In the suffocating landscape of 1950s America, when being queer could land you in a mental institution, prison, or worse, one woman sat down at her typewriter and decided to tell the truth.
This post could just as easily been titled: "Authenticity for Dummies". Highsmith may have struggled with living lesbian in a time of massive repression complete with alcoholism and painful mental difficulties, but she was authentic to the very end. She was authentic in a time where that word applied to old books and rare paintings. Rarely was it used to describe a human being's sense of self. Wonder how long it would take to trace evolution back to the turning point in history when homo sapiens as a whole became such a species of tight-assed SOBs.
This post could just as easily been titled: "Authenticity for Dummies". Highsmith may have struggled with living lesbian in a time of massive repression complete with alcoholism and painful mental difficulties, but she was authentic to the very end. She was authentic in a time where that word applied to old books and rare paintings. Rarely was it used to describe a human being's sense of self. Wonder how long it would take to trace evolution back to the turning point in history when homo sapiens as a whole became such a species of tight-assed SOBs.
So interesting-thanks!
Wow, all I can think of is how so many want to take us back to that time and back into the closet. There’s no fucking way we’re going back.