Polish Nationalism and Lesbians

[Perun]

I dont know if it's hilarious or pathetic that of all the possible things one could write about Polish nationalism, this person focuses on its connections with lesbianism. Even more pathetic is how you have to pay a subscription fee to read the entire article. *sigh* Oh well!

http://ejw.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/281

'The Rest is Silence ...': Polish Nationalism and the Question of Lesbian Existence
Joanna Mizielinska
Warsaw University

This articl 1 focuses on questions rarely spoken of openly or written about in Poland. The article investigates what is behind such silence and tells of invisibility. The silence regarding lesbians in Poland is meaningful and reveals a lot about the concept of the Polish nation. This article examines Polish nationalistic discourse, which largely avoids the question of a homosexual orientation. Moreover, the heterosexual orientation is taken for granted as the only possible and natural one. Therefore, invisibility is a major theme of the article. The author illustrates this invisibility by examining two texts: the latest edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the new Polish Constitution. Both discourses are interwoven and deal with a very rigid concept of the Polish nation. The author goes on to look at how these discourses are perceived by Polish lesbians and how this concept of the Polish nation affects their daily lives (e.g. double life, staying in the closet, 'white marriages'). The article draws largely on the results of the study that the author conducted in 1997 regarding lesbian existence in Poland. She bases her discussion on excerpts from interviews and questionnaires distributed among Polish lesbians. The author argues that the silence and invisibility of lesbians in official discourse influence Polish opinion about them, thus reinforcing homophobia and increasing pressure on lesbians to remain invisible.


Key Words: compulsory heterosexuality • exclusion • lesbianism • nationalism • sexual citizenship

[henerte]

*lol*

Apparently, people from the sociology department ran out of interesting topics for their magister theses.

What's next? "Teenage lesbians in Poland and their influence on cultivation of beetroot in Chile"?

[Perun]

LOL yeah really. As somebody else noted on another forum, this article tries to make it sound like that everybody in Poland is a closest homosexual and the evil forces of the Church and nationalism are whats keeping them suppressed.

[henerte]

Originally Posted by Perun

LOL yeah really. As somebody else noted on another forum, this article tries to make it sound like that everybody in Poland is a closest homosexual and the evil forces of the Church and nationalism are whats keeping them suppressed.

Homosexual activists in Poland should partly blame themselves for their misfortune because although some of their postulates sound very reasonable like e.g. demand for equal treatment or respect for their distinctiveness, their rhetorics is usually quite agressive and patronizing. Not to mention that some of them are simply dumb. All that discourages normal people from supporting them in one way or another.

I also don't know what is the author's problem with the constitution?

[Perun]

Well I wouldnt know. As I said, you need to pay a fee to read the entire article. Whether its worth it or not is another matter altogether.

[Ederico]

Originally Posted by henerte

What's next? "Teenage lesbians in Poland and their influence on cultivation of beetroot in Chile"?

That might be boring even for the author of such a work!

Sounds like a sci-fi B-movie.

[Milesian]

Far too much Polish Nationalism and not enough lesbians to justify a subscription charge

[Perun]

And to think you accuse me of heresy. No wonder the Pope authorized the English to invade your island and set you boys straight!

[Milesian]

Originally Posted by Perun

And to think you accuse me of heresy.

And schism

No wonder the Pope authorized the English to invade your island and set you boys straight!

Let me guess - you think Laudabiliter was a genuine Papal document? Take my advice and sue your history teacher

[henerte]

Originally Posted by Milesian

Far too much Polish Nationalism and not enough lesbians to justify a subscription charge

Homosexuals account probably for about 2% people of each society so most likely there's more of them than polish nationalists. The popularity of nationalism in Poland is a myth limited to this forum and created by german posters.

[Milesian]

Originally Posted by henerte

The popularity of nationalism in Poland is a myth limited to this forum and created by german posters.

From what I have seen, I'm inclined to believe that is quite correct.
So we both agree - more lesbians