She was a feminist writer in Meiji and Postwar Japan. She wrote for a female audience, with characters meant for a female audience, and encouraged female independence and escape from traditional female roles in society. Many of her characters were lesbian or lesbian-coded.
She fell in love with another woman, a math teacher named Monma Chiyo, and tried to marry her. When it became clear that she couldn’t do that, did she stop?
Not a chance.
Instead, she said, ‘well, what if I built a new house in my family’s name, declared it a branch household in the family register, moved there, making me the only member of this branch of the family, declared myself bereft of heirs, then legally adopted Chiyo so the government would have to recognize us as one household, then threw a party to celebrate the adoption and the two of us just happen to show up in wedding kimonos, is that illegal? That’s right, it’s not.”
Source: Walthall, Anne. The Human Tradition in Modern Japan. Wilmington, DE: SR, 2002. Print.
i’ve been obsessed with The Met’s Collection of fashion through history, and I’ve been drawing a ton of inspiration from all the dresses I found while looking through the archives!!! These weren’t inspired by any specific piece, but I have a few other drawings that have actual reference (｡•ᴗ•｡)
My name is Cate, I’m 23 and I’m from Northern England. I have been couch surfing for the last few months and come to the realisation of how cripplingly lonely life can be. In which case, I would like to offer an ear/hand to anyone out there who doesn’t have a way to escape their current reality by having someone around them who will listen without judgement. Whether you want a light-hearted discussion, to discuss any worries that are on your mind or even to exchange life stories. Whatever it may be, I will listen. Now, I’m not saying that I’m your knight in shining armour and that I can make it all better nor am I saying that I can take away the pain away but I will listen with an open mind and heart. As human beings we are conditioned to be suspicious of each other and rightly so in some cases, just please know that I am sincere. Although, I do feel that this quote comes in handy “strangers are just friends waiting to happen.”
I wish you all well.
P.S. I created an e-mail a few hours ago with this idea in mind so if anyone is interested, don’t hesitate to DM me.
Let us not forget the greatest real-life bard of all time.
Reblogging this because people need to know about the original Badass Bisexual
She did that. She was also so extra she had to be pardoned by the King of France… twice. -The first time it was because of the aforementioned “breaking and entering a convent to flee with a novice while also putting a dead nun in her bed [that she had previously dug up from the nearby cemetery] and setting fire to the convent just in case”. -The second time it was because she went to a Royal Ball and spent so much time flirting with a high society girl so overtly that three of her suitors challenged her to a duel. She fought the three of them at once and then went back in to continue flirting with the girl. She apparently hadn’t considered the small fact that duels were outlawed, and that maybe having three duels on the Royal Palace gardens wasn’t the best idea ever? Luckily for her Louis XIV found her hilarious and he pardoned her a second time. -She also gained her living for a while by doing ‘singing and dueling demonstrations’. As in dueling and singing mocking songs about the guys she was dueling at the same time. - Apparently, during her time at the Opera, she challenged to duels all the nobles who tried to molest the chorus girls. When she realized they went around saying “they had been mugged by a gang” to cover for the fact that they had been crushed by an opera singer, she started taking small objects from them and returning them in front of everyone, “you forgot this when I beat you up” style. - When the woman she loved the most in her life died, she apparently retired from public life… to a convent. She died at 33 (37 according to other sources).
If you want more details about Julie d’Aubigny, aka Madame de Maupin, and you speak Spanish, there is this twitter thread that gives all the information above and more. Warning, though, it uses quite a lot of slang.
