Many of the poetry that Angelina Weld Grimke wrote alluded to her having a female lover. In some of the poetry, the theme of LGBTQIA was rather obvious.
"You"
"I love your throat, so fragrant, fair, The little pulses beating there; Your eye-brows' shy and questioning air; I love your shadowed hair. I love your flame-touched ivory skin; Your little fingers frail and thin" - (Weld, 1-7)
This entire passage alludes to the description of a woman, but the phrase that makes the gender of the person being described obvious is "your little fingers frail and thin. Men are most often described using words and phrases associated with strength and power. Words such as "shy" or even "questioning" would never be used to describe men.
Rosabel
Rose whose soul unfolds white petaled Touch her soul rose-white; Rose whose thoughts unfold gold petaled Blossom in her sight; Rose whose heart unfolds red petaled Quick her slow heart's stir; Tell her white, gold, red my love is; And for her,--for her. - (Weld, 9-16)
This poem is clearly about a woman. the pronoun "her" is used throughout. Additionally, the phrases in this poem are feminine. The end of the poem, "Tell her white, gold, red my love is; And for her,--for her." is outright confirming the relationship that the narrator has with another woman.
Masculine and Feminine Words
When reading these two poems, I noticed that there the descriptive words were more feminine. The following chart below shows these words and their masculine opposite. Some refer to appearance and some to personality.
Feminine Word Masculine Word
Little Big
Shy Loud
Questioning Confident
Frail Strong
Thin Broad
Pointed Chin Square Chin
These words are simply words. But when you look over the list, you can see how women fit the descriptors on the left and men fit the ones on the right. Why is that? Women are constantly portrayed as weaker then men in media.
The 1920's were a time where women started to come into their own independence. They began to dress differently.
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