X (2022)’s strange sequel, Pearl (2022), explores the sexual rebellion of a repressed, poor, farm girl. Pearl’s capacity for violence is fueled by a lack of genuine love from anyone in her life, and she “only experiences love when her actions align with the expectations of others. She is loved for the utility of her gender and only in the way that others choose to recognize it. When she attempts to use her sexuality to fulfill her desires, she finds punishment or abandonment.” This movie resonated with me on more than just a feminist level, though; I also felt as though the demonization of Pearl’s sexuality was akin to experiences of LGBTQ+ people. Pearl seeking pleasure in a cornfield with a scarecrow may be just as jarring to some as when two consenting same-sex people seek pleasure in one another. The character of Pearl represents what a lack of community/support for a person exploring sexuality, queer or otherwise, may do to a person. (Not driving them to violence, but preventing them from reaching their fullest potential or, even, happiness.) In the archives this week, the team looked at many LGBTQ+ events hosted from the ‘90s on. These events are important because they foster community building and offer individuals support if they feel alone. This is, in my opinion, what pride is for. Below is a day-by-day list stating what tasks we completed each work day, the bolded bullet representing the most important task.
06/26/23
- Continued InDesign tutorial
- Made slides for tomorrow’s League Meeting
- Continued digital archival research
- Brainstormed new subject headings for exhibition
- Created a rough mock-up of arrangement for panels
06/27/23
- Attended League Meeting
- Contacted Stacie Brennan for meeting on arrangement options
- Continued digital archival research, sorting finds into working categories: queer love, LGBT health, humor, storytelling, grief, resiliency, and pride
- Traveled to the Bradbury Sullivan center to survey the space and to see the current art exhibition
06/28/23
- Continued digital archival research
- Traveled to Muhlenberg to the in-person archival collection
- Updated our community partner (Susan) on the current WordPress website, our status on the collection drives, current plans for the exhibition, and contact with authors
06/29/23
- Continued digital archival research and sorting into groupings
- Partway through the day, due to air quality we switched to working virtually
- Depending on individual goals, we were: doing archival research, finishing the inDesign tutorial, or writing our personal blogs for Mountaintop
06/30/23
- Continued digital archival research
- Attended Mountaintop meeting
- Continued InDesign tutorial
Looking forward to next week, we hope to wrap up our digital and archival research. Below I have attached pictures of our work week. Thanks for reading!
