The postcard is from the 1930′s. It dates back to a time when Europe disregarded ethnic and tribal boundaries to divided Africa up into colonies where land and people were exploited.
More adult oriented postcards from the era that were distributed privately among like minded individuals were more risque than the above card. In their depictions of same-sex behavior, typically shown were African males with huge sexual appendages dominating willing European males. In gay mainstream and general mainstream media, there is a phobia of showing men of African descent romantically involved with one another; and, few are willing to challenge the phobia.
The postcard above is evidently different in what it shows. The card is non-erotic. All the subjects in the card are African. In the midst of largely heterosexual couplings, one gay couple is featured prominently holding hands as they lovingly look at one another without so much as a disapproving glance from the straight couples.
Same-sex relationships in Africa is nothing new as anthropological and ethnographic observations predating European colonialism reveal. There once was a time when same-sex behavior was accepted as part of the larger arc of human expression and not frowned upon. Same-sex behavior could be accepted and even valued in Africa’s many ethnic tribes. Under the intellectual and Judo-Christian influences of a Europe claiming to have only the best interest of the people always in mind, much of this acceptance and valuation disappeared. .
After the colonial powers left, much of Africa chose to keep foreign customs or laws morally frowning or criminalizing same-sex desiring folk. Observed and oral histories that were evidence of a tolerance or an outright full embracing of same-sex desiring behavior became largely denied and forgotten to be replaced by the intolerable homophobia that make for today’s headline news around the world in a now “free” Africa.
Managed to draw something again! ( ｡≧◇≦)◞*✰ It’s based on a photo by Bryan Heseltine, date unknown.
I used the mixer brush in Ps for this one and it took me a couple of tries before I got somehow satisfied with it. The strokes are hard to control, but it does make up for the way it blends colors. (*´∀｀).。o○
“How many women do we know who were continually kissed by Clark Gable, William Powell, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Fredric March? Only one: Myrna Loy. And to meet whom did Franklin D. Roosevelt find himself tempted to call off the Yalta Conference? Myrna Loy. And to see what lady in what picture did John Dillinger risk coming out of hiding to meet his bullet-ridden death in an alley in Chicago? Myrna Loy, in ‘Manhattan Melodrama.’ ‘’ – Lauren Bacall on Myrna Loy
…Gee, now I definitely would like to see more of her. (๑♡⌓♡๑) The first and only film I saw starring Myrna was in The Thin Man, (I’d recommend that if you’re in the mood for a charming little crime comedy☆) now I think I’ll go look for Manhattan Melodrama next. ⁽(◍˃̵͈̑ᴗ˂̵͈̑)⁽
I can’t remember the last time I drew something on paper… I seriously need to do more…（￣ー￣；）
“The older I get, the more I believe in what I can’t explain or understand, even more than the things that are explainable and understandable.” – Lillian Gish
“But please do not fear for me. I have no fear myself. The old monsters are gone. The old curses have echoed to silence. And if my immortal soul is lost to me, something yet remains. I remain.” – Vanessa Ives
“I spent practically all my time in the company of adults. I was very withdrawn, very shy, I did what I was told and I tried not to disappoint anybody.” – Natalie Wood, on her childhood.
“I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.” – Ingrid Bergman
I’m really happy with this one. ♥ I’ve been taking classical drawing classes for the past few weeks. It’s really helping me learn proper techniques, so I’ve decided to do a series of pencil drawings like this. (●⌒∇⌒●)
