GLBT
(Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgender) is a smaller acronym of a bigger
concern faced in modern society as well as the years in which The Mee Street
Chronicles; Straight up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life was taken place. This
memoir describes the battle of Frankie to claim her sexual identity while she
also encounters other issues such as racism and alcoholism. The experiences that are expressed in this
memoir written by Frankie Lennon depict certain motifs that the narrator is
going through. Motifs are defined by
Encarta Dictionary as “recurring themes or ideas in a work of literature”,
which is defined by my own self as a theme shown throughout a selection. Three
GLBT motifs that I found attention-grabbing were the Fear of Sexual Identity
being Discovered, Camouflaging, and Affirming Sexual Identity. In the memoir
The Mee Street Chronicles, The Party and Fever are two selections that
expressed these GLBT Motifs.
During
her adolescent age, in the selection The Party, the narrator refuses to
accompany a boy to a party where her friends planned for them to meet. Since
she despises the idea of them meeting, she fears that her friends will know she
is not attracted to boys but rather the same sex. Trying to not be rejected or
pushed away by her friends, the narrator faces conflict with her sexual
orientation and has the Fear of her
Sexual Identity being Discovered which is one of the motifs established. This
motif is shown when the author writes, “Something weird was going on with me…It
was different than what was happening with other girls” (68). She lives in fear
that her sexual identity will be discovered once her friends find out the
truth. As the party continues, Bobby,
the boy that didn’t know why Frankie would not show interest, tells Frankie,
“Maybe you don’t know it, Frankie, but you be acting like you don’t like no
boys. I think you one of them- them Bull daggers!” A bulldagger was a reference
to being homosexual and for Frankie; she did not want that truth to be out and
her sexual identity being discovered.
From
that fear of being discovered I came across a second motif. The second motif I noted
was Camouflaging which deals with
Frankie trying to blend into the crowd. The motif is established in the story
when the author begins to tell the audience of her sexual thoughts and
feelings. Throughout her high school years and up until college she tried to
keep one image of herself by dating guys that she had no particular interest in
to retain that image of being just like everyone else was; Heterosexual. In a short
passage, the narrator’s voices tell her, “Put on the mask, girl”(111),
expressing her actions to cover herself and hide from everyone and make a fake
appearance for others to believe that she was straight.
Lastly, the third motif that I found was negating sexual
identity. Different from the other two and how they relate to Frankie alone, I
found this one to relate to Stacey, her lover, in the selection Fever. Frankie
felt that Stacey negated her sexual identity to try and blend in and the
narrator tells herself,
“Never mind the voice pointing out that Stacy
couldn’t even say the word Lesbian, couldn’t
fix her mouth to dignify us with the proper name but was always using the other
lowdown words like dyke, butch,
bulldagger, to draw some kind of fine line, put up some kind of imaginary,
protective wall. Never mind that Stacey had never really said she loved me, and
had always cut me off from saying it to her. Never mind any of that. Because I
had to believe we had a future-had to believe that it wasn’t crazy to think two
Lesbians could have a future together.”
With
these words, the narrator comes to terms that Stacey does not want others to
know about both of their sexual identities. Frankie feels like she has to make
excuses to cover for Stacey so others won’t find out the truth.
The narrator overcomes struggles in her life as she deals
with her same-sex attraction. During her life, she passes through certain
phases which is the Fear of Sexual Identity being discovered, Camouflaging to fit into the social norm, and dealing with
Stacey her lover which was Negating her Sexual Identity. I cannot relate to the
narrator since I am not a women with the same sex attraction, but I do
understand her struggles and difficulties in accepting herself. The narrator
creates a message that is that one should accept themselves regardless of
others disappointment or rejection.
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