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The Central Dissent:
A Journal of Gender and Sexuality
FALL 2017
New Plains Student Publishing
University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma
THE CENTRAL DISSENT:
A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
SPRING2017
Copyright© 2017 University of Central Oklahoma
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, inclduing photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the ase of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Prepared for publishing by
New Plains Student Publishing.
University of Central Oklahoma
100 N. University Drive
Edmond, OK 73034
www.uco.edu
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
The University of Central Oklahoma (University)
is committed to an inclusive educational and
employment environment that provides equal
opportunity and access to all qualified persons.
The University will continue its policy of fair and
equal employment and educational practices
without discrimination or harassment because
of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion,
alienage or national origin, genetic information,
ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or
handicap, gender, marital status, veteran status,
sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Discrimination
or harassment in violation of this policy should
be reported to the Affirmative Action Officer
(Office of Legal Counsel) in person at 114 Lillard
Administration, or by phone at (405) 974-3377
or fax at (405) 974-3807. After office hours or on
holidays, the report may be made by contacting
University Police Services at (405) 974-2345.
The Central Dissent: A Journal of Gender and
Sexuality is an interdisciplinary academic journal based out of the University of Central
Oklahoma's Liberal Arts College. The journal is
produced by New Plains Student Publishing and
is sponsored by the UCO's Women's Research
Center, and the BGLTQ+ Student Center.
Our mission is to gather and disseminate quality research, prose, poetry, and artwork that
explore gender theory, gender identity, and how
race, class, and ethnicity shape society's expectations of the individual in the past and present.
We are pleased to present to you the first
inaugural edition of The Central Dissent.
Brendon Yuill,
Associate Executive Editor
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Butterfly
Kaylee Howard
Western OK
Kate Beasley
Pursuing Manhood:
African American Soldiers In The
First World War And The Rise Of
The New Negro Movement
Edith Ritt-Coulter
I Didn't Serve
Nicholas A. Brush
"Men Of A Certain Turn":
Sentimentality And The Subversions And
Subordinations Of Masculine Bodies And
Masculinities In Laurence Sterne's
A Sentimental Journey
Nicholas A. Brush
Asa Child
Alexandra Savage
Ollie and Julian
Shannon Hochman
The Bachelor and the Old Maid:
Gender Duality in Tabitha Gilman Tenney's
Female Quixotism
Kaycee Chance
Artist Statement
Gretchen Rehfeld
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63
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66
#TooSoon
Alexandra Savage
68
Interview: Nina Lucien
Gabi Glidewell
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73
AsAMother
Kayelee Howard
88
Her
Kayelee Howard
90
Contributors
Nostalgia
Gretchen Rehfeld
Moment
Gretchen Rehfeld
Ephemere
Gretchen Rehfeld
Halters Round Their Necks:
Queer Ecofeminism in Moby-Dick
Rachel Copeland
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALI TY
Butterfly
Kaylee Howard
So much of my life
I have hidden who I am.
I have lied
To myself and everyone else around me.
I am done lying and hiding.
I am a lesbian just as much as I am a human.
The amount of relief I feel from saying
those words has changed my life.
I love who I am.
I have grown to be more confident.
I have started living for myself and not for others.
I have escaped from my lifelong cocoon
And I have become a butterfly.
My wings have always been deep down inside of me.
I just had to crawl out of my comfortable cocoon
In order to experience the life I was meant to live.
Western OK
Kate Beasley
N
OT BEING STRAIGHT IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA
meant being ashamed of yourself. It meant thinking about your sexuality in seventh grade and then
immediately abandoning those thoughts. Maybe
you acted on these non-heteronormative notions in the real
world. You told those you trusted you think you're Bi. You
told one of your best friends you liked her, but that was not
the end of what you thought was an easy confession.
Classmates begin asking about it, but not in a curious or friendly way. You were raised in a religious town
where most children were taught that only men and women
should be together. You became fearful of their judgment
and let it rule you. So you told your classmates no and fervently denied that you were different. You ignored the
first person who liked you back and gave a brittle excuse
about why you claimed you liked her when she moved.
You were young. It's a shame that no one had told you
that you were not broken, because you flt outside the societal
norm of your town. If you could go back knowing what you do
today, you would tell your younger self to embrace who you are
and what you look like. You can't always change the mind of your
Peers. Instead, trust in your own happiness, know you're not alone,
and remember that there is no perfect box you need to flt in.
Your experiences are still with you today. You think about
that girl and what you did to her when she crosses your Facebook.
It has been a slow process, but you are finally beginning to accept
FALL 2017
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UNIVERSIT Y OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
who you are. Even today, your parents still don't know, but you
know they wonder why you haven't had "a serious boyfriend" yet.
However, you understand everything is going to be okay. You
cover yourself with compassion and love while striving to surround yourself with people who do the same. Being the invisible
sexuality isn't always easy, but you're figuring it out, and the
ghost of your past is surprisingly there to helpfully guide you.
THE CEN T RAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
pursuing Manhood:
African American Soldiers
In The First World War
And The Rise Of The
New Negro Movement
Edith Ritt-Coulter
0
N THE EVE OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR,
D.W. Griffith released The Birth of Nation (1915), a
silent film that promoted the white-supremacist
organization the Ku Klux Klan. The narrative of the
film depicted Klansmen as the saviors of the community and
American culture. The imagery used exposed society's perceptions of black masculinity as savage hypersexulized beast.
African American men found themselves in a social climate that
characterized them as black brutes while in the same breath
demanding their patriotic service. Many of African American
men questioned the Wilsonian democratic ideology of "making
the world safe for democracy" when the discriminatory practices
of Jim Crow inhibited the autonomy of the black community
in the United States. In order to prevent the black commu nity from being viewed as unsympathetic to the American war
effort, predominant African American leaders promoted men
of color's participation in the First World War as a means to
Prove their manhood. The social and political pressures placed
upon African American men led to their involvement in the
Great War. They used military service as a means to combat
American society's preconceived notions of black masculinity.
Men of color served under the assumption that military
service would improve how white-dominated society conceptualization black manhood. Unbeknownst to African American
8
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
soldiers, the ideologies of Jim Crow and the theory of the black
brute would encompass their military service. The long arm
of America's racial hierarchy created a climate where extralegal violence in the form of lynching and the genderization of
the black male body would dominate their experiences. As a
result, African American men found themselves disillusioned
by the pre-war propaganda and assertively began to project a
black-generated perception of their masculinity that directly
combated the white male dominated society's suppression
of African American manhood. American expansions of Jim
Crow mentality and the treatment of soldiers of color during
the First World War directly contributed an increase in racialized violence, as well as a renewed gender approach to black
nationalist movement in the years that followed the conflict.
Arthur E. Barbeau and Florette Henri established the
historical examination of the black experience in the First
World War in 1974 with their book The Unknown Soldier: African
American Troops in World War I. Barbeau and Henri used their
monograph to shed light on African American contributions to
the First World War, which was largely ignored by scholars prior
the writing of their book. Barbeau and Henri argue that the black
soldier experience during the Great War influenced how African
Americans viewed participation in the Second World War. They
argue that the First World War marked a transition in the black
community's civil rights strategy. Barbeau and Henri assert that
the experiences of black soldiers pushed the African American
community to seek equal citizenship through strategies that
were not dependent on the goodwill of whites. In their argument,
one can see the First World War as a transition point into the
ideology of the civil rights movement of later decades. Adriane Lentz-Smith, author of Freedom Struggle: African Americans
and World War I, continued with Barbeau and Henri's theme of
transformation. Lentz-Smith argues that the Great War marked
a significant change for the black political sector. The author
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
situated the First World War in the historical narrative of the
black freedom struggle, which allowed for the analysis of the
intersectionality between social, military, and international narratives of black troops. Lentz-Smith stated, "The Great War marked
[black soldiers], changed them, and readied them for a life long
struggle."' Similar to Barbaeu and Henri, Lentz-Smith's argument
alludes to the First World War being a transitional moment in the
larger civil rights struggle of the early twentieth century. LentzSmith also discussed the concept of manhood unlike previous
historians. Continuing on the established historical discourse
that the First World War marked a defining moment in black
history, Chad L. Williams contributed his work Torchbearers of
Democracy. His work examined the impacts of the Willsonian
democratic ideology on the black community's equality struggle.
He claims previous historians' work neglected to view the black
soldiers social experience outside of the military in and after
the First World War. Williams argues that the examination of
American democracy is incomplete without a narrative of black
servicemen. 2 Williams further asserts that the black community's pursuit of democracy influenced postwar black identity.
"Pursuing Manhood" continued the historical school
of thought that asserted the First World War as a transition
point in black history. This work contributed to the existing
scholarship because it examines how men of color used their
negative experiences during the war to develop the concept of
the New Negro as a means challenge white popular society's
views of black manhood. In addition, this work explored white
society's use of extralegal violence during the First World War
1
2
Adriane Lentz-Smith, Freedom Struggles: African
American and the First World War (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 2009), 11.
Chad L. Willaims, Torchbearers of Democracy: African
American Soldiers in the World War Era (Chapel Hill, NC:
The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 100.
FALL 2017
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
and how it influenced the manner in which men of color sought
to project their own sense of masculinity. Previous historians
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALIT Y
examined the societal and ideological changes set in motion by
the Great War, but have neglected to provide a fully realized
gendered analysis to the scholarship regarding the black male
experience during this era. The masculine nature of the war
itself provided men of color the opportunity to analyze man-
color must be carefully watched and violently kept in their place,
segregated and subordinated.• Negative perception of black manhood and the rising instability of racial norms led to the rise of
lynching as a means to police the behaviors of African American
men. Black men pursued military service in the First World War
as a means to challenge and break free from the social constraints that suppressed the growth of black rooted perceptions
hood from a different perspective, and opened the door for the
development of the New Negro concept. The analysis of black
of manhood.
The lynching of the black body must also be examined in
masculinity in the context of the First World War allowed for a
greater understanding of the perceptions and development of
black manhood and the African American equality struggle.
To fully engage the black male experience in the First
World War, one must explore the racialized gender hierarchy
and examine the meaning of manhood within the context of the
United States. America's patriarchal society defined the meaning
of manhood as one who protected and provided for their families. In the Reconstruction era, Victorian values instilled the idea
that white women needed to be protected by men. The fragile
order to conceptualize the extent in which white males policed
African American masculinity. Historical, Caucasian-led patriarchal American communities utilized extralegal mob violence in
order to maintain a sense of racial law and order. The manner
in which lynch mobs tortured the black body reflected the fear
and volatile state of white masculinity. In many cases, lynch
mobs emasculated men of color to feminize the black male body,
separating them from the physical representation of manhood.
Lynch mobs also chose to burn their victims as a means to
completely dehumanize them. In order to validate the lynching
construction of white womanhood directly aligned the protections of their virtue with the gender role of white men. American
society viewed the new levels of black autonomy after the Civil
War as a threat to the masculine role of white males, and they
assumed that all African American men wanted relationships with
Caucasian women. The racial hierarchy established in the United
States attempted to render black men ineffective in their own
masculine role by characterizing them as uncontrollable brutes
or docile.3 White-dominated society perpetuated the belief that
men of color held an insatiable lust for white women that caused
an ongoing imminent threat. James Cone asserted in his book
The Cross and the Lynching Tree that white men believed men of
of the black male body, dominant society criminalized men of
color not because of any illegal actions committed , but because
of their racial and gender identity. Lynch mobs cloaked their
murderous intention by claiming the protection of white womanhood, and demanded the highest forms punishment to African
American men who crossed the color line. In this belief, lynching
rendered an efficient and honorable act of justice and served to
help reunite the North and South after the civil war as a White
Christian nation at the expense of African Americans.' The perceived threat posed by black men to white masculine hegemony
genderized the development of the American lynching culture ·
3
Lawrence E. Gary Black Men (Beverly Hills, CA:
Sage Publications Inc, 1981), 13.
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4
5
James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree
(Maryknoli , New York: Orbis Books, 2011), 7.
James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree
(Maryknoli, New York: Orbis Books, 2011), 7.
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
and directly contributed to the hypersexualized portrayals of men
of color. When African American soldiers in the First World War
began to globalize their understanding of manhood, white Americans turned to lynching and other forms of extralegal violence
in order to maintain the accepted racial dynamic of the time.
American media outlets and black community leaders persistently appealed to African American men's sense of
sacrifice of the black male body in the First World War would
entually create a new meaning of democracy in the American
eV
.
south. 7 African American leaders supported patriotism as means
to improve the perceptions of black masculinity in the United
States social structure. W.E.8. Du Bois supported men of color's
participation in the First World War and promoted the idea that
darker people would not occupy the same places they had before
manhood and loyalty in the hopes that their propaganda would
encourage military service. Recruiters used posters to promote
black participation in the European conflict. One of the most
famous posters, True Sons of Freedom, depicts black soldiers overpowering the German troops while a fatherly President Lincoln
looks approvingly upon the scene. Recruitment imagery such as
this provided black men with a tangible possibility of asserting
a dominant position over men of European descent. In addition,
pro-enlistment propaganda played upon the imagery of Lincoln
as a means to connect the European conflict with the tradition
of black service in the Civil War. The imagery of Lincoln also
evoked the idea that African American men owed their freedom
if they contributed to the war effort. 8 African American leaders
sold war as an avenue to gain equal citizenship and recognition
as men. White promoted recruitment and black leaders alluded
to the masculine nature of military service to encourage men of
color to join the armed forces. The propaganda used to entice
black men into the armed forces established the gendered nature
of the African American experience in the First World War.
African American men's decision to join the US armed
forces produced a widespread fear of the militarized black male.
American society's characterization of men of color as brutes
triggered an oppressive force upon African American patriotism.
Many black men viewed their service as means to elevate their
to the union and should repay the blood tax that provided their
emancipation. During the Civil War, Frederick Douglass urged
men of color to rise up and prove their dignity in manhood by
contributing to their emancipation through military service.° First
World War recruiters played to the legacy of black participation in the Civil War as means to promote the current conflict
as an avenue for the elevation of African American manhood.
Affluent black community leaders used ideologies of American
manhood and patriotism to persuade African American men to
sacrifice their bodies in the hope that their loyalty would transform the racial dynamic. H.H. Procter promoted the idea that the
standing in the racial hierarchy, but due to fear and negative
perceptions of African American masculinity the white dominated department of defense set boundaries that reinforced
rigid al constructions. Due to the fear of the militarized black
male, officials ordered training facilities to maintain a significantly higher number of white recruits then black recruits. This
methodology was used to ensure the safety of the military base
and surrounding areas in the chance that the African American
soldiers decided to revolt. The Brownsville Affair of 1906 lingered in the memory of American society and perpetuated the
fear of the militarized black man. In some instances, African
American soldiers were prohibited from executing military drills
6
Jeffrey T Sammons and John H Morrow Jr, Harlem's Rattlers and the
Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African Amer ican
Quest for Equality, (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press), 25.
14
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7
8
H.H. Proctor, Between Black and White (New York, 1925), 167-68.
W.E.B.Dubois, "Editorial" in the Crisis 16, no 6. (June 1918): 60.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
with guns. The US armed forces altered the manner in which
black men received training due to the genderized characterization of black masculinity. These perceptions inhibited many
men of color from serving in combat divisions or in leadership
roles. African American soldier's aspirations of honor and glory
on the battlefield became unrealized for many black troops
when they were forced into labor battalions, which pacified the
white community's fear of the militant black brute. Disillusioned
with their military experience, men of color who did not see
combat themselves began to pursue other methods of achieving a black-dominated view manhood with the United States.
Segments of African American regiments served overseas under
French command. Within the ranks of the French military, men
of color encountered a liberating environment that enabled them
to see their masculinity and identity as black men outside of the
constraints of American society. African American troops encountered French colonial soldiers while serving on the Parisian front.
These encounters enabled them connect their own ideas of
blackness with the African continent itself. Interactions between
colonial and African American troops bridged the ideological
Atlantic gap that divided the consciences of African-decedent
men from one another. African colonial soldiers became a source
of racial pride for African American servicemen, as many of them
were struggling against an army power structure that attempted
to devalue their sacrifice.' Soldiers of color also interacted more
freely with French women than the American women they
encountered back home. African American soldiers who engaged
in intimate relationships with French women represented the
ability for men of color to cross the color line, challenging the
established racial hierarchy. African American troops who served
9
16
Chad L. Wil laims, Torchbearers of Democracy: African
American Soldiers in the World War Era (Chapel Hill, NC:
The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 100.
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THE CENTRAL D I SSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
overseas experienced new levels of social freedoms that enabled
them to openly explore a black-driven masculinity.
When white military officials recognized the transformative nature of the French frontline for African American men,
they decided to transplant the stereotypes of black masculinity
into the Parisian community in the hopes that it would stifle the
expansions of the developing black notions of manhood. White
officers heavily promoted the American ideology of the black
brute and rapist as a means to control the interactions between
men of color and French women. They feared that relationships
between French women and black troops would destabilize the
color line back home in the United States.10 Louis Linard sent
a memo to the French military stating, "The American point of
view on the Negro question may seem strange to the Frenchman, but the French have no right to discuss what is known
as prejudice. American opinion is unanimous upon the Negro
question and does not admit discussion."11 Linard and other
military officials warned the French about filling African American
men with ideas that were deemed intolerable by the American
public. Caucasian troops decided to police the black soldiers
behavior and stifle their expanding global perspective by turning to extralegal violence. The extension of Jim Crow justice on
the frontline took the lives of sixty-two black soldiers without
formal charges being brought against them.12 Black troops in
France experienced the full extent of their masculine potential
while serving overseas outside of the racialized social constructions of the United States. When military officials realized the
transformative possibility of African American service in the
First World War, they turned to extra legal violence to stop the
expansion of a black rooted view of manhood. The suppression
10
11
12
IBID, 167.
Louis Linard, Concerning Black American Troops, August 7, 1918.
U.S. Senate, Alleged Executions, 55-49.
FA LL 2 017
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
of black males from exploring their own masculinity gave rise to
a new thought process within the African American community
that believed equality for people of color could only be achieved
through their own efforts not through white dominated avenues.
African American troops returned home from service
to an intensified racial climate. White southerners viewed
veterans of color as representations of the black population
rejecting the accepted racial hierarchy. In order to stabilize
the American racial dynamic in their favor, whites resorted to
mob violence and lynching as a method to regain social control.
During the Summer of 1919, twenty-five race riots broke across
the United States in response to the perceived threat to white
hegemony. James Weldon Johnson labeled the racial turmoil that
followed the conclusion of the First World War the "Red Summer." 13 Over the span of this violent summer, several lynch mobs
reportedly killed ten black soldiers who were still in uniform on
the assumption that they had assaulted white women .1 4 The
imagery of the murdered black veteran due to racialized mob
violence became the symbol of postwar racial injustice. 15 Men
of color realized upon returning home that their patriotism and
loyalty to the American war effort did little to alter white dominated society's negative characterization of black manhood.
In the midst of the heightened racial turmoil, men of
color successfully projected their own definition of black manhood due to their transformative experiences during the First
World War. Despite the rigid racial constraints and the use of
13
14
15
18
Chad L. Willaims, Torchbearers of Democracy: African
American Soldiers in the World War Era, (Chapel Hill, NC:
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEX UALIT Y
extralegal violence, the concept of the New Negro emerged
as one of the first African American-driven definitions of black
masculinity. The New Negro projected black masculinity as
transcending the derogatory ideologies that shaped American
perceptions of the Old Negro. African American men asserted
their own definition of manhood and aggressively sought to
establish organizations and social movements that contributed directly to the black equality struggle. Marcus Garvey
was one of the leading proponents of the New Negro concepts that materialized after the Great War. His organization
the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) appealed
to veterans of color because it validated their own sense of
manhood. The political and intellectual black nationalist movements that arose during this era are directly linked to the
experiences of black soldiers during the First World War.
The legacy of the New Negro movement that stemmed
from the First World War reshaped the manner in which men of
color projected their masculinity. The decades that immediately
followed the conclusion of the Great War gave rise to militant
black men who assertively pursued equal citizenship with their
white counterparts. The ideology of the New Negro and values
of the UNIA directly inspired notable civil rights organization and
leaders of the 1960s. Malcolm X, one of the most influential black
nationalists, embodied black notions of manhood and asserted
the self confidant militancy that reflected the concept of the
New Negro. African American men's pursuit of recognized black
rooted masculine identity did not conclude with passage of the
civil rights acts; the ideas of the New Negro have continued to
develop and transform through into the twenty-first century.
The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 225.
Arthur E. BarBeau and Florette Henri, The Unknown
Soldiers: African American Troops in World War I,
(Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press), 177.
Chad L. Willaims, Torchbearers of Democracy: African
American Soldiers in the World War Era, (Chapel Hill, NC:
The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 225.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHO M A
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
I Didn't Serve
Nicholas A. Brush
I didn't serve because I wanted to be a patriot.
I didn't serve because I wanted to be a hero.
I served because I didn't want to be a faggot.
•Men Of A Certain Turn":
sentimentality And The
Subversions And
Subordinations Of Masculine
Bodies And Masculinities In
Laurence Sterne's
A Sentimental Journey
Nicholas A. Brush
I'm still called all three.
T
HE CHARACTERS IN LAURENCE STERNE'S
A Sentimental Journey enjoy looking at one another.
The word look, in various permutations, appears a
whopping 105 times throughout the novel. Everyone "looks" at everyone else; they also view, see, and eye each
other. Like a true sentimentalist focused more on emotion than
reason, our protagonist, Pastor Yorick, does most of the looking
himself. Interestingly, one synonym never makes an appearance in the novel: gaze. Throughout the novel, Yorick looks but
never gazes, at least as far as terminology is concerned. This,
however, does not mean that he never actually gazes. In fact,
when it comes to the men of the novel that is exactly what he
does. Yorick's emotion overcomes his reason as he objectifies
and sexualizes, or at least attempts to, the men in A Sentimental Journey, his sentimentality engendering his use of the
Queer male gaze to further support the ideas of hegemonic
masculinities in the struggle against his own subversion and
subordination. Threats of self-subversion and self-subordina-
tion drive Yorick's use of the queer male gaze, causing him to
sentimentally subvert the masculine bodies and subordinate
the masculinities of the other men in A Sentimental Journey.
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Defining and Understanding
Journey's Sentimentality
Samuel Johnson's dictionary contains no entries for sentiment,
sentimental, or sentimentality. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, the definition of sentiment as Sterne used it in Journey is "In general use: Refined and tender emotion; experience
or manifestation of 'sensibility'; emotional reflection or meditation:'' In editor Paul Goring's introduction to Journey, he
says, "'Sentiment' was generally used to mean a thought or
a reflection which was produced or informed by emotion; it
conveyed a 'mental feeling'-an attitude which is at once intellectual and emotional." 2 While these two definitions appear to
be at odds with one another, they are not contradictory. The
OED leaves out the "intellectual" side of the sentimental equation, but this omission does not mean that Goring added the
concept of reason into his definition. Reason does not factor into
sentimentality here. Goring admits that even "Sterne himself
recognized ...there was no firm agreement regarding [sentimentat's] meaning," 3 leaving the interpretations of sentiment and
sentimentality up to the novel's readers. Goring says as much as
he later describes the history of Journey. He explains, "Sterne
hints...that there will be more to A Sentimental Journey than mere
sentiment" 4 and that Sterne "displays an ironic distance from
sentiment, yet at the same time he is confident that sentimentally
attuned readers will find satisfaction in his book. It is as though
the work will serve different purposes for different readers."•
1
2
3
4
5
24
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Sentiment."
Paul Goring, introduction to A Sentimental Journey, by
Laurence Sterne (London: Penguin, 2005), xxi.
Ibid.
Ibid, xxvii.
Ibid.
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One of these purposes, Goring suggests, is filling
the role of an anti-sentimental novel, with Sterne including emotions and situations that, as far as the sentimental
genre is concerned, should not be present within Journey:
Scene after scene performs the work of sentimental literature,
and with the immense flair and virtuosity of Sterne's style, it is
easy to see why the work has been celebrated as a masterpiece
of the genre. But repeatedly these scenes are also permeated
with subtle counter-energies-irony, self-indulgence, carnality-which continually threaten to puncture the sentiment.•
The carnality that Goring mentions lies at the heart
of Sterne's criticism of sentimentalism, at least how that criticism is presented in Journey. Throughout the novel, Yorick
has a plethora of sensual and near-sexual flirtatious encounters. "Yorick's flirtations-" Goring says, "coupled with the fact
that he is at such pains to protest his carnal innocence-wittily
probe the problematic borders between sensibility and sensuality."' His protestations may bring to mind in readers a line
from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, a play often mentioned,
and often directly referred to, in Journey: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."• The problem Journey presents is
that "[sensibility] ...is inseparable from the body, yet sentimental
bodies are often unreal, desexualized constructs."9 Sterne takes
this notion and runs wild with it, cranking up the sexualization
and objectification of masculine bodies and masculinity, forcing his readers to rethink sentimentalist novels as a genre and
the ideas of sentimentality and sentimentalism as a whole.
6
7
8
9
Ibid.
Ibid, xxviii.
Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins (Walton-on-Thames:
Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1998}, 3.2.230.
Goring, introduction, xxviii.
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The Queer Male Gaze
And Masculinity
The gaze as a concept exists within many fields. According to
Amanda du Preez, as a term, the gaze refers to "the complex
visual matrix incorporating the one who looks as well as the
one who is looked at. This means," she continues, "the one
who imposes the gaze and the one who is the object of the
gaze are both implicated in the construction of the gaze." 10
In her article "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," Laura
Mulvey takes the gaze and genders it according to standards
of heteronormativity. She refers to this version of the gaze as
the male gaze. The male gaze, according to Mulvey, projects
the "sexual imbalance ... split between active/male and passive/
female ...[onto) the female figure."11 While Sterne certainly
utilizes the concept of the male gaze within the interactions
between Yorick and the women of the novel, it is the queer
male gaze that truly defines Sterne's use of sentimentality.
To put it simply, the queer gaze stands outside of the
heteronormativity of the male gaze, allowing the gazer, the one
who does the looking, and the gazed, the one who is looked
at, to both be of the same sex or gender identity while also, as
Tim Wray describes it, "[looking) to be reflected, [looking) for
a mirroring of the same desires back, [locating] men as both
subject and object, uncomfortably challenging the role-identity
of all it surveys."12 For Wray, the subject is the gazer, and the
10
11
12
26
Amanda du Preez, "Gaze, the," Grove Art Online, http://www.
oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T2093880.
Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,"
in Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings,
ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1999), 837 (833-44]
Tim Wray, "The Queer Gaze," Bauhaus-Universitiit Weimar, 2003,
https://e-pub.uni-weimar.de/opus4/files/ 1267 /wray.pdf.
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. • the gazed. Wray's idea of the self-reflective aspect
obJect is
eer gaze fits perfectly into Sterne's presentation of
of the qu
,..
.
. k in
• Journey• Goring says that the novel 1s...very much an
Yonc
oyage into the emotional life of the central character
inward v
. '
.
.
13
an d na rra tor"• He also says, "[Yonek s) account 1s partially the
f his watching himself respond to the world around
record O
.
.
•
• 1• These explanations provide a firmer theoretical basis
him.
.
when it comes to reading Journey through the sentimental lens
of the queer gaze. There is, unfortunately, one aspect of Wray's
understanding of the queer gaze as it applies to Journey and
Yorick that is not wholly appropriate or, at least, not precise
enough when discussing Yorick's male-to-male interactions.
Because queer does not necessarily apply to men only, the term
queer male gaze will be used when describing the gazed interactions between Yorick and the other men in the novel to clarify
the presented genders and sexes of the characters involved.
In order to understand how the queer male gaze
can subvert masculine bodies and subordinate masculinity,
an overview of masculinity hierarchies must be conducted.
In "The Social Organization of Masculinity," R. W. Connell
explains that "[gender) is social practice that constantly refers
to bodies and what bodies do ... lt is not social practice reduced
to the body... When we speak of masculinity and femininity
we are naming configurations of gender practice." 15 The only
way for Yorick to subvert the other male characters' masculine
bodies is through the queer male gaze, effectively negating
their inherent masculinities and subordinating those masculinities in reference to his own. It is the queer male gaze
that allows Yorick to attempt to objectify and sexualize the
13
14
15
Goring, introduction, xi.
Ibid, xx.
R. W. Connell, "The Social Organization of Masculinity,"
in The Masculinities Reader, ed. Stephen M. Whitehead
and Frank J. Barrett (Malden: Polity, 2001), 34.
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various men he encounters, working his hardest through the
queer male gaze to maintain the established masculine hierarchy so as to prevent his own subversion and subordination.
This hierarchy of masculinities, according to Connell,
consists of four distinct categories, ranked here from highest
to lowest: hegemonic, complicit, marginalized, and subordinate. "Hegemonic masculinity:' Connell says, "can be defined
as the configuration of gender practice which embodies the
currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy
of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the
dominant position of men and the subordination of women."1 •
This is the position of power as it refers to masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is only for people who are on top and want
to keep themselves in these positions of power over not only
women but also men who fall into the other three categories of
masculinity. Connell defines complicit masculinities as "(masculinities] constructed in ways that realize the patriarchal dividend,
without the tensions or risks of being the frontline troops of
patriarchy." 11 Those who practice complicit masculinity, then,
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALIT Y
these men cannot move out of the classification of marginal·zed
masculinity. The final category, subordinate masculinity,
I
.
includes everything not covered by the other three categories.
Connell does not provide a true definition; but based on the
reciuirements for hegemonic, complicit, and marginalized masculinities, determining what constitutes subordinate masculinities
is not incredibly difficult. Basically, subordinate masculinity
includes queer, i.e., non-heterosexual and non-cisgender, men.
La Fleur as Gazed Object
The obviousness of Yorick's queer male gaze, and his apparent
lack of concern to how it affects his choices, makes its first
appearance when he begins describing the traveling companion that is chosen for him. When Yorick introduces us to La
Fleur, he says outright that "the genuine look and air of the
fellow determined the matter at once in his favor; so I hired him
first-and then began to inquire what he could do." 19 Without
are men who, failing to meet whatever standards have been set
for hegemonic masculinity, which includes whiteness, heterosexuality, and cisgenderism, still uphold hegemonic masculinity
as the "best" example of masculinity while, at the same time,
refusing to stand up and support it outright. When dealing with
marginalized masculinity, it "is always relative to the authorization of the hegemonic masculinity of the dominant group" as it
applies to race.18 If, therefore, hegemonic masculinity includes
whiteness, then any men of color are confined to the marginalized category, even if they support the hegemonic status quo
and are near-complicit. Because of their ethnicity, however,
any hesitation whatsoever, Yorick tells readers that he chose La
Fleur based solely on his looks. He has absolutely no clue what
La Fleur's current position is; he does not know what the young
man does. But, he is attractive. Yorick continues, saying, "La Fleur
had a small cast of the coxcomb-but he seemed at first sight
to be more a coxcomb of nature than of art; and before I had
been three days in Paris with him-he seemed to be no coxcomb
at all."20 Here, we see Yorick deliver his first full description of
the Young La Fleur, the unqualified yet somehow still hirable
traveling companion. This description highlights Yorick's focus
on the sentimental, the emotional instead of the reasonable,
choice to hire a grossly unprepared and unqualified travelling
16
17
19
18
Ibid, 38-39.
Ibid, 41.
Ibid, 42. [Author's emphasis]
28
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20
Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey {London: Penguin, 2005). 31.
Ibid, 33.
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companion based simply on his looks, the object of Yorick's gaze,
because his "weakness was ... insulted by his wisdom."21 Because
of the queer male gaze, Yorick is overtaken by sentimentality.
La Fleur's "small cast,'' further elaborated on by Yorick,
sounds a bit sarcastic, if not a lot sarcastic, possibly insinuating
that he has, in fact, a rather large cast of the coxcomb. According to Samuel Johnson's dictionary entry, which is now found in
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
artistic coxcomb allows us to look through the same eyes, the
same gaze, that Yorick uses when fetishizing La Fleur's subverted
masculine body and subordinated masculinity, which, in this
historical moment, may be considered more hegemonic, or at
least complicit, even as a fop. After all, Yorick tells readers that "in
Paris, none kiss each other but the men,'' 2• implying that foppishness may be more complicit, or even hegemonic, in Paris than it
the OED, the coxcomb is a "fool" or "simpleton."22 Even though
is in England. Even if foppishness is more "acceptable" in Paris, its
Yorick tells us that La Fleur can "do nothing more in the world
inherent femininity remains. A fop, argues Susan Scott Parrish, "is
but beat a drum, and play a march or two upon the fife,'' 23 leav-
effeminate because of his fixation on dress and on the beauty
of his own person." 21 Based on Parrish's linking of the fop to an
ing readers wondering why he would be selected for the role
of Yorick's valet, the protagonist's obsession with the object of
his queer male gaze, La Fleur's male body, reminds readers that
Yorick chooses the young La Fleur based solely on his physical
effeminate and, therefore, subordinate masculinity, understanding La Fleur's foppishness, his coxcomb-like personality, also has
appearance. In this moment, readers see the beginning of Yorick's
a link to homosexuality, or at least a non-normative sexuality.
If this foppishness is indeed natural instead of artistic,
fetishization of and fixation on the young man's body, subverting
La Fleur would then be placed in the position of subordinate
La Fleur's masculine body, subordinating his masculinity in a way
that matches his style of dress. One of the primary clues that the
queer male gaze reading is more accurate and representative of
masculinity without Yorick's gazing. Connell suggests, "Oppression positions homosexual masculinities at the bottom,'' the
subordinate position, "of a gender hierarchy among men ... Hence,
Yorick's focus lies back within the OED. Another definition found
in this same entry also defines the coxcomb as "a fop," 24 which
from the point of view of hegemonic masculinity, gayness is
easy assimilated to femininity." 2 " A simple reversal of this equation-if queer= feminine, then feminine = queer-helps readers
to understand Yorick's subverting of La Fleur's masculine body
from a hegemonic, or at least complicit, masculinity to one
that now lies within the subordinate "gay," or queer, end of the
masculinity spectrum. Someone exhibiting the characteristics
of a "natural" queer would , sensibly, attract Yorick's queer male
gaze more than someone who merely acted the part. Even then,
though, readers have to wonder what it means for La Fleur
is further defined as "One who is foolishly attentive to and vain
of his appearance, dress, or manners; a dandy, an exquisite." 25
Even this does not seem to directly address La Fleur's sexuality,
as perceived through Yorick's queer male gaze, until we go back
and reexamine an important distinction that Yorick makes in
his description of La Fleur. Yorick specifies that La Fleur, at first
sight, looks like a coxcomb of nature instead of a coxcomb of art.
This supposed difference between the natural and the
21
22
23
24
25
30
Ibid, 31.
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Coxcomb."
Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, 31.
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Coxcomb."
Ibid, "Fop."
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27
28
Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, 65
Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural
History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2012), 139.
R. W. Connell, "The Social Organization of Masculinity," 49.
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and the sentimental subversion of his masculine body through
Yorick's queer male gaze if La Fleur's foppishness was artistic
and not natural. Yorick, then could be accused of imposing his
own possible non-normative sexual desires and internalized
subordinate masculinity, which will be discussed later, upon La
Fleur's body, the traveler's sentimental journey considering his
new companion's body as an object of subordinate, and not
hegemonic or complicit, masculinity and queer masculine desire.
This queer masculine desire that Yorick projects upon
La Fleur's body through the queer male gaze brings Yorick's
homosocial eroticism to the forefront, with La Fleur's sexually
objectified body on a pedestal for both Yorick and Sterne's readers to consider like the work of art it is presented as. In Images
of Bliss: Ejaculation, Masculinity, Meaning, Murat Aydemir explains
that "the body's pleasure lifts and projects the ... gaze into totality and eternity. On the other hand," Aydemir continues, "the
mortality of that same body must be overcome for the subject to
reach true transcendence." 29 As previously mentioned, readers
are invited to participate in Yorick's gaze, making them complicit
in transforming the young Frenchman's masculine body into an
object for Yorick's subordinating sentimentality. In order for La
Fleur's body to reach the height to which Yorick places it, it must
transcend normative understandings of masculinity and the male
gaze, hence the concept of the queer male gaze, to levels in which
the gazer can obtain pleasure from the body at which he gazes. If
La Fleur's body reaches this level of transcendence, then Yorick
can prevent his own self-subversion and self-subordination
by maintaining his gaze and the subversion and subordination
of his young companion, forcing La Fleur's masculine body
and masculinity further down the hierarchy and spectrum.
THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
After readers are introduced to La Fleur and both he
and Yorick prepare to leave, Yorick gives us a bit more information regarding his intentions for taking on La Fleur as a traveling
companion even though he should be much happier with
someone more experienced in the role of valet than someone
who, like La Fleur, apparently has no real idea of how to serve
a master like Yorick. As the two ensure everything is packed
in Yorick's portmanteau, a multitude of women appear to wish
La Fleur bon voyage. The young man has apparently been fairly
busy with the ladies of the town, considering "he promised he
would bring them all pardons from Rome," 30 implying that he has
been sexually involved with, and perhaps impregnated, many,
if not all, of these women. Watching the interactions between
La Fleur and the ladies pushes forward the idea that La Fleur
does indeed fall within a hegemonic or complicit masculinity
instead of a subordinate like Yorick's queer male gaze suggests.
However, readers quickly discover that "[the] young
fellow.. .is beloved by all the town, and there is scarce a corner
in Montriul where the want of him will not be felt," for, as the
landlord says, "[La Fleur] is always in love."31 One could easily
take the landlord's comments as an implication of bisexuality
in La Fleur, or the landlord could simply be speaking hyperbolically. Yorick, too, either understands the landlord's meaning or
misinterprets it completely in his reply: "I am heartily glad of
it. •.'twill save me the t rouble every night of putting my breeches
under my head."32 Any confusion regarding Yorick's decision to
hire on La Fleur as it applies to his queer male gaze has now
dissipated. Here, Yorick outright tells everyone around, including readers, that he desires La Fleur as an object of physical
desire as well as a travelling companion, one that he can direct
30
29
Murat Aydemir, Images of Bliss: Ejaculation, Masculinity, Meaning
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), 269.
32
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31
32
Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, 33.
Ibid. [Emphasis added]
Ibid.
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I
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his gaze upon any time he wishes, even when resting for the
evening. Everything readers have been told up to this point
. erhaps not obvious but, once noticed, can trigger a leakage
15 ~ewd meanings."36 Even when simply glancing out his bedroom
has made them question exactly why Yorick would choose the
young Frenchman as his valet even though there have to be
other, more qualified candidates. Now, however, Yorick tells
the truth. He tells us why, as Goring says, "he is unable not to
hire La Fleur."33 His queer male gaze heightens his queer mascu-
of• d w Yorick cannot control his queer male gaze an d h'·1s des1re
•
wino ,
to objectify the masculine body for his own queer desires, even
when the queer male gaze cannot help fulfill those desires.
line objectification, his emotion overcomes his reason, and his
gaze subverts La Fleur's masculine body and, "[subsequently]
and surprisingly, the body and its carnal mortality, temporarily
overcome by the power and pleasure of the gaze," in this case,
La Fleur's new position as Yorick's valet, "must serve as the
resting place or ground for the vast view that is taken in."34
Not all objects of Yorick's queer male gaze reach the
aforementioned levels of transcendence, precisely because
of their inability to overcome the mortality Aydemir mentions.
Yorick's descriptions of Parisian men he sees in the street from
the window of his hotel reveals a queer male gaze that, in trying
to objectify and sexualize the bodies to which it is directed, fails
to do so because of their mortality. Yorick laments seeing "old
[men] with broken lances, and in helmets which had lost their vizards-the young in armour bright which show like gold, beplumed
with each gay feather of the east." 35 In this moment, readers see
what happens when Yorick's queer male fails to objectify the
objects of his queer masculine desire because of their brokenness and unattractiveness. The fact that these objects are phallic,
however, still evidences that Yorick's intention was to sexualize
these bodies and subvert their masculinity for his own gaze.
While easy for Sterne's eighteenth-century audience to understand, Goring explains, "the embedded innuendo [in this scene]
35
Goring, introduction, xx. [Author's emphasis]
Murat Aydemir, Images of Bliss: Ejaculation,
Masculinity, Meaning, 269.
Ibid, 47.
34
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34
The Father Lorenzo Conundrum
Even though readers get their first glimpse of Yorick's queer
male gaze during his initial encounter with La Fleur, that is not
the first time his gaze has played an important role in the novel.
Upon Yorick's first meeting with Father Lorenzo in Calais, which
happens before the scene in the Parisian window, and prior
to his first encounter with La Fleur, the narrator has a similar
situation with the failure of the queer male gaze. "The moment
I cast my eyes upon him,'' Yorick says, "I was predetermined
not to give him a single sous."37 Yorick's queer male gaze has
already objectified Lorenzo based solely on his appearance. As
such, Yorick has decided that this monk is not worth giving a
single coin to. Even though the two eventually become close
friends, Lorenzo's "few scatter'd white hairs upon his temples, being all that remained of it" 38 were more than enough to
dissuade Yorick's queer male gaze and cause him to look upon
Lorenzo with contempt and accusatory glances rather than take
him in without question the way he did with La Fleur. Yorick
as discussed above, takes in the young La Fleur only because
of the protagonist's queer male gaze, the fact that his instant
attraction to the young man's body pulls him into the process
of subverting La Fleur's masculinity. Yorick's obsession with
the Young man's body drives this passion. This subversion does
36
37
38
Goring, introduction, xxix.
Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, 7.
Ibid.
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not happen with Lorenzo, even though sentimentality seems
to be at play here. Reason dictates that people should give
money to poor monks and other men of the cloth . Emotion, as
readers see in Yorick's first reaction to Lorenzo, dictates otherwise. The disheveled man asking for money should be the
type of person to which who Yorick, a pastor, no less, gives his
money. However, upon his first gaze at Lorenzo, Yorick refuses.
Lorenzo proves problematic for Yorick's gaze in other
ways, as well. Lorenzo himself seems to be of a sentimental
nature, because, as Yorick describes Lorenzo, "[he] look'd at
something beyond this world." 39 Lorenzo's perceived sentimentality, seeing something else in the world that reason cannot,
gives Yorick pause as his gaze attempts and fails to sexualize
and objectify Lorenzo's masculine body. As Yorick appears
guided by emotion and carnal attraction, both of which are
aspects of sentimentality that threaten self-subversion and
self-subordination, encountering another sentimentalist throws
his male gaze off-kilter, disallowing the gazer to take in this old
man's body and subvert it. The carnal mortality of the body, as
mentioned previously in Aydemir's work, is far too prevalent
in the body of the old monk and, therefore, cannot transcend
and be transfigured into a gazed object. Carnal mortality and
sexual immorality cannot be applied through the queer male
gaze to this grotesque display of sentimental masculinity found
in Lorenzo, possibly because Lorenzo's masculinity has already
been subverted, or at least subordinated, before Yorick ever
meets him. Yorick tells readers that Lorenzo "abandon'd the
sword and the sex together" 40 so that he could take "sanctuary, not so much in his convent as in himself,"41 giving up
his masculinity and masculine proclivities of warfare and
39
40
41
Ibid.
Ibid, 21.
Ibid.
36
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tornication to, in a sense, find himself, something decidedly
rnore unmasculine, even though not quite feminine. Even if
Lorenzo's body presents itself as masculine, giving Yorick a
rnoment's opportunity to attempt subversion through the
queer male gaze, Lorenzo's unmasculine-but-not-quite-feminine sentimental nature somehow prevents Yorick's gaze
from having an effect on both the gazer and the gazed.
The question of how this prevention occurs is one that
cannot be left open without any discussion. William S. Wilkerson,
in his book Ambiguity and Sexuality: A Theory of Sexual Identity,
gives readers a possible answer for consideration regarding
Yorick's queer male gaze and its failure to sexualize a male body,
albeit an unattractive one. Wilkerson says, "Males engaged in
active, insertive sexual behavior as a part of their masculinity;
and females took the passive, receptive role as a part of their
femininity."42 Because Lorenzo gave up sexual relations, he is no
longer participating in the patriarchal insertive sexual behavior
that Wilkerson argues must be utilized in order to be classified
as a male. This lack of maleness, though, does not make Lorenzo
feminine; it merely makes him unmasculine. Without the passive
and receptive role that Wilkerson says is required of women,
Lorenzo lacks true womanness. This binary is not so cut and dry,
however. Wilkerson takes his original binary and further complicates the matter: "Masculine comportment, mannerisms, and
occupations indicated male, while feminine comportment, mannerisms, and occupations indicated female. A man who found
himself acting effeminately would very likely be labeled as such." 43
When considering Lorenzo's gendered space as falling someWhere between male and female, due mainly to his presenting
as male but giving up masculine traits for more feminine ones, •
43
William S. Wilkerson, Ambiguity and Sexuality: A Theory of
Sexual Identity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 80.
Ibid.
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norms and sentimentality mentioned by Adam Smith in
The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith says, "The delicate sensibility required in civilized nations sometimes destroys the
masculine firmness of the character:•ss The delicate sensibilities
of Yorick and La Fleur allow the novel's protagonist to utilize
the queer male gaze in his attempt to participate in complicit
masculinity, destroying any "masculine" firmness that may have
existed within the young Frenchman as a means to destroy any
femininity that exists within himself. The same holds true for
Yorick's interactions with Father Lorenzo and for his viewing
of the men through his Parisian window. Sentimentality relies
heavily on sensibility to operate; so, through tearing down and
diminishing these characters' sensibilities, the issues with sentimentalism become more apparent. The sentimental "looks of
simple subtlety,'' 56 as Yorick says, become not so subtle when
we, as readers, begin gazing into our own sentimentalities.
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
r,,tessner, Michael A. "Friendship, Intimacy, and Sexuality." In The
Masculinities Reader, edited by Stephen M . Whitehead
and Frank J. Barrett, 253-65. Malden: Polity, 2001.
r,,tulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." In
Film Theory and Criticism Introductory Readings,
edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 83344. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Parrish, Susan Scott. America Curiosity: Cultures of Natural
History in the Colonial British Atlantic World. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Between Men: English Literature and Male
Homosocial Desire. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, edited by Harold Jenkins. In The
Arden Shakespeare Complete Works, edited by Richard
Proudfoot, Ann Thompson, and David Scott Kastan, 291332. Walton-on-Thames: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1998.
Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by D. D. Raphael
Bibliography
Aydemir, Murat. Images of Bliss: Ejaculation, Masculinity, Meaning.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007.
Connell, R. W. "The Social Organization of Masculinity:• In The
Masculinities Reader, edited by Stephen M . Whitehead
and Frank J. Barrett, 30-50. Malden: Polity, 2001.
and A. L. Macfie. London: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey, edited by
Paul Goring. London: Penguin, 2005.
Wilkerson, William S. Ambiguity and Sexuality: A Theory of Sexual
Identity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Wray, Tim. "The Queer Gaze." Bauhaus-Universitiit Weimar, 2003,
https://e-pub.uni-wemar.de/opu54/files/1267/wray.pdf.
Du Preez, Amanda. "Gaze, the:' Grove Art Online. http://www.
oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T2093880.
Goring, Paul. Introduction to A Sentimental Journey, by Laurence
Sterne, xi-xxxii. London: Penguin, 2005.
Hooper, Charlotte. Manly States: Masculinities, International Relations, and
Gender Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
55
56
Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, ed. D. D. Raphael and
A. L. Macfie (London: Oxford University Press, 1976), V.ii.13.209.
Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, 53.
42
FALL 2017
FALL 2017
43
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Ollie and Julian
fhe Bachelor
and the Old Maid:
Gender Duality in
Tabitha Gilman Tenney's
Shannon Hochman
Female Quixotism
Kaycee Chance
T
..:.' t~\,.i:,
ABITHA GILMAN TENNEY'S 1801 NOVE·L FEMALE QUIXOTISM
grapples with several major themes throughout the story,
..
,
while also providing a satirical commentary about the
traditional romance novel. Essentially, Female Quix•
..
..
46
FALL 2017
otism is a romance novel that highlights the perceived social
dangers of romance novels through the disastrous courtships of
the story's main character, Dorcasina Sheldon. This meta-commentary Tenney provides about the genre throughout the
novel gives the entire story a dual nature that presents itself
through thematic elements as well as structure. As the novel
Progresses, Tenney's descriptions of Dorcasina (both physical
and emotional) become increasingly bleak and pathetic. At the
start of the novel, Tenney portrays her heroine as a respected,
smart, yet physically average young woman. But by the time the
novel nears its end, Dorcasina is aged, balding, and fawning after
much younger men, giving her an air of the literary grotesque.
As the story progresses and Dorcasina ages, Tenney makes it
rather clear that Dorcasina's worst enemy is her own relentless
Pursuit of real love, which reveals a larger theme about age,
marriage, and gender in early American literature. The dualistic nature of Female Quixotism 's opening letter and Tenney's
characterization of Dorcasina from young woman to old maid,
When analyzed alongside the characterizations of several of her
FALL 2 017
47
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
bachelor counterparts, namely Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Cumberland
highlight an important sub-textual commentary about stereo- '
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOU RNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
as •despicable and miserable" and wishes to protect the women
,rom a life of disaster (3)5. The Compiler's judgement of Dorca-
types surrounding single, aging women during the time period.
sina's life as a failure clearly identifies marriage as a common
Before the story Female Quixotism begins, Tenney opens
the novel with a letter from someone called "The Compiler:• an
unnamed, androgynous character who provides an interesting
preface to the story and hints at further themes about gender.
staple of success for women in early America, as the danger lies
The letter is addressed "To all Columbian Young Ladies, Who read
Novels and Romances" and provides an important, gender-focused lens for the reading of Female Quixotism 1 . The author of
the letter never reveals his or her gender, and there is an implied
masculinity despite the apparent intended sense of femininity.
The letter starts "Dear Girls," and the Compiler claims to have
a firsthand account of Dorcasina Sheldon, "a knowledge of her
entire history" 2 • The Compiler keeps reminding the female readers of the letter that this account is "an extraordinary piece of
biography" and not a "mere romance," such as the ones Dorcasina is infatuated with (3) 3 • The sense of intimacy implied in the
account of the Compiler leads readers to assume the gender of
the Compiler as female. However, the same passionate proclamations of truth could hint at a male identity, as it was common
in Tenney's time for women to be governed by their husbands
and other men in their families and culture at large. Furthermore,
Tenney's use of language in the letter further hints at masculinity.
The Compiler calls his or her account "a true uncoloured history
of a romantic country girl, whose head had been turned by the
unrestrained perusal of Novels and Romances" 4 • The language of
this statement, along with the rest of the letter, casts a sense of
foreboding, as the Compiler further comments on Dorcasina's life
1
2
3
4
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1992), 3.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
48
FALL 20 17
in becoming an old, single woman. The placement of this heavy
sentiment so early in the book foreshadows that the stereotype of the older, single woman will be at play throughout the
novel, and indeed, the juxtaposition of the bachelor and the old
maid is a heavy focus for Tenney throughout Female Quixotism.
Despite the gender of the Compiler being unknown
in the opening letter, Tenney manages to present Dorcasina as
a Female Quixote early on, which hints at further sub-textual
commentary-specifically about gender-in the subsequent
plot of Female Quixotism. Sensing potential hesitation from the
young female readers, the Compiler compares the accounts
of the novel to those of Don Quixote as a staple of truth. The
strangeness of this proclamation is two-fold: first, although the
Compiler is comparing the two in a seemingly literal sense, Don
Quixote could be read equally satirically or sub-textually; secondly, the Compiler grounds Dorcasina's mere existence in that
of her male counterpart by providing "the celebrated hero of
La Mancha" as Dorcasina's reference point. Dorcasina's inabil ity to stand alone in any facet, demonstrated by the Compiler's
need for a narrative comparison, hints further at Tenney's commentary about the double-standards of gender. Don Quixote
and Female Quixotism are both novels that provide in-depth,
satirical, dualistic, critical approaches to novel reading in early
Spanish and American cultures. Assuming early American and
current readers alike have knowledge of the earlier novel, Tenney
Provides an early clue about the dualistic nature of Female Quix~
Oti
sm, Which becomes more complex as the story progresses.
s
Ibid.
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
Throughout Female Quixotism, Dorcasina is deceived,
hurt, and lied to by her suitors and sometimes even tricked
during the time period, which becomes increasingly important
as oorcasina ages. In an article titled "Imaginary Character of a
and disrespected by her friends and family. Dorcasina's love for
Fine Woman," published in the South Carolina Weekly Museum
and complete Magazine of Entertainment and Intelligence just four
years before Tenney published Female Quixotism, the unknown
(obviously male) author describes the common characteristics
of a desirable early American woman, "though we all know what
women now are, it were worth inquiry to consider what women
should be"". The author goes on to describe the idyllic woman
as someone who has "eyes that look humility and love," a complexion resembling "rose and lilly," and a "particular charm that
arms her when she smiles"•. In addition to these physical characteristics, a "Fine Woman" should also be witty, refined, sensible,
agreeable, and kind. While Dorcasina's personality certainly
meets some of these perceived societal norms, Tenney's physical characterization of the novel's heroine feels intentionally
argumentative towards standards of beauty and acceptance in
early America and early American literature alike. She makes a
cheeky, playful remark about how she "should" describe Dorcasina as having an "elegant form, delicately turned limbs, auburn
hair, alabaster skin, heavenly languishing eyes," and much more
in order to keep true to the genre of the early American romance
novel1°. However, she instead describes Dorcasina as "a middling
kind of person; like the greater part of her countrywomen; such
as no man would be smitten with at first sight, but such as any
man might love upon intimate acquaintance" 11 . Dorcasina has a
rough, dark complexion, a normal stature, and average features;
however, she is smart, kind, caring, and has some control over the
novels, a major component of her character, has made her blind,
in a sense, to the real world . Although she faces consistently
painful and disappointing courtships, Dorcasina refuses to give
up on her romantic endeavors. In her article "Scratching the
Surface: Reading Character in Female Quixotism," scholar Jessica
Lang says of Dorcasina, "She repeatedly convinces herself that
she possesses a special ability to recognize the true identity
of a wooer that otherwise would remain hidden and so invites
even more inappropriate liaisons than might otherwise have
occurred" 6 • Despite Dorcasina's love for the novels and the
happiness they provide her, Tenney provides the same dualistic treatment to this aspect of her characterization, as the very
novels she treasures so deeply provide her endless heartache
and disappointment. Early in the story Tenney establishes Dorcasina's love for romance novels as an undesirable aspect of her
personality, stating, "Those, therefore, who were acquainted
with this circumstance, notwithstanding the temptation of her
money, and her agreeable person, were too prudent to think
of seeking her in marriage..."' . Dorcasina remains blind to the
idea that her knowledge and love of literature is a problem, and
instead believes she has yet to find someone who can offer
her the kind of romance she knows (from her novels) to exist.
Despite Tenney's early portrayal of Dorcasina as the
Female Quixote and her focus on Dorcasina's love of literature,
there are no further mentions of Don Quixote. Instead, Tenney
focuses early in the novel on establishing the physical characterization of Dorcasina as quite different from desired women
6
7
Lang, Jessica, "Scratching the Surface: Reading
Character in Female Quixotism," Texas Studies in
Literature and Language (51, no. 2, 2009), 119.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 14.
50
FALL 2017
8
9
10
11
"Imaginary Character of a Fine Woman," South·
Carolina Weekly Museum and Complete Magazine of
Entertainment and Intelligence (1 (Jan 1, 1797), 13.
Ibid.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 5.
Ibid. 5-6.
FALL 2017
51
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
money in her father's estate, which will someday be hers. Despite
the playfulness with which Tenney delivers Dorcasina's description, the stark contrast she provides between Dorcasina and
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
To strengthen this commentary, Tenney employs several
other romance novel heroines not only sets the tone for Dorcasina's chaotic adventures in love, but also highlights the sub-textual
commentary about the physical expectations of women in early
America. By pointing out to readers that there is, indeed, a way
,nale characters who fit the role of the bachelor, the counterpart
of the old maid; however, the characterization of each man is
much milder than that of Dorcasina, another nod by Tenney to
.American gender-norms. In a time when old maids were viewed
bY society as pitiful and unworthy, bachelors were treated with
sympathy and kindness. For example, in a 1792 magazine arti-
Dorcasina "should" be described, Tenney is calling for inquiry
into why Dorcasina is set apart from these idealized standards,
a question that lingers throughout the duration of the novel.
Over the course of Female Quixotism, it becomes abundantly clear that Tenney is providing sub-textual commentary
about the common American stereotypes surrounding single,
aging women, and she accomplishes this task by employing
the common societal figures of the old maid and the bachelor.
Women were not expected to work or earn an education in early
America; instead, they were to find respectable men to marry and
start families with, fulfilling their duties as wives and mothers. Of
course, not all women could find husbands, and were referred to
cle titled "The Bachelor's Apology," the author pities men who
die alone, and provides many possible reasons such a scenario
could arise, such as misfortune, ailing parents who need support, or unrequited love 13 • "The Bachelor's Apology" utilizes a
tone much different than that of "The Comforts of a Married
Woman: and the Sufferings of Old Maids," stating "Let him rest
undisturbed in the earth, and his memory unreproached, while
his name dies silently away, and is buried in oblivion forever 014•The juxtaposition of the two stereotypes is important
to understand in order to fully analyze Tenney's thoughtful,
multi-layered characterizations of Dorcasina and some of her
male counterparts, mainly Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Cumberland.
as "old maids." If a woman fit this role during the time period, it
was assumed something was wrong with her that prevented her
from marrying. In a 1791 poem titled "The Comforts of a Married
Woman : and the Sufferings of Old Maids," the writer discusses
the happiness of women who have found their sole purpose
in the form of matrimony, and laments the old women who
failed, claiming "When young this great command they spurn,
/ 'Increase and multiply'/ But punish'd in their age they burn,/
They languish and they die" 12 • Tenney's characterization of Oorcasina (and its rapid decline throughout the novel) makes it clear
One of the most important relationships in Dorcasina's
life, aside from her novels, is the bond she has with her father,
Mr. Sheldon. In addition to his importance to Dorcasina, his
characterization by Tenney is essential to highlight her commentary about gender and marriage. Like Dorcasina, Mr. Sheldon
loves to read and sees little wrong with her love of books, as
he "unfortunately indulged his daughter in the full latitude of
her inclination; never considering their dangerous tendency
to a Young inexperienced female mind ..."' 5 • In many ways, Mr.
Sheldon is quite progressive with his views on women, as he
that ideas about how American society at large viewed single,
aging women were on Tenney's mind when writing the novel.
13
12
"The Comforts of a Married Woman: and the Sufferings of Old
Maids," New York Weekly Museum 151 {April 2, 1791), lines 21-2 4•
14
15
52
FALL 2 01 7
"The Bachelor's Apology." The Massachusetts Magazine; or, Monthly
Museum. Containing the Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manners
& Amusements of the Age 4, no. 10 (October 1792), 614.
Ibid.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 6.
FALL 2 017
53
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
treats Dorcasina very much like an equal, letting her have ownership over her own life and only stepping in only when he
THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
worries about her wellbeing. In addition, he also trusts her to
manage money as she sees fit, which was quite uncommon for
the time. Tenney establishes early in the novel that Mr. Sheldon
is a widower who never remarried after Dorcasina's mother
died when she was small. "By degrees his grief subsided, and
bY his letter. "Not even the slightest compliment _to her person;
nothing of angel or goddess, raptures or flames; m the whole
letter" 17 . Despite Dorcasina's desire for a spouse, she is unwilling to settle for someone she does not believe she loves, "She
determined, therefore, without much deliberation, to answer
it in plain terms, and to give him a flat refusal. .. " 10 • Dorcasina's
refusal of Lysander, while similar to her father's choice not to
his affection for his infant daughter increased, till it engrossed
almost every thought of his mind; and his very existence seemed
to be bound up with hers" 16 . Although Mr. Sheldon was married
at one point, Tenney makes it clear that his reason for never
remarrying was a lack of desire to do so. Instead, he focuses
on raising Dorcasina and spending time enjoying his books as a
conscious choice of bachelorhood. Undoubtedly, Mr. Sheldon
is a positive, trustworthy figure in Dorcasina's life; however,
the amount of similarities between him and his daughter draw
clear attention to the treatment of their characterizations.
Despite his being a country-dweller who does not like
big cities, Mr. Sheldon is respected by members of his com-
pursue companionship aimlessly, is treated quite differently.
Lysander questions why she, "with the greatest good sense and
propriety," would refuse his offer, as it was common for a young
woman like Dorcasina to marry someone of good standing like
Lysander regardless of real romantic attraction 19 . It would not
be uncommon for the time period for a man to simply decide
a woman is senseless and foolish for her desire not to marry
someone, as the intellectual role of women in early America was
nearly non-existent. In an article from 1789 titled "Thoughts on
Women," the author states that "As judgement then can come but
from knowledge, I will readily agree, that the number of women
who have solid judgement is very small" 20 • Because Dorcasina is
munity, educated, and wealthy. In fact, there is little attention
paid to the fact that he is a bachelor. Tenney never mentions .
any romantic interests for Mr. Sheldon or indicates that he feels
his life is lacking, despite having spent much of it romantically
alone. On the other hand, although Dorcasina displays many of
the same positive attributes as her father, her entire existence
essentially revolves around finding a spouse, as the plot of Female
Quixotism takes its shape from her chaotic, messy romantic
endeavors. When Dorcasina is still somewhat young, her father
introduces her to a young man named Lysander, the son of
one of his close friends. After a seemingly pleasant interaction
between the two, Lysander extends an offer of companionship
to Dorcasina, which she quickly refuses after being disappointed
so well-read and seemingly full of knowledge, it becomes impossible to ignore the social commentary Tenney is making. Despite
Dorcasina's expression of many of the same characteristics as
her father, her choice to remain single (even if just for the time
being) is portrayed as senseless, and it is implied that she should
have taken her opportunity with Lysander, as no one else will
love someone so infatuated with romance novels. The main
16
Ibid., 5.
54
FALL 2017
17
18
19
20
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 13.
Ibid.
Ibid.
"Thoughts On Women :• The Christian's, Scholar's, and
Farmer's Magazine: Calculated in an Eminent Degree, to
Promote Religion; to Disseminate Useful Knowledge; to
Afford Literary Pleasures and Amusement, and to Advance
the Interest of Agriculture, 1, no. 1 (Apr/May 1789), 86.
FALL 2017
55
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALIT Y
I.
source of this foolishness and the implied judgements of Dorcasina harken back to the warning of the Compiler; Dorcasina's
father is not viewed as foolish or senseless, because he is a lover
of history books, so his decisions are not swayed by literature. In
fact, Mr. Sheldon's decision to stay single even after Dorcasina
is a young woman capable of caring for herself is never questioned or studied. The many similarities between Dorcasina and
him as an acceptable suitor for middle aged Dorcasina, now
tortv•five. Interestingly, Mr. Sheldon can overlook Mr. Cumberland's flaws with ease, because he is a good business man,
punctual, and would be able to provide for Dorcasina 22 • Mr.
Sheldon's actions seem heavy-handed, but they were rather
common for the time. In an article titled "Laws in Massachusetts" from 1788, laws about marriage specifically state how it is
her father Mr. Sheldon are undoubtedly essential to understand
Tenney's sub-textual commentary about the unfair, unrealistic
expectations on women in early America. Just three years before
Female Quixotism was published, an article titled "To The Fair Sex•
by Timothy Touchstone was published in The Philadelphia Minerva.
The author claims that men have practiced novel reading from
time to time, but that no "man of learned powers" would have
interest in reading novels 21 • The author goes on to claim about
the "fair sex" much of what Tenney is dissecting throughout the
novel through the themes of duality and gender. Dorcasina's
love for literature being such a wretched part of her characterization, yet the same quality being seemingly harmless for Mr.
the responsibility of the parents to find their children a spouse,
something God commands 23 • As Dorcasina ages, her father
does as well, so he wants to find her someone to settle down
with, a common "burden" for parents. After many disappointing
courtships in Dorcasina's life, the acceptance by her father is
not surprising. Mr. Cumberland treats the proposal like a business interaction; he was a trader for work, which is a quality
that translates into all areas of his characterization; for example,
despite being unhappy because of Dorcasina's appearance, he
is able to accept it "after considering the thousand a year" that
she earns from her family estate 2 • . The relationship between
Mr. Cumberland and Dorcasina is cringe-worthy at times, and
Sheldon provides another sub-textual commentary about female
characterization in both society and literature. This dualistic
treatment of character is evident again in Dorcasina's interactions with Mr. Cumberland; Tenney uses their brief courtship to
further dissect the stereotypes of the bachelor and the old maid.
In addition to the many important counterpoints
Mr. Sheldon provides, another important bachelor in Female
Quixotism is Mr. Cumberland, one of Dorcasina's later suitors.
Mr. Cumberland is a complex and interesting character; he is
nearly fifty, widowed, engaged in other romantic affairs, and a
father to five. Despite these qualities, Mr. Sheldon still views
the situations between them provide more specific sub-textual
commentary about the stereotypes of the bachelor and the old
maid, specifically in the characterization of Mr. Cumberland and
Tenney's characterization of Dorcasina from his perspective.
21
56
Touchstone, Timothy, "To the Fair Sex," The Philadelphia
Minerva, Containing a Variety of Fugitive Pieces in Prose, and
Poetry, Original and Selected 4, no. 10 (April 7, 1798), 39.
FALL 201 7
Tenney's portrayal of Mr. Cumberland feels quite
intentional as a means to highlight her commentary about expectations of gender and marriage in early America. The primary
Way Tenney accomplishes this goal in Female Quixotism is by
her treatment of Mr. Cumberland as a bachelor and Dorcasina
22
23
24
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 205.
"Extracts from Ancient Records," The American Magazine,
Containing a Miscellaneous Collection of Original and Other
Valuable Essays in Prose and Verse, and Calculated Both for
Instruction and Amusement 1 no. 5 (April 1788). 324.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 205.
FALL 201 7
57
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
as an old maid. Both characters have money and come from
respectable families, but because Dorcasina is in her mid-forties,
it is assumed by Mr. Cumberland that she will live up to certain
expectations of being agreeable and industrious, despite disappointing his physical expectations. There is no inquiry into her
true personality, largely because it is assumed she will accept his
proposal joyfully simply because of her age. Although Dorcasina
has always believed in true love and love at first sight, she does
not want to agree to marry Mr. Cumberland, and feels his proposal before-they even meet is cold and disheartening, which sets
the tone for their further interactions and characterizations. Mr.
Cumberland provides no false notions of love, but instead treats
Dorcasina like a commodity, stating that she was his "purpose"
for traveling there and it would be a shame to "return without
having accomplished my object" 25 Dorcasina is disgusted with
Mr. Cumberland and disappointed, confronting her father in
a telling, rich scene: Mr. Sheldon states, "I find I must be plain
with you ... and repeat that, at your age, you cannot expect
either to experience or inspire a passion, which only belongs to
youth ..."26 (207). Dorcasina tries to get her father to understand
that she is perfectly happy remaining single unless she can find
the kind of love she desires, but despite her father's early progressive views, he ultimately agrees with the societal views of
his daughter as a failure if she rema ins alone in old age. Despite
his similar decisions to be single, he struggles with the societal
views of Dorcasina remaining single for the rest of her life.
After being rejected by Dorcasina, Mr. Cumberland briefly pursues Miss Stanly, as he was "struck with her
youth, her figure, and her vivacity" 27 • The brief introduction
of Miss Stanly to the interactions between Dorcasina and Mr.
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
cumberland is purposeful, as it further highlights how little
t,,1r. Cumberland cared for Dorcasina in the first place, easily
replacing her with someone younger and more acceptable to
popular beauty standards. Further illustrated in a popular culture piece from 1796, titled "Inconveniences Attending Beauty,"
the author states "A lovely face and graceful shape never fail
to attract a multitude of admirers" 28 • Tenney's interpretation
of this kind of popular belief takes place in these interactions
and characterizations; although Mr. Cumberland portrays
behavior that is bold, rude, and inappropriate-all behavior that
would never be allowed for a woman- his flaws are treated
the same as Dorcasina's decision to remain single. Seemingly,
as stated in the primary text, this kind of behavior would be
allowable for a bachelor. Tenney's inclusion of Mr. Cumberland highlights important sub-textual commentary about the
unfair treatment of single, aging women in early America.
Similar to its opening, Female Quixotism ends with a
letter. A single, elderly Dorcasina writes to her old friend Miss
Stanly (now Mrs. Barry) lamenting a life wasted on reading and
wishful thinking, writing, "The spell is now broken; the pleasing
illusion has vanished" 2 • . She commits herself to a life of charity
work, and warns Mrs. Barry, if she has daughters, to keep them
far away from romance novels. After a harrowing, tumultuous
life of romantic endeavors, Dorcasina's letter reinforces the early
Warning of the Compiler, which could be Tenney's way of further reinforcing the duplicitous nature of Dorcasina and Female
Quixotism as a whole. Despite Dorcasina's commitment to charity,
a noble cause, Tenney hints at a dull, bleak existence for the
Old maid. Dorcasina writes in her letter, "However unjust and
28
25
26
27
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 206.
Ibid., 207.
Ibid., 218.
58
FALL 2 01 7
29
"Inconveniences Attending Beauty," The Rural Magazine;
or, Vermont Repository. Devoted to Literary, Moral, Historical,
and Political Improvement (August 1, 1795), 395.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman, Female Quixotism, 323.
FALL 2 017
59
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
indelicate may be the opinion, that matrimony is essential to hap.
piness, it is perhaps the first that a romantic girl forms. For myself
'
I candidly acknowledge that it has governed all the actions of
my life" 30 • Ultimately, Dorcasina's refusal to give up on the love
she believes to be possible because of her novels leaves her
bitter and full of resent and regret, a disappointing ending to the
novel. Tenney's final portrayal of Dorcasina as a bitter old maid
reinforces her previous sub-textual commentary about the expectations surrounding gender and marriage in early America. Female
Quixotism successfully functions as a multi-layered piece of social
satire that attempts to understand popular beliefs about gender
and marriage in early America. Tenney's portrayal of Dorcasina
from average young woman to stubborn old maid, especially
when studied alongside some of her male counterparts, provides
a clear sub-textual lens for the reading of Female Quixotism.
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Bibliography
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a Miscellaneous Collection of Original and Other Valuable
Essays in Prose and Verse, and Calculated Both for Instruction
and Amusement (1787-1788) 1, no. 5 (April 1788): 324-326.
•imaginary Character of a Fine Woman." South-Carolina Weekly
Museum and Complete Magazine of Entertainment
and Intelligence (1797-1797) 1 (Jan 1, 1797): 13-17.
•inconveniences Attending Beauty." The Rural Magazine; or, Vermont
Repository. Devoted to Literary, Moral, Historical, and Political
Improvement (1795-1796) (August 1, 1795): 394-397.
Lang, Jessica. "Scratching the Surface: Reading Character
in Female Quixotism." Texas Studies in Literature
and Language 51, no. 2 (2009): 119-141.
Tenney, Tabitha Gilman. Female Quixotism. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1992.
'The Bachelor's Apology." The Massachusetts Magazine; or,
Monthly Museum. Containing the Literature, History,
Politics, Arts, Manners & Amusements of the Age
(1790-1796) 4, no. 10 (October 1792): 614.
'The Comforts of a Married Woman: and the Sufferings of Old Maids:'
New York Weekly Museum (1788-1791) 151 (April 2, 1791): 1.
"Thoughts On Women:• The Christian's, Scholar's, and Farmer's
Magazine: Calculated in an Eminent Degree, to Promote
Religion; to Disseminate Useful Knowledge; to Afford Literary
Pleasures and Amusement, and to Advance the Interest of
Agriculture (1789-1791) 1, no. 1 (Apr/May 1789): 85-90.
Touchstone, Timothy. "To the Fair Sex." The Philadelphia Minerva,
Containing a Variety of Fugitive Pieces in Prose, and Poetry,
Original and Selected (1795-1798) 4, no. 10 (April 7, 1798): 39-40.
30
Ibid. 324
60
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Nostalgia
Gretchen Rehfeld
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Moment
Gretchen Rehfeld
THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Ephemere
Gretchen Rehfeld
Nina Lucien
Gabi Glidewell
N
INA LUCIEN AND I SAT ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER
drinking coffee in my living room. Nina, a bit nervous,
started answering my questions with thoughtful pauses between sentences. This is her first
series published in a journal. Lucien has been a photographer
for the past five years. When asked about what interested
her in art she mentioned photographer Helmut Newton, as
well as, directors Lars von Trier and Harmony Korine.
"I was influenced a lot by films," Nina recalled, "I
love movies like Nymphomaniac, Gummo, and Kids. I've
always loved beautiful films and those are part of what
interested me in photography." Currently, she is focusing on incorporating art deco color schemes such as
pinks, blues, reds, and greens into her work.
"I'm a really neurotic person so I'm really drawn to imagery surrounding certain subjects, like suffocation and silence."
Lucien mused, "It's not a conscious thing a lot of the time, but
I'm sure that a lot of what I find visually appealing is heavily
influenced by my experiences." She further explained how her
photography focuses on the model as her canvas. "[My photog·
raphy] is entirely about the model, but nothing about the model."
68
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
When asking about her creative process a smile
owly crept across her face. "Ultimately, I get immense personal enjoyment from thinking about the way my photos
re going to look. It's a lot about the process." She started
uckling and said, "and sometimes that process involves
luing over 70 cigarettes to a back drop in my yard."
Her work featured in The Central Dissent are moving
hotographs that explore issues of gender, sexuality, consumersm, and intimacy. "Lots of people think nudity means something
sexual. But it's not. It's not porn, nudity is not inherently sexual.
umanity has always captured the human body in art, nudity
just more interesting. It makes the piece more vulnerable."
She continued to discuss the double standard
tween men and women in the industry. "If a man was
king the pictures I am no one would ask about how his
nder or sexuality affected his work outside of the 'male
ze.' But because I'm a gay woman people question my art
use of it. I'm a feminist, and I'm an artist, but I do not
ecessarily make art because I'm a feminist or a woman."
"I want to eventually move from photography to film."
ina continued, "I want to be a director and I want to be able to
pport myself with my art. I just don't want to have to do data
try.'' I asked about her advice for young queer aspiring artists
nd she started laughing at me again. "I'm a young queer aspiring
rtist. But I would have to say to study other photos. Don't be
red to make it yourself. Don't wait for a picture to happen."
"I'm really excited about The Central Dissent. I think
Will be good for Edmond and for UCO to have someing like this. I think the Center is doing important work."
Nina will be featured next at the Paseo Photography Fesal throughout the month of September at The Paseo Art Space
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To see more of her work, go to her
ebsite ninalucienphotography.com. To inquire about her work
lease contact her at dm.nina.lucien.photography@gmail.com.
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As A Mother
Kayelee Howard
As a mother,
I had created a hypothetical plan for all of my daughters.
I had a plan that they would grow up and do great things.
I had a plan that they would walk down the isle ...to a man.
Halters Round
Their Necks:
Queer Ecofeminism in
Moby-Dick
Rachel Copeland
All men live enveloped in whale-lines.
All are born with halters round their necks.
-Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
As a mother,
I busted my ass to give my daughters everything they needed.
I thought I was doing everything right,
But evidentially not.
As a mother,
I do not understand what went wrong.
I just want her to be with a man,
Is that too much to ask?
As a mother,
I take everything my daughters do personally.
Is this something I did?
Could I have prevented this somehow?
As a mother,
I want my daughters happy.
As long as they are good people and they are happy,
That should be good enough right?
As a mother,
Why don't I feel like that is enough?
A
T A TIME WHEN AMERICA WAS BECOMING AN
independent nation, literature was continually reinforcing the concept of America as a wild frontier, waiting
to be conquered. The belief that the United States was
destined to expand to the Western shore, or manifest destiny,
captured the imagination of writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Who envisioned a beckoning wilderness, ready to be shaped by
the whims of man. Less than twenty years after Emerson published "Nature," Herman Melville published Moby-Dick, a wild,
seafaring adventure with a healthy respect for the unknowability
of nature and a hidden core of sexual anxiety and ambivalence.
An ecocritical glance at Melville's un~ieldy masterpiece yields •
an understanding of the author's complicated relationship to the
sea and to whaling in particular, but to focus solely on Melville's
treatment of nature ignores the clear relationship between
sexuality and nature in the novel. By taking a queer ecofeminist
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
approach, the concepts of manifest destiny and nature connect
to homosexuality and gender. Various parts of Moby-Dick contribute to a queer ecofeminist reading, including Ishmael, Ahab,
the racial "others" such as Queequeg, and, of course, the eponymous character. Melville's magnum opus provides a rebuttal
to the notion of manifest destiny, proposes a new social order,
and ultimately rejects it as unachievable in Western society.
Before lighting upon the branch of feminist ecocriticism, the topic of ecocriticism must be explored in the context
of Moby-Dick. As Cheryll Glofelty succinctly explains, "Simply
defined, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between
literature and the physical environment" 1 . Any work of literature that focuses in some way on the environment can be
filtered through this lens. According to Lawrence Buell, "American literature has been considered preoccupied with country
and wilderness as setting, theme, and value in contradistinction to society and the urban" 2 • Using nature as a wellspring
of metaphorical potential, American writers conceptualized a
world in which humans were destined to inherit nature. The
concept of manifest destiny had already taken root in the
American consciousness around the time that Melville wrote
Moby-Dick. However, Melville provides a more complicated
relationship with nature; rather than simply dominate it, he
actively struggles with it, ultimately concluding that nature, in
fact, is indomitable. To complicate this relationship, the topic
of gender can also be explored in the context of nature. One
distinct feature of environmental writing is the tendency to
assign a gender to both nature and civilization. Though often
1
2
74
Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm, The Ecocriticism
Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology (Athens, GA:
University of Georgia Press, 1996), xviii.
Buell, Lawrence, The Environmental Imagination:
Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American
Culture (Cambridge: Belknap, 1996), 33.
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THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
writers assign femaleness to nature, Buell credits Leslie Fiedler
with articulating how "Wilderness in American writing serves
as a liminal site for male self-fulfillment in recoil from adult
responsibility associated with female-dominated culture in the
settlements"3 • In this sense, wilderness can be considered a
place where men can retreat from civilization and "go back to"
nature, la Thoreau. In Moby-Dick, nature and the wilderness
extends to the ocean-a completely female-free environment.
Feminism and gender studies further complicates eco-
a
criticism by foregrounding the subconscious gendered approach
that writers take toward nature writing. As Stacy Alaimo points
out, "feminist theory and gender studies have demonstrated ...
that many unmarked, ostensibly ungendered fields, modes, and
sites of inquiry have been shaped by the social categories of
gender, race, class, and colonialism"4. Just as history is told by
conquerors, almost all of literature up to a certain point is formed
by male voices. By that same token, nature-inherently unable
to voice itself-is gendered without its consent. In her essay
"Toward a Queer Ecofeminism," Greta Gaard connects ecofeminism to queer theory using Val Plumwood's critique of Western
thought's perpetuated binary, which holds that two categories
of being are linked, oppositional, and inherently prioritized-for
instance, male/female or white/black 5 -to critique how "heterosexuality and its associated gender identities are taken as the
standard in dominant Western culture, and queers are defined
Primarily in relation to that standard, and our failure to comply
3
4
s
Ibid.
Alaimo, Stacy. "Feminist Science Studies and Ecocriticism:
Aesthetics and Entanglement in the Deep Sea," in The
Oxford Handbook of Ecocriticism, edited by Greg Garrard
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 188.
Gaard, Greta, "Toward a Queer Ecofeminism;'
Hypatia 12, no. 1 (1997): 116.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
with it"•. The topic of nature presents problems for those who
dispute what, exactly, constitutes nature. To define what is
natural is to also define what is unnatural. Gaard explains: "Contradictions such as this are of no interest to the master, though
such contradictions have been of great interest to feminists and
queer theorists alike, who have argued that it is precisely such
contradictions that characterize oppressive structures" 7 • Using
queer ecofeminism as a lens reveals that the gendered focus of
Moby-Dick provides a critique of these oppressive structures.
To complicate the use of queer ecofeminism, I would like
to propose that Moby-Dick is, partly, a rebuttal that problematizes
the notion of manifest destiny. The belief that the United States
was destined to extend "from sea to shining sea" (to borrow a
turn of phrase) permeates writing in the nineteenth century. As
Kris Fresonke explains, "The plot of manifest destiny, bequeathed
to us from the religious community that launches so much of our
canonical literature, expands in the nineteenth century along
with the territories it has to absorb" 8 • In this regard, Moby-Dick
responds to both the religious undertones of manifest destiny as
well as the unwieldy nature of its grasping arms-the crew of the
Pequod sails around the world and, by extension, conquers the
sea and its inhabitants in the name of America. As Ralph Waldo
Emerson philosophizes in "Nature," "Every rational creature has
all nature for his dowry and estate. It is his, if he will. He may
divest himself of it; he may creep into a corner, and abdicate
his kingdom, as most men do, but he is entitled to the world
his constitution"9. For Emerson, nature was meant to be both
6
7
8
9
76
Ibid. 118
lbid.119
Fresonke, Kris, West of Emerson: The Design of Manifest Destiny
(Berkely, CA: University of California Press, 2003), 9.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, "Nature," in The Norton Anthology of
American Literature: 1820-1865. Edited by Nina Baym and
Robert S. Levine (New York, NY: Norton, 2012), 220.
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THE CENTRAL DIS SENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
appreciated and harnessed for man's own purpose, a paradoxical
proposal that allows for nature to be shaped into unnatural forms.
At the same time, Emerson personifies Nature as a femalesomething that invites man's domination. He entices the reader,
proclaiming that "Nature stretcheth out her arms to embrace
man, only let his thoughts be of equal greatness. Willingly does
she follow his steps with the rose and violet, and bend her lines
of grandeur and grace to the decoration of her darling child" ' 0 • In
this regard, the land that would become the United States is lying
supine, begging to be conquered and shaped by man's benevolent hand. As Fresonke explains, "Our nationalism is, it seems, a
bequest from nature, a cognitive faculty that makes possible our
mastery of our world"" . To that end, extending this invitational
concept of nature to encompass the sea of Moby-Dick seems
logical when considering the subversive homosexuality at play
throughout the novel- the sea, as the unknowable, invites men
to conquer Nature without having to conquer their own nature.
When applying a queer ecofeminist lens to Emerson,
we can see how pernicious the idea of manifest destiny can
be. Though Melville focuses on the ocean in his narrative, the
concept of manifest destiny can be appl ied to Moby-Dick as
well. As Alaimo explains, "the ocean has been portrayed as the
earth's last frontier or wilderness, which, in terms of American
mythology, positions it as the place for narratives of domination" 12 • According to Gaard, "from an ecofeminist perspective,
we learn that Western culture has constructed nature as a force
that must be dominated if culture is to prevail"' 3 • If, based on
Emerson's writing, nature is female, Western culture must be
male; indeed, Western culture is formed largely by male influence. In this sense, Western culture aligns with the notion of the
10
11
12
13
Ibid. 221.
Fresonke, Kris, West of Emerson, 124.
Alaimo, Stacy. "Feminist Science Studies and Ecocriticism," 193.
Gaard, Greta, "Toward a Queer Ecofeminism," 120.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
for male self-fulfillment in recoil from adult responsibility"23 _ In
seeking the succor of the sea, Ishmael also seeks to find himself.
At the same time, the "tormenting, mild image" strikes Ishmael
as haunting; if the image is mild, perhaps it is more socially
acceptable than is possible for Ishmael. Despite that, leaving the
land for the sea allows him to go where the laws of nature are
wilder than that of the tamed American wilderness. He finds a
futility in staying amidst society as it has been established in
early America: binary, restrictive, and formed by the notion of
"nature" as something to be tamed, conquered, and suppressed.
At the same time, whaling represents a new opportunity
for both the grasp of manifest destiny and the suppression of
homosexuality. To establish the reputability of whaling, Ishmael
offers an impassioned declaration: "It was the whaleman who
first broke through the jealous policy of the Spanish crown ...
[and] eventuated the liberation of Peru, Chi li, and Bolivia from
THE CENTRAL DISSENT : A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
wakefulness via candlelight. And, as will be established later, the
symbolism of the whale is inherently masculine and queer; in
this context, the world that burns these whale oil candles also
complicitly suppresses the latent homosexuality of the sea by
burning a purified, processed version of the raw spermaceti.
In this light, the practice of whaling in itself is akin to
being homosexual. Though homosexuality does not enter the
lexicon until much later, its practices carried a stigma: "homosexual acts were castigated as sinful excesses, moral transgressions
of biblical injunctions"26 • According to Ishmael, "this business
of whaling has somehow come to be regarded among landsmen as a rather unpoetical and disreputable pursuit" because
of its "uncleanliness" and "disordered slippery decks" 27 • Both
homosexuality and whaling exist outside of the norm, deemed
too extreme to be acceptable. Yet Ishmael finds peace in the
daily life on board the whaling ship, regardless of the stigma.
the yoke of Old Spain, and the establishment of the eternal
democracy in those parts" 24 • This declaration contextualizes
whaling as a civilizing endeavor-it brought democracy to the
In "The Mast-Head," he notes the pleasure of daydreaming
while looking for whales, saying "There you stand, a hundred
feet above the silent decks, striding along the deep ... while
wilderness before any other enterprise could do so. While
whaling purportedly brings freedom , it also brings suppression.
When describing the benefits of whaling to the United States at
large, Ishmael aggrandizes it: "[the world pays] us the profoundest homage; yea, an all-abounding adoration for almost all the
tapers, lamps, and candles that burn round the globe, burn, as
before so many shrines, to our glory!" 25 • If the goal of manifest
destiny is to spread further and conquer more, the act of whaling offers another extension of this dream. To "civilize" the seas,
the whale must be caught, killed, maimed, and repurposed-and
beneath you and between your legs, as it were, swim the hugest
monsters of the sea" 28 • He finds no terror in the thought of
monsters between his legs because he knows that the monsters are just misunderstood emblems of nature, like him.
Though writers like Emerson feminized nature, the
sea in Moby-Dick provides more male-centric pleasures. As
Greta Gaard explains, "From a queer ecofeminist perspective ... we can explore how nature is feminized, eroticized,
even queered" 29 • Melville characterizes the sea and whaling
as erotically male, from the phallic imagery of the whales
and the harpooning equipment to the visceral reality of
repurposed for an entirely human need to extend their hours of
23
24
25
Buell, Lawrence, The Environmental Imagination, 33.
Melville, Moby-Dick, 99.
Ibid . 98.
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26
27
28
29
Gaard, "Towa rd a Queer Ecofeminism," 120.
Melville, Moby-Dick, 97-98.
Ibid. 133.
Gaard, "Toward a Queer Ecofeminism;' 119.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
whale parts such as whale steak, penis, and the all-important spermaceti. Never is the maleness of the sea and whaling
more clear than in the chapter "A Squeeze of the Hand," in
which Ishmael finds ecstasy in squeezing the spermaceti:
Such an abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling did
this avocation beget; that at last I was continually squeezing
their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally; as
much as to say,-Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we
longer cherish any social acerbities, or know the slightest
ill-humor or envy! Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay,
let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze
ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness. 30
The homoerotic symbolism of this sperm-squeezing is clear,
but what is remarkable is Ishmael's complete and unabashed
happiness in this act. His happiness contrasts wildly with the
beginning of the novel, in which he "[finds himself] growing grim
about the mouth"31 • If Ishmael sees civilization as the heteronormative hegemony from which he wants to be free, then the act
of squeezing sperm-an act that physically brings him closest
to the symbol of nature, the whale-represents pure freedom.
As he notes in the same passage, this pleasurable act cannot
be sustained, as "in all cases man must eventually lower, or at
least shift, his conceit of attainable felicity; not placing it anywhere in the intellect or the fancy; but in the wife, the heart, the
bed ... "32 • Clearly, Ishmael recognizes that pure joy of squeezing
sperm-and all that implies-are not "attainable" because, in
the context of civilization, it is not acceptable behavior, and he
must settle for a heteronormative existence. Only in the natural
world of the sea does this homosexual pleasure carry no stigma.
In the novel, the eponymous whale occupies an ambiguous space; he is natural/unnatural, life/death, predator/prey.
Though he represents multiple binaries, he also transcends
each because he also represents the "indeterminacy, indefinability, [and] unknowability" that drives queer theory 33 • Melville
hints toward Moby Dick's unknowability from the start with
an idiosyncratic etymology of the word "whale," followed by
a collection of extracts that mention whales 34 • These entries,
both humorous and disturbing in equal measure, establish the
human perception of this creature; its proportions boggle the
mind-"the aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main
pipe of the water-works at London bridge" 35 • In "Cetology,"
Melville pokes fun at attempts to define and categorize whales,
pronouncing "to be short, then, a whale is a spouting frsh with
a horizontal tail. There you have him" 36 • He classifies whales in
terms of book size-folio, octavo, duodecimo-as if to signal to
the audience: this is all bullshit. To attempt to categorize the
mysteries of nature is folly, so the chapter that purports to do
so is full of silliness. Paradoxically, though, Moby Dick himself
can be categorized as a symbol of homosexuality because of
his indefinability. From the start, Melville emphasizes Moby
Dick's otherness with phallic and seminal imagery. Aside from
the already-established seminal imagery of the spermaceti, the
whale of legend is "seen gliding at high noon through a dark blue
sea, leaving a milky-way wake of creamy foam" 37 • These phallic
and seminal undertones extend to all the sperm whales: "Turn
another page, and we are in Moby-Dick's most totemic chapter,
Which focuses on the whale's penis, a grandissimus so heavy
33
30
31
32
Melville, Moby-Dick, 322-323.
lbid. 18.
Ibid. 323.
82
FALL 2017
34
35
36
37
Garrard, Greg, "How Queer is Green?"
Configurations 18, no. 1 (2010): 76.
Melville, Moby-Dick, 7-17.
lbid.13.
Ibid. 117.
Ibid. 155.
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THE CENTRA L DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SE X UALITY
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
it takes three men to carry it" 3 " . Melville takes no pains to hide
this imagery-scholars have remarked upon it for decades.
Throughout the novel, Ahab chases Moby Dick to
express frustration at his own powerlessness against nature.
As Herrmann notes, "The lameness afflicting [Tommo's] leg [in
Typee] ... corresponds mythologically to an injury to phallus" 39 •
The same mythological leg/phallus imagery can be found in
hermaphroditic sign: Tashtego and Fedallah have long hair;
oaggoo wears golden hoops; Queequeg's body is adorned with
tattoos that burn with 'Satanic blue tlames"' 43 • Indeed, Ishmael
in particular is captivated by these harpooners, none more so
than Queequeg, whom Melville establishes as Ishmael's particular
friend, and possible lover, in early chapters of the novel. Writers
in the nineteenth century considered people like Queequeg to be
Moby-Dick with Ahab's missing leg. To compound this symbolism, Moby Dick himself is to blame for the missing limb: "aye, my
hearties all round; it was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby
Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now" 40 • In
this context, his monomaniacal pursuit of the whale expresses
his impotent rage at nature for unmanning him. If this phallic
imagery was not already sufficient, the harpoons used against
the whales are, too, phallic symbols. As Camille Paglia notes
in "Moby-Oick as Sexual Protest," "the harpoon Ahab darts at
Moby-Dick is a phallic mental projection, born of frustrated
desire"4 ' . For Ahab, the wild, masculine force of nature that is
Moby Dick represents a threat to his own wild masculinity, and
"noble savages"-their perceived closeness to nature was a sign of
their inherent nobility. Ahab, too, is tied to another "pagan" when
Fedallah, magically, appears to become Ahab's harpooner. Steven
Herrmann draws parallels between "the image of same-sex marriage between Ishmael and Queequeg and ... the same-sex pairing
between Ahab and Fedallah" 4 4. As if both Ahab and Ishmael need
a partner who is considered "closer to nature," Melville draws
parallels between the two in order to show the latent sexual
desire toward nature, and its representative otherness, within
both characters. This final point solidifies what Leslie Fiedler
posits in Love and Death in the American Novel: "Though Ahab and
Ishmael are opposites, they are also one-two halves of a single
thus the whale must die so that Ahab can reclaim his manhood.
Though somewhat puzzling, the inclusion of somewhat
roughly-sketched multiracial characters makes sense from a
queer ecofeminist standpoint. As Greta Gaard explains, with
this perspective, "we can also examine how persons of color
are feminized, animalized, eroticized, and naturalized" 42 • Camille
Paglia notes that "Each ["pagan harpooneer"] bears some
epic hero; and only in their essential unity is the final unity of the
book to be found. What Melville disjoined, in a typically American stratagem of duplicity, the reader must re-unite" 45 . Ishmael
and Ahab are intrinsically linked by the farmer's desire to repurpose nature and that latter's desire to possess and destroy it.
Ultimately, the natural haven envisioned by Melville
cannot be sustained. With the lens of queer ecofeminism, we
can see how the concept of manifest destiny brings about
the Pequod's demise. To attempt to conquer nature in the
form of the whale is futile; to attempt to suppress or express
42
Paglia, Camille, "Moby-Dick as Sexual Protest;• MobyDick, edited by Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford,
2nd ed. (New York, NY: Norton, 2002), 699.
Herrmann, "Melville's Portrait of SameSex Marriage in Moby-Dick," 72.
Ibid. 139.
Paglia, "Moby-Dick as Sexual Protest," 701.
Gaard, "Toward a Queer Ecofeminism," 119.
84
FALL 2 017
38
39
40
41
43
44
45
Paglia, "Moby-Dick as Sexual Protest;' 700.
Herrmann, "Melville's Portrait of SameSex Marriage in Moby-Dick," 70.
Fiedler, Leslie, Love and Death in the American
Novel (Champaign: Dalkey, 1998), 386.
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85
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
homosexuality is similarly futile. In the end, as Moby Dick pulls
the Pequod down to hell, he does so in a raging, yonic whirlpool: "concentric circles seized the lone boat itself, and all its
crew, and each floating oar, and every lance-pole, and spinning,
animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex, carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight" 46 • But there
is one bright spot amongst this destruction of the possibility
of homosexuality in nature: in the epilogue, Ishmael survives
because of Queequeg's coffin-buoy, the one remaining symbol of
homosexual love, an enduring phallic symbol of hope for Ishmael. His subsequent rescue and return to civilization, hinted at
in "The Town-Ho's Story," shows that for Ishmael, at least, reintegrating and challenging heteronormative society is possible.
In Moby-Dick, the relationship between sexuality and
the environment is multivalent; nature is both queer and heteronormative, mystic and commonplace, inviting and brutal,
wild and conquerable. Various elements of the novel point to
a queer ecofeminist reading that problematizes the notion of
manifest destiny by placing a group of American misfits upon
the ocean, where nature's pull opens the door for sexualities
beyond civilization's heteronormativity. The novel's ending,
violent and sudden, discards the posited social order aboard the
ship. Though men like Ishmael, Ahab, and Queequeg are happy
at sea, away from society, the novel reinforces the idea that
Melville's idealized genderqueer society cannot sustain itself.
THE CENTRAL DISSENT: A JOURNAL OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
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Kate Beasley graduated from the University
Rachel Copeland is in her final semester as a
of Arkansas with her B.A. in History in 2015.
2oth,and 21stcentury literature major graduate
Currently, she is working on her M.A. in Histo-
student at UCO. She graduated magna cum
ry-Museum Studies at the University of Central
laude from Cameron University with a degree
Oklahoma and expects to graduate Fall 2017.
in English Education. She has taught at both
Kate works as the Guest Services Specialist at
the secondary and collegiate levels. She is mar-
the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots.
ried to the most dangerous of beasts: a poet.
After graduation, she plans on continuing her
education by pursuing a Museum Studies PhD.
Shannon Hochman is an illustrator and writer.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Shannon
Nicholas A. Brush has published and presented
moved to New York City to study traditional
Shakespearean criticism around the country.
animation at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts.
His poetry has been featured in such publica-
After ten years in the big city (and enough drama
tions as Jazz Cigarette, November Bees, Dragon
to fuel at least ten novels), Shannon took a risk
Poet Review, and Cuento Magazine. Nicholas
and hauled his entire life to the deep American
earned his BA in English from Cameron
south, where he attended graduate school at the
University, and he is currently finishing his
Savannah College of Art and Design. There, he
M.A. in English Literature/Traditional Stud-
had the epiphany that his artwork and his writing
ies at the University of Central Oklahoma.
was meant to go hand-in-hand, which defined
his creative identity. In Shannon's opinion, illus-
Kaycee Chance is a Masters Student in Cre-
tration has a place in books for all ages, including
ative Writing at UCO, where she is working
fiction for adults. This spawned a project which
on her thesis in poetry. This collection, titled
would eventually become OLLIE, his debut novel.
Feral explores the intersection between mental
90
health, class, gender, and region while also
l<ayelee Howard is a senior at the Univer-
drawing on the human and animal connection.
sity of Central Oklahoma , majoring in General
Kaycee's academic work often focuses on the
Studies with a concentration in physical educa-
role of gender, sexuality, and gender politics
tion. After graduation, she plans to attend the
in various literature or film. Kaycee's work has
Athletic Training program at the University of
previously been published in New Plains Review.
Central Oklahoma to further her education.
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Gretchen Rehfeld is a multidisciplinary artist
based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma whose heart
is equally divided between her love for outdoor adventures and her artist portrayal of the
human form. When she's not scrambling over
hillsides in the wilderness avoiding bugs along
the way, she is obsessing over the colors and
contours that cascade through her artwork.
Edith Ritt-Coulter is a second year Mas-
ters student in the History and Geography
Department where she focuses on gender and
sexuality within the African Diaspora. She is
currently working on her Masters Thesis " By
the Hands of Those Unseen: The Gendering of the Black Body in the United States
Lynching Culture." and hopes to pursue her
Ph.D in the African Diaspora in the future.
Alexandra Savage is a UCO senior pursuing a
bachelor's degree in Creative Writing with a minor
in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Her primary area
of focus is genre fiction novels, but she dabbles in
the poetic arts when others insist. The only thing
in existence that she loves more than worldbuilding is her pet rabbit, Sirius Lee Blackbuns.
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Part of Central Dissent : Fall 2017