A Look at Lesbian Cinema and Sapphic Themes in Cinema from the Early Twentieth Century 🎥

[@kirstysutherland9295]

Maidens in uniform was such an eye opener for me when I first saw it in my late teens. Very pure and open in its depiction of lesbian age gap love. Nobody could rock a tux n top hat like Marlene..Would love to hear your feminist perspective on some of the King Vidor melodramas like Ruby Gentry. One of my favourites and not just because of Jennifer Jones!

[@NeptuneTwirl]

The leading actresses in "Mädchen in Uniform", Dorothea Wieck and Hertha Thiele, were so popular as a pairing that they also starred together in another film in 1933, "Anna and Elizabeth". It's a sad and dramatic story, but great to watch if you love their on-screen chemistry. I also think it's worth saying that "Mädchen..." was based on a play by Christa Winsloe, reflecting her own experiences as a lesbian girl at a boarding school.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

And did you know that when the play was performed for the first time in English in London the younger woman was played by a young Jessica Tandy in her first major role.

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

Both Marlene & Garbo were (from my research) 95% lez & 5% pretending to be straight for Hollywood consumption (see: lavender marriages) Garbo, being Swedish herself, related to Queen Christina & wanted to add more explicit love scenes between the women. The studio naturally said: "No". During WWII both actresses helped in the cause against the Nazis by visiting their home-countries as 'Stars' & listening for information whilst mingling with the powerful. It is awful that once they were no longer 'Box Office' material they both ended up alone - Dietrich in France, Greta in NYC. At least we know that during the apex of the classic hollywood days, there were secret parties for gay men & women. I have no doubt they had their fun.❣💔🏳‍🌈📽🎥🎬🎞♀♀♾

[@janegarner6739]

baronesswithabrush1991. I know nothing about Garbo's private life, but during her later years living in N.Y., she was often seen walking about her neighborhood by a friend of mine who also lived there. And she was usually accompanied by another woman, who lived with her. Her female companion might have been a paid companion such as wealthy older women often had, but those I know who often saw them walking together thought otherwise. (My friend, a jazz musician, lived in the area by Central Park where Garbo lived so saw them routinely.) I don't like to pry into anyone's private life, but Garbo has been a favorite of mine since I first saw her in "Queen Christina" in the early '70s when I was a young activist in the radical lesbian-feminist movement. Back then, we especially needed women like Garbo as historical models. As re: women dressing in traditional men's clothing, I think it must have been more common than is usually thought, since my own mother (born 1914) at age 17 had her photo taken (by a friend) wearing a male cousin's suit (3 piece) & fedora hat, posed jauntily perching on a fence. My mother had had her hair cut in the traditional Englishman's style, for which her father had beaten her. In the photo, she looked like a very handsome young man, not a woman at all, but all her life she had an appearance that was very androgynous. She could easily have passed as either male or female.

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

@@janegarner6739 Yeah, I would agree, it was probably more common for women to dress androgynously than we see in magazines or on film. Especially during & after WWII w/so many women volunteering as 'Rosie the Riveters'. The comfortable look carried on into the 50s for some, even though women were being urged back into the home & into the kitchen. Then the 60s hippie look was pretty comfy uni-sex. The 70s we had the glam rocker and/or the grunge rocker look, also uni-sex... The 80s were basically the 40s look all over again, with some women doing the Marlene look... Same w/the 90s I'd say. 9/11 changed everything: there was a concerted effort to 'stop feminism' & push for attention to the phallic (our twin 'towers' had emasculated the nation)... I brought up this theory to Peggy Orenstein ('Cinderella Ate My Daughter' & other books). She says she doesn't view things on the Macro level. I do! Okay, rambling now. Bottom line: I patterned my look on Garbo/Dietrich too. One could do that w/out being told we were 'presenting as ____' so maybe we were in the wrong body. This 'gender' madness has me like 'omfg -"What is WRONG with everyone all at once anyhow?" - Katherine Hepburn: 'The Philadelphia Story'.

[@kermitdefrogg5598]

This is a real treasure to watch. Also your considerate disclaimers are very touching in a world that so often shrugs off insensitivity on account of the pace at which we live. Thanks from the Land Down Under for the many good things in this vlog and stay well!

[@helenagackowska8398]

Omg Victorian lesbians! It's like this video was made for me! :D

[@jasminneitzel9067]

The sewing circle (starting with Alla Nazimova) has been a main area of interest for me for a while so of course the films they made are very exciting too. But I also find it interesting of an early example of a queer community. Mädchen in Uniform also is fascinating not only the film itself and how much it holds up while being extremly timely also the people involved and how it kind of established the subgenre of "homosocial" films with sapphic themes. The wild party could be seen as playing in a similar space but Mädchen in Uniform was seen more clearly as an example, being more explicit. Club de femmes from 1936 is clearly inspired by it and These Three trying to do Children's Hour without mentioning lesbianism in 1936 also is a result of Mädchen. Of course the real children's hour, Olivia and Twilight Girls as well as the Mädchen in Uniform remakes came in the 50s. Whatever it is, I am sure Clara Bow has it.

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

The words 'Queer Community' are the entry point toward the TAI++++ letters of the alphabet who have essentially rejected Gay Women & Gay Men. Unfortunately those letters(TAI) ARE the focus & have the funding. When talking of Lesbians, I think it's best to say the word Lesbian or Sapphic. Particularly for any budding young gay or BI-sexual men & women, the word 'Queer' leaps over same-sex attraction & suggests you might be in the wrong body. It's not cool. (not personally attacking you jasminneitzel in any way) 🌟 It's just that I have been researching this for a while now, & that is my conclusion.🌈🏳‍🌈💯

[@jasminneitzel9067]

​@@baronesswithabrush1991 I would come to a different analysis as well. But why I used the word in a historical context was to put it in a broader context of other communities, which is my interest and to have a modern umbrella term, without going into the nuances of how they themselves understood and constructed identity. In german, which is my native language and that of course is an influence on how I think, queer is a very much neutral term without the baggage of reclamation and thus I uses it in academic contexts. In the 1910s tills 1940s inversion theory very much was a thing and a lot of the Hollywood crowd did not claim lesbian as a label or associated it with a gendered experience. Mercedes de Acosta for example describes Dysphoria in her biography, Garbo was very much gender nonconforming. Which is not saying they would have understood themselves as trans. But there are different aspects to this sapphic community, which is a word I would also be okay using and might have with a different focus in my post. To be personal, reading about them made me claim sapphic as my own label. Bi also wasn't a very common label at the time, because it was seen too linked with gender identity and inversion. Instead euphemisms like "gilette blade" (cuts both ways) or ambisexterous would be used. Or just something vague like "Twilight people". Since there is a lot of overlap between the letters of LGBTGIA* and we have so much common ground, I do not think we need to weight them against each other. I am for careful wording tho and I hope I was able to explain why I went for queer in this case.

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

@@jasminneitzel9067 'Inversion of the Soul' was a theory by Havelock Ellis & pre-dates even Freud. The Trans community likes to use it because it's a simple excuse having zero basis in reality. They point to Radclyffe Hall (who was the saddest lesbian of her circle - 'Well of Loneliness') and say: "SEE! SHE believes it". This Trans cult is grasping at straws. The gay women & men in Paris & Hollywood between WWI & WWII would not have considered themselves 'trans'. The re-writing of history (HERstory) by the TransRadicals is a misogynistic attempt to erase lesbians altogether. They hate women- all feminists in particular, because we make sense & are reality-based. They invented the ugly word TERF & the word CIS-gender for straight people so that they themselves can 'Other' heterosexuals & feminists. In fact THEY are the 'Other' & they know it. Before gay people ever organized ourselves into a political/social movement; there were no LETTERS, there were no FLAGS, or BOXES to put oneself into. It was the murder of Harvey Milk in S.F. & the spread of AIDS that compelled gays to organize (lesbians on the front lines helping the gay men). All homosexual men & women called themselves 'gay'... Then the men wanted the word 'gay' & the women took the word Lesbian, even though the men suggested 'Dyke' - another ugly word imposed on Sapphics & Feminists mostly by MEN. And so began LGB. The addition of T was in 2015. It's not a gay movement & should have it's own organization apart from Gay people. Unfortunately they are a minority with the loudest megaphone. btw: Bi-sexuals were also known as AC/DC. As I said before: Queer is being used so that the reality of being a biological man or woman is blurred. This suits the trans radical cult. Yes to:🏳‍🌈♀♀♂♂♀♂ Not real is:🏳‍⚧

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

@@jasminneitzel9067 Did you get my reply before it was taken down? Haben Sie meine Antwort erhalten, bevor sie entfernt wurde? (google translate) the 'thought police' are out in full force. Die "Gedankenpolizei" ist in voller Stärke unterwegs.

[@baronesswithabrush1991]

@@jasminneitzel9067That's 2 replies taken down already - the thought police are out in full force!

[@MagicalSpaceValkyrie]

Maedchen in Uniform is also really interesting to dig into within the context of Germany in the early 20th century, and especially the Weimar Period, being a major center for queer tolerance and communities in the western world. Berlin was famously a destination city for gay bars, ballrooms, and prostitution, and there were dozens of openly gay and lesbian magazines and newsletters being published in German.

[@soulfoodie1]

Another excellent and informative vlog ! Thank you and thank you for disclaimers. Your closing words are incredibly important

[@DAKILLAGORILLA]

Very well done.thank you for the disclaimers

[@WhiteTiger333]

And there it is. I'm sure depicting two women was enough of a turn-on for men that it was okay. As you said, many people didn't even acknowledge the possibility of physical love between two women. Of course, two men would not be okay. It didn't turn men on, and women weren't interested. No money to be made there! Love your Moomin tat!

[@RB-xj9kr]

I’m sorry Sapphic, I love you to bits, but about the first woman in cinema, her name is Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché (née Guy; French pronunciation: [alis gi blɑʃe]. The accent on the final “e” makes it a sounded vowel.

[@nyxthirteen4277]

Awesome episode! 🖤🖤🖤 Thanks so much!

[@arashi.ihara.]

Thank you for the video! 📽️📽️📽️

[@NathalieSassoon]

Mädchen in Uniform my favourite movie. Great review!

[@SatiaRenee]

Brilliant 💜

[@mayra2651]

Madchen in Uniform I've seen that movie and now I remember Blank the Series especially when I see the age difference.

[@geegnosis8888]

It's not surprising that Garbo and Dietrich would not have had a problem kissing women, and the Directors knew it too. LOL.

[@erinsbooks]

📽🎬🎥

[@Reed5016]

💜💜💜

[@DavidLee-bf2pe]

🎥🎬🎞

[@djparn007]

❤❤

[@entertainmentfan1463]

Is anyone able to send Tessa a request to review the series 'Rumors' starring and created by Nicole Vernarec? Little independent series on tubi and apple TV (for anyone who don't have tubi in their region). I found it pretty good and thought at least one noticeable lesbian channel should review the series to help give it some exposure.

[@gaganbhatti6636]

hey can you review root and shaw from person of intrest

[@ttreml]

Have you ever watched Olivia (1951)?

[@JDm-e1t]

Please react to JPC mini series. You ll like it

[@MistyMaize]

How are y'all even finding these movies?? Or knowing about them

[@kellyharvey]

Research it darl. There's a wealth of info out there.

[@rhyfeddu]

There's a classic book called "the celluloid closet" that has in-depth lists and discussions about overt and subtextual queer movie themes and characters from the beginning of film to I believe about the 90s, whenever the book was published. There's also a fun documentary of the same name that shows clips and has interviews from people involved with the films discussed. It can usually be found here on YT✌🏼

[@vicksprospers1415]

🤌🏽🤌🏽📽

[@entertainmentfan1463]

“She’s like if Ilene Chaiken and Thomas Edison merged together to form a new person, and that person was a lesbian.” Bad comparison there Tessa. Look it up, Thomas Edison was a dick. The only thing Edison was ever confirmed to have actually invented was the electric chair.

[@sageoliver1592]

Oh? What is this?

[@kirstysutherland9295]

Have you read the title, kinda self explanatory? A little history lesson in celluloid lesbian representation.

[@sageoliver1592]

​@@kirstysutherland9295. I see. Thanks. I really enjoyed the lesson.

[@sageoliver1592]

​@@kirstysutherland9295. I love lesbian series and lesbian movies. It all went started with Abby and Ellie from the last of us. I read fanfic of different lesbian women in series. And I am enjoying them.