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Krokos Master.Pdf (2.126Mb) Between Identities Liminal Lesbian Spaces in American Literature and Culture of the 1950s Monika Krokos A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Master of Arts Degree Supervisors: Deborah L. Kitchen-Døderlein Erika Johanna Kvistad UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Fall 2017 ii Between Identities Liminal Lesbian Spaces in American Literature and Culture of the 1950s Monika Krokos iii Copyright Monika Krokos 2017 Between Identities: Liminal Lesbian Spaces in American Literature and Culture of the 1950s Monika Krokos http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo iv Abstract This thesis explores the liminal lesbian spaces established within heteronormative American society in the 1950s, both in the historical and literary context. It examines the spaces of suburban homes, sorority houses, women’s sport teams, and the women’s army corps, which created favorable conditions for the development of same-sex relationships. The theory of liminality and the concept of heterotopia are applied to these spaces to examine how the structure and the qualities of heteronormative environments contributed to women’s process of reconciliation with their gay identities. This thesis explores the historical evidence of lesbian representation in American society in the 1950s, and presents its literary reflection in The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith and Spring Fire by Marijane Meaker—the lesbian fiction of the times. Throughout the analysis of historical sources and the close-reading of the novels, this thesis examines the liminal, lesbian spaces and their contribution to gay women’s process of reconciliation with their homosexuality. Eventually, this thesis demonstrates that liminal, gay microcosms provided essential space for gay women’s discovery and exploration of their homosexual identities. v vi Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors—Deborah L. Kitchen-Døderlein and Erika Johanna Kvistad for leading me through the writing process. Little did I know when I decided to combine literature and history in my thesis, that it will be such a challenging path to take. With the guidance, valuable and detailed feedback, and support that I got from both of you, I was able to get through this process. I also would like to thank my mom. Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me to keep going when I doubted in myself. Thank you for showing me how to be open-minded despite being raised in the society full of prejudices towards minorities. Thanks to you, I was not afraid to take up this subject. vii Table of Contents 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…1 1.1. Theoretical Framework……………...…………………………………………8 1.2. Social Space: The Critical Context……….………………………………..… 14 2 The Portrait of Heteronormative American Society in the 1950s……………...………23 2.1. Home as a Politicized Space……………………………………………......… 25 2.2. The Social Pressure of Compulsory Heterosexuality in the 1950.…...……..….29 3 Lesbian Spaces within Heteronormative American Society in the 1950s………..……33 3.1. Lesbians Under the Cover of Domesticity: Lesbian Wives……………………36 3.2. Female Friendships Allowed: The Liminality of American Sororities……...…40 3.3. The Liminal, Lesbian Space of Women’s Sport…………………….…………46 3.4 Homosexuality in the Women’s Army Corps………………………………..…49 4 Lesbian Love Under the Cover of Suburban House in The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith……………………………………………………………………..………52 4.1. Society as a Guardian of Heteronormative, Social Order…...…...….…………53 4.2. Home as an Indicator of the Social Status of Carol and Therese……..……..….58 4.3. The Reflection of Heterotopia in Therese’s Search for Space…………………62 4.4. Liminal, Lesbian Space at Home and on the Road………………...……….…64 5 The Literary Reflection of American Sorority in Spring Fire by Marijane Meaker….69 5.1. Sorority as a Guardian of Heteronormative, Social Order…………………..…73 5.2. Sorority Room as a Liminal, Lesbian Space……………………………….….77 5.3. Compulsory Heterosexuality in the Context of Heterotopia………...….……..85 5.4. The Reflection of Heterotopia in Susan’s Self Perception…...…………….…90 6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………95 Bibliography…………………..……………………………………………..…...……...100 viii ix Chapter One: Introduction While a thousand memories and moments, words, the first darling, the second time Carol had met her at the store, a thousand memories of Carol’s face, her voice, moments of anger and laughter flashed like the tail of a comet across her brain. And now it was pale-blue distance and space, an expanding space in which she took flight suddenly like a long arrow. The arrow seemed to cross an impossibly wide abyss with ease, seemed to arc on and on in space, and not quite stop.1 When I first read The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, the novel gave me a sense of airlessness. It was not a physical airlessness built up with a tense plot that would take my breath away after scenes full of dramatic action. It was a mental airlessness, a sense of emotional suffocation that the protagonist experienced, and that was immediately transferred to me as a reader. Therese Belivet, the protagonist of the novel, seemed enclosed within her head, trying to find at least a small bit of space where she could finally be herself. Instead, she was overwhelmed with places, people, impressions, situations, and social expectations that for some reason—unknown to the reader at this initial stage of the book—she could not fit into. The lack of mental and physical space that this young woman living in America in the 1950s suffered from is thought-provoking, both before the reader finds out that Therese is gay, and after that. However, the climactic moment in the novel that encouraged me to do the research on the space of gay women in the 1950s was when Therese experienced a sense of mental liberation. This was the moment in the novel when the sense of overwhelming airlessness and stifling suppression was replaced by a liberating sense of space. Highsmith’s metaphor of Therese as an arrow flying through a pale-blue abyss of space, for the first time enabled me to see her free. Free in a physical sense, as a woman who did not have to submit to heteronormative norms that society had been imposing on her. But also free in a mental sense, as her mind finally became liberated from the pressure of expectations with regard to the way she was to perform gender and sexuality. The state of transience that Therese is in, while being compared to an arrow, exposes the moment and space where this mental and physical liberation happens. This seems to be particularly intriguing in the context of gay women, who due to social 1 Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt (1952; reprinted New York: The Naiad Press Inc., 1999), 180. 1 persecution of homosexuality in the 1950s, could not establish their own spaces that would be openly associated with same-sex love and desire. Therefore, I asked myself a question: where were gay women, and where did they go through the process of reconciliation with their gay identities at a time of family-oriented Cold War ideology? It is especially crucial to answer this question in the context of the culture of the 1950s. It was a time of socio-political conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over political influence on the rest of the world, and especially in Europe. In spreading democracy across the countries threatened by communist invasion, American authorities saw an opportunity to establish the U.S.A’ position as world’s superpower. To do so, they needed a secure and stable policy on the home front, which is why they developed a family-oriented culture that was to create an image of solid, safe, and balanced society.2 This policy became especially important in the context of middle-class Americans, who due to their financial status, could afford to have the husband as the sole breadwinner, while the wife stayed at home and nurtured the family. Middle-class American women, from a social point of view, became the ideal women—faithful and loyal wives, loving mothers, and excellent housewives devoted to the navigation of home space. American suburbia became the perfect place to implement the pro-family policy. According to the U.S. Census, by 1960, 31% of the total U.S. population lived in the suburbs, which was almost equal to the percentage of Americans living in the central cities (32%).3 The migration of American families to the suburbs underlined the distinction between private and public space, and exposed the separation of the sexes. Middle-or upper-class men who lived in American suburbia were still actively engaged in their social and professional lives in the cities, while their wives, were became bound to their suburban homes, and the roles of mother and wife that domestic lifestyle imposed on them. Although in this thesis, I will analyze the spaces navigated by white, American, middle-class women, it is also crucial to introduce the space of working-class women and women of color. Although the model of the nuclear family living in American suburbia applied mostly to the upper- and middle-class society, in the 1950s, some working-class families could also afford to live according to middle-class standards. The G.I. Bill, which provided a range of benefits for the World War II veterans, significantly contributed to an upward mobility of blue-collar workers, especially in the financial context. Therefore, many 2 Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1988): 9-15. 3 Frank Hobbs, and Nicole Stoops, “U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports,” Demographic Trends in the 20th Century (Washington: U.S.
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