{"id":2624,"date":"2021-12-13T14:44:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T19:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/?p=2624"},"modified":"2021-12-13T20:44:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T01:44:57","slug":"edward-the-dyke-by-judy-grahn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/bliven\/edward-the-dyke-by-judy-grahn\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEdward the Dyke\u201d by Judy Grahn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The short poetic story, \u201cEdward the Dyke\u201d written by Judy Grahn in 1965 demonstrates society\u2019s limited understanding of what women could be. This limited understanding is born from the erasure of lesbians and other radical women from history. Through this story Grahn is showing another way to be a woman and combating this erasure. The preservation of this story in archives also fights this erasure of women by remembering the way that lesbian women have been treated and viewed by society.<\/p>\n

In this story, Edward is seeing a psychoanalyst who is trying to \u201ccure\u201d her. Edward starts the session off by saying \u201cmy problem this week chiefly concern[s] restrooms\u201d and describes the physical assault she endured by the other women in the bathroom after they learned she was a lesbian (Grahn 26). The psychiatrist ignores what Edward says and instead writes down that Edward had an \u201capparent suicide attempt after accosting girls in restroom\u201d (Grahn 26). The doctor’s dismissal of Edward’s concerns is repeated throughout the story. Edward describes a beautiful ten year relationship she had and the psychiatrist says \u201cyou see the folly of these brief physical embraces\u201d (Grahn 28). Edward has a date with a man in which she dresses up, \u201cdoes unspeakable things to [her] armpits with a razor\u201d and \u201cfeels truly immobilized\u201d by the clothes she wore (Grahn 29). The psychiatrist ignores her pain and says \u201cgood, good\u201d and continues to force Edward into a box she will never fit in, in order to \u201ccure\u201d her (Grahn 29).<\/p>\n

\"\"

Illustration of Edward the Dyke from Judy Grahn’s collection of poetry, The Work of a Common Woman<\/em>, published in 1978<\/p><\/div>\n

However, this box is antithetical to her happiness. Edward only shows happiness when talking about her former lover or describing her identity as a lesbian. When the psychiatrist asks Edward to describe what homosexuality means to her, Edward uses beautiful imagery of \u201cwarm and water,\u201d \u201ccinnamon toast poetry\u201d and \u201cjustice equality higher wages\u201d (Grahn 27). Edward remembers her lover \u201claying in [Edward\u2019s] arms harps played soft in dry firelight\u201d (Grahn 28). It is clear through this powerful and beautiful language that Edward finds peace, beauty, and happiness in loving women.<\/p>\n

This happiness is contrasted by the \u201ctreatment\u201d the psychiatrist gives her. Firstly, Edward shouts \u201cI am vile! I am vile!\u201d after the psychiatrist has told her she \u201cwants to kill her mother\u201d and that she is narcissistic, masochistic, and sadistic (Grahn 30). Secondly, the shock therapy makes Edward scream in pain. The psychiatrist cares only about curing Edward\u2019s homosexuality to fit her into heteronormative society. Edward, by the end of her session, has internalized this message and at the end of the shock therapy says, \u201cI\u2019m saved\u201d (Grahn 30). Grahn warns about how easy it is for one to succumb to society’s view that lesbianism is wrong and unwomanly. Through satirizing the psychoanalytic process, this story proposes the idea that society\u2019s view of womanhood is limited and incomplete. Grahn is attempting to validate and normalize the lesbian identity through satire. With the preservation of this story, future generations can turn to it to find comfort in knowing that their identity is valid, true and has been around for many years. By preserving this story in archives, this message will be available for future generations which allows for the lesbian liberation movement to grow and continue.<\/p>\n

Works Cited:<\/p>\n

Grahn, Judy. \u201cEdward the Dyke.\u201d The Work of a Common Woman<\/em>, Diana Press, 1978.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The short poetic story, \u201cEdward the Dyke\u201d written by Judy Grahn in 1965 demonstrates society\u2019s limited understanding of what women could be. This limited understanding is born from the erasure of lesbians and other radical women from history. Through this … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2644,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bliven"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2624"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2768,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2624\/revisions\/2768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}