yet again, a more rational approach to charity? Sadly, irrational beliefs and fears have their own playbook that no-one else has access to.

Should I try to suggest that my friend has a problem and encourage a visit to a neutral advisor, such as a psychologist? Good advice from professionals such as lawyers has not worked before, though. And religious people often seek help from their minister rather than a person outside the context that is causing the problem.

Should I refuse to eat out with my friend any more and so avoid the problem in future?

Should I walk away? It seems a shame to lose such and old acquaintance, and one who is very supportive in many other ways. But seeing a person malfunctioning because of a sense of unworthiness is pitiable. And it reminds me of the abuse I was subject to, which I could do without.

Or what?

What would you do?

I said my friend was an idiot with a PhD, hence Doctor Moron. I am being uncharitable because I am exasperated with them. I know it's unfair as they are the victim of abuse. Yet they are also an educated, rational, responsible adult. 

Any ideas gratefully received. Or you can buy me a house if you like.

Weight loss

I've lost almost two pounds this week. Not bad. It would have been more except that I had to go shopping in the city centre and had a coffee break in a bar where I ate a jam croissant. And that one croissant has blocked any further weight loss for three days! Oops! Bad croissant! Naughty croissant!

A dip in the archives

From time to time I come across old photos that I haven't posted before and here's one I like. This is me 16 years ago when I had had my makeup done professionally.

Ah! To be young and beautiful again!

Sue x

Off to a good start

 Two good things to report today. 

In terms of my weight, I am already below where I was before both Christmas, New Year and the two holidays I had in December interrupted my progress. When away from home or celebrating, you lose a lot of control of what and how you eat. But I am now losing weight fast again. In fact, I have now lost my first stone since 1 November. I am slightly behind my schedule, but not much.

For those who work in kilos, one stone is 6.35 kg (or 6,35 kg if your language uses that system). For metric fans, one stone is divided into 14 pounds, and one pound is divided into 16 ounces. Simple, right? I am trying to lose 50 pounds overall (22.68 kg). I chose 50 pounds (50 lb), as by luck it is exactly the weight between what I was on 1 November and my optimum weight. I'm sick of being overweight both because of how it makes me look and how it makes me feel - putting my shoes and legwear on isn't so easy with a big tummy.

For information, I am using the Slimming World healthy eating plan which has worked for me when needed. I'm also doing Dry January with no alcohol. Booze is the biggest fattener of all, especially wine.

Let's see what I lose over the rest of the month. I hope to make it one and a half stone (21 lb) by the end of January and then I'll be almost half way.

The other piece of good news is that one of the trans groups I have recently joined via Facebook, Crossdresser Italia, is setting up as a proper national association based in Naples. A bit far from my home but a good choice as Naples has a very long history of trans and third gender culture going back to who knows when. Pre-Roman times, probably. The current very right-wing government gets much of its support in that locality but a solid trans base in the same place should assist in keeping a sometimes anti-trans political slant sweet.

Weather watch

The weather is very mixed here at the moment: nice warm days where you can sit outdoors in the sunshine, followed by cold, wet, windy days. However, the lemons and oranges are ripening nicely and one of the ornamental orange trees outside the front door is very laden this year. I love the cheerful colour. 

 

I am sending a hug to my friends in northern Europe, such as in the British Midlands, who are coping with flooding, or in Scandinavia who are dealing with exceptionally cold temperatures. I hope that things will return to normal very fast.

Sue x

Looking back, looking ahead

 Hello dear readers, happy New Year. I hope that 2024 is a good one for you. We could do with something good now as, let's face it, the last few years have been difficult for everyone.

 

Summing up 2023

I don't propose to sum up 2023 in much detail. For me, it was a bit of a transitional year (not in a surgical sense!) but I am looking ahead to a better 2024. So, by way of summary, I'll just link to the four posts that attracted the most views last year. 

Fittingly, more people read my tribute to my lovely friend Kate Collins than anything else. Kate's death from illness was a shock to the trans community and I hope I did her memory some justice. Kate Collins - a tribute. Rest in peace, beautiful girl. 

As a followup, Kate's widow is at least deriving much joy from her 18-month old grandson; they seem inseparable, and that's some consolation.

Kate Collins

By complete contrast, nobody commiserated with me when my bra exploded. It is an ex bra; it has ceased to be. Stop laughing, you insensitive people! The day my bra exploded.

I live predominantly as a woman - that's been the case for over a quarter of a century - but I've never gone full-time female for various reasons. So occasionally I have to be male and put away my feminine things. And that's not just clothes. Hiding stuff again.

I commented on what looked like becoming the big trend of 2023, all-over pink. In the pink. (I think the idea of all-over cerise or magenta petered out pretty fast, but peach fuzz is now in.)

 

Future plans

As for the future, in as much as anything can be planned in a world gone unstable, I recently completed what I think is the final stage of my residence in Italy and confirmation of citizenship. I moved to Italy partly for health reasons - the grey skies and cold winters of the UK were literally killing me - and partly because I work internationally and Britain isolated under Brexit is not the place to do that. Originally, I had planned to spend summers in the UK and winters somewhere warmer like the Canary Islands, but that idea was killed by the chaos that followed the Brexit vote in 2016. So I am essentially here to stay now, with only occasional time in Britain. To that end, I have been putting feelers out to Italian trans groups that are about trans living and hope to start again by making friends in the trans community here. I could do with getting out again, but I feel I need some support to start with. It was a decade ago that my trans life outside home ended abruptly with a bout of eczema that prevented my wearing makeup, so I'm definitely out of practice.

Despite the excesses of the Christmas and New Year fortnight I am only a little over the weight I was in mid-December so I'll be back on track to get into my healthy weight range by the spring.

As for my blog, the posts I started writing last year about trans art and photographic exhibitions, about trans films and theatre, about support for trans people from outside the community, proved very popular. I hope to do regular monthly updates on the creative scene as it applies to trans life. Posts discussing fashion and the latest items in my wardrobe are popular, too. 

All the best for 2024.

Sue x