Both "The Bell Jar", a novel written by Sylvia Plath which was published in the year 1963 shortly before the author's death, and popular HBO series "Sex and the City" feature - at least at some point in the story - minor lesbian characters. Whether those characters function as the protagonists' love interests or not, they pose a severe threat to the heteronormative narrative of the stories.
Gender and sexuality are historically intertwined in several ways. Often, the legitimacy of “real” male- or womanhood has to be proven by heterosexuality. Hence, homosexuality can threaten those concepts of a stereotypical gender identity. According to Judith Butler, gender is something that is constructed rather than something we simply own; thus it is not ensured and can be dismantled either by oneself or someone else. Focusing on female homosexuality as a perceived threat to heteronormativity and femininity as well as femaleness, this paper will predominantly discuss two lesbian characters and two straight, female characters in Sylvia Plath’s "The Bell Jar" and the HBO series "Sex and the City".
Table of Contents
1. Homosexualit:y a Threat to Heteronormativity?
2. Maria, Joan, and their Clash With the Norms
2.1. Samantha’s and Maria’s Relationship
2.2. Esther’s and Joan’s Friendship
3. Time Frames and Heterosexual Struggles with Homosexuality
3.1. The 1950s and “Compulsory Heterosexuality”
3.2. On Joan’s Death and the Lesbian Threat
3.3. The 1990s, 2000s, and Gay Rights
3.4. “Compulsory Heterosexuality” in Sex and the City
4. Lesbianism and Femininity
4.1. Lesbian Stereotypes in The Bell Jar
4.2. The Impossibility of Lesbian Relationships in Sex and the City
4.3. Defeating the “Lesbian Threat”?
4.4. Heteronormativity in the 1950s and the Early 2000s
5. Female Identities in a Heteronormative Society..10 Works Cited
- Citation du texte
- Franziska We (Auteur), 2017, Female Homosexuality in a Heteronormative Narrative. From "The Bell Jar" to "Sex and the City", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/412054
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