This story is told in the form of an Irish rebel song. It concerns a young woman who is about to attend a hen party, where friends and family are coarsely celebrating a friend's wedding. All her growing life everyone has wrongly assumed her heterosexuality, and she has played along. The coins saved for outings with her secret lover are concealed between layers of her clothing. In the final scene she shows her lover the living will she will use to publicly declare their commitment to each other. She knows this small move will take great courage but it is essential for her dignity. This act of bravery is the real meaning behind "gay pride".
1 comment:
Robin,
Here is a reflection for you on 'Gay Pride'. The 'living' that you suggest is 'coins' (saved presumably over time and surrepticiously at that) ... seems to me a way of exploring the 'living' hidden in the body story. The experience of having coins concealed between the layers of one's clothing seems almost as if each piece of silver or gold captures the minting of another layer of skin, a long journey into hiddeness that might conceal great riches .... but also distracts from what is essential ...
There might be a double liberation here in this Pride dream as this lover not only declares her love openly to the crowd but also seems to divest herself in front of her lover too .... shedding the coins that have enabled her to live in her secret layers. The dream seems to suggest a journey from fear in more ways than one.
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