Egalia's Daughters: Seeing Beyond the Cage Wires

In her treatment of oppression, Brantenberg highlights that Egalian social norms that equate homosexuality with deviance constitute one cage wire in the Egalian birdcage of oppression. This cage wire can best be understood in two primary contexts, the first is what Eric Anderson terms homohysteria. In his essay The Rise and Fall of Western Homohysteria, Anderson explains that homohysteria moves beyond homophobia and requires “(1) mass awareness that homosexuality exists as a static sexual orientation, (2) a cultural Zeitgeist of disapproval of homosexuality, and (3) the conflation of femininity with homosexuality” (Anderson, 80). While the third element is not directly applicable to Egalian society in the same way as it to ours, Brantenberg alludes to the first two criteria in the two chapters in which she discusses queerness. In The studs’ tragedy, Petronius and Baldrian discuss their sexual experiences with overt homoerotic undertones, highlighting Anderson’s first criteria: “‘do you know any [homosexuals]?’ ‘Only wim. Two of the wim I’ve been with turned out to be homosexual’” (Brantenberg,188). Here, Baldrian’s response highlights a hush-hush culture surrounding queerness; this taboo is nonetheless rooted in the understanding that homosexuality does exist. Moreover, Brantenberg highlights the zeitgeist of disapproval of homosexuality when she writes, “‘It’s important that people don’t get the impression we’re pallurians’, said Baldrian gravely. […] ‘No, there’s nothing pallurian about it. Pallurian menwim are… I don’t know… well, they’re sort of ultra-womly menwim – butch. At least we aren’t like that,” (Brantenberg, 189). Not only does Baldrian’s response demonstrate how Anderson’s second criteria is met, but it also points to (1) how the menwim fail to see this stereotype as part of the birdcage of oppression and (2) a societal mechanism for the policing of this cage wire. The latter can best be understood in the context of what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie terms the “single story” – a singular narrative that, while often arbitrary, is so commonplace that it becomes accepted as the only possible reality (Adichie). Thus, we can see that Baldrian’s assumptions recapitulates the Egalian single-story of homosexuality as deviant as he is unable to see it in any other light. Moreover, this reinforces the birdcage nature of this issue as the menwim’s fail to see its systematic nature. While Petronius and Baldrian do acknowledge this stereotype and later indirectly condemn it, they fail to place in the context of systematic domination. Thus, they are complicit in perpetuating the single story culture of homohysteria.

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Moreover, this equation of homosexuality with deviance can also be understood in the context of Adriene Rich’s idea of compulsory heterosexuality. In her article, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Rich explains that compulsory heterosexuality refers to the assumption that heterosexuality is innate and universal (Rich, 12). In Egalia’s Daughters, this assumption appears throughout the book but presents itself most overtly in the same discussion between Petronius and Baldrian: “‘and when we finally go to bed with a wom, we daren’t show her what we want’” (Brantenberg, 187). Baldrian’s use of the word finally in the context of sexuality emphasizes the ways in which heterosexuality is assumed to be innate and universal. Importantly, this highlights that the cage wire of queerness as deviant is relative to the normalization of compulsory heterosexuality and thus is a cage wire in the birdcage of oppression.

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In terms of how the menwim’s movement addresses this issue, suffice it to say that they do not; in fact, their failure to address issues of sexuality further highlights their inability to see the systematic nature of this issue. Importantly, a consequence of this shortcoming leads to this cage wire being addressed solely on an individualized basis. This manifests itself in two primary places: when Baldrian and Petronius decide to go to a gay club and when they accept their feelings for one another and kiss at the club. Yet, even then, this constitutes a rejection of injustice in their specific circumstances. Focusing on the first site of resistance at the end of The studs’ tragedy, a drunk wom comes up to Petronius and Baldrian – who have been flirting pretty intensely – and exclaims “‘you know what I think your problem is? You’ve never tasted a good cunt’” (Brantenberg, 189). This rhetoric, which is often present in homophobic discourse in the real world, provokes Baldrian to take a stand and exclaim “‘you wim always think menwim can’t get by without a cunt’” (Brantenberg, 190). This act of defiance highlights the individualized nature of resistance to systematic homohysteria, which is still barely recognized as a systematic problem in the first place. While Baldrian does speak in generic terms suggesting a basic understanding of homohysteria as systematic, he never moves beyond this quasi-acknowledgement of this issue. Moreover, Baldrian’s framing of the issue still focuses primarily on a gendered understanding of the issue and is not rooted in a cultivated queer consciousness. Thus, Baldrian is only indirectly addressing issues of queerness and only in this individualized instance. Evidently, this further highlights the masculinists’ failure to address the systematic nature of this issue. If we were to examine the end of New adventures for the masculinists where Petronius and Baldrian kiss, we would reach the same conclusion that there is no organized masculinist resistance against homohysteria but primarily individualized acts of resistance that barely even acknowledge the problem in the first place.

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However, the only way in which the masculinists come close to addressing issues of sexuality is through their collective interaction with queer friendly spaces, namely the gay club, which are then still largely viewed in the context of gender and not sexuality. When Petronius and Baldrian arrive at the club, they note the many posters of wom engaged in homosexual behavior on the walls and the singular “tiny” one of menwim (193). Additionally, Brantenberg writes that “all the tables round the dance floor were packed with wim. ‘Wasn’t this club meant to be for menwim as well as wim?’ asked Baldrian” (195). Although this gendered view of the club does accurately satire the gendered reality of the mainstream LGB movement, it still demonstrates that the characters aren’t entirely interacting with this space with a critical eye for sexuality as much as gender. However, when Petronius and Baldrian kiss, they are, in a sense, embracing their own queerness, just as Spn Owlmoss and Fandango similarly do when Petronius and Baldrian run into them. The importance of the spatial context becomes clear when Brantenberg remarks how the lights come on suddenly leads to Petronius and Baldrian to stop kissing (Brantenberg, 198). While this highlights the importance of anonymity of the space it also points to the importance of the queerness of this space through the comparison with the Maidmen’s ball. While the spaces are physically similar (dancing, sexual tension, low lighting), they have a very different meanings attached to them – one is high gendered space and one is meant to be a queerer space. Moreover, this difference, as well as the loss of anonymity at the club, suggests that the fele gaze is the issue at hand and not a straight gaze. The two menwim feel uncomfortable expressing their sexuality (menwim have agency in one space and do not in the other). Thus, an inherent contradiction appears: while the gay club does provide a site of resistance for the menwim to challenge compulsory heterosexuality by expressing their queerness, their resistance is still oriented in terms of their gendered resistance. In the end, while this may be interpreted as Brantenberg’s attempt to explore intersectional identities, in actuality, she isolates different axes of difference and fails to address queerness as she does gender.

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Works Cited

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Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “The Danger of a Single Story.” TED, TED, July 2009, www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en.

 

Anderson, Eric. "The Rise and Fall of Western Homohysteria." Journal of Feminist Scholarship, no. 1, 2011, pp. 80-94.

 

Brantenberg, Gerd. Egalia's Daughters: a Satire of the Sexes. Translated by Louis Mackay, Seal Press, 2004.

 

Rich, Adrienne C. "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980)." Journal of Women's History, vol. 15, no. 3, 2003, pp. 11-48.