Butterfly Effect - ressourcesfeministes

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7 disguise. M. Barnard Eldershaw – Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw – wrote
a novel, A House is Built, that tells the story of Mary Reiby, depicted on the
Australian $20 note. Rarely are these three women acknowledged as lesbians.
Marjorie Barnard shared her later life with companion, Vee Murdoch. See the
interview with her by Zoë Fairbairns in Writing Lives: Conversations between
Women Writers (1988).
8 nameless. Most lesbians' lives remain undocumented in the sense that either their
names are known to us but their sexuality remains hidden or their sexuality is
known to us but their names remain hidden. There are some writers whose
names I’ve not cited in this poem, knowing they prefer not to be out. Perhaps
some day we shall all feel able to be who we are.
9 shards of pots. Many of Sappho's poems are known only from fragments some of
which are found on broken pottery; this reflects the fragmented history of
lesbians. The most recent poem by Sappho was discovered in 2004 by researchers
at Cologne University Germany, wrapped around an Egyptian mummy. The
poem reads, in part: “You for the fragrant – bosomed muses’ lovely gifts, by
zealous girls, and the clear melodius lyre; But my once tender body old age has
seized; my hair’s turned white instead of dark.” “Sappho Lost Poem Found”
(2005).
10 tapestry. The Bayeaux Tapestry was made by the hands of nuns, the last section of
it has been lost as visitors pulled at it, tearing it from the whole. On nuns as
lesbians in a contemporary context see Lesbian Nuns: Breaking the Silence edited by
Rosemary Curb and Nancy Mannahan (1983).
11 to see. Lesbians are most likely to recognise lesbian history. A great deal of lesbian
history is denied by heterosexual scholars wishing to maintain the status quo.
12 climbing mountains. Freda du Faur (1882-1925) was the first Pakeha woman to
climb Mt Cook in New Zealand's South Island. The two peaks Du Faur and
Cadogan are named after her and her lover, Muriel Cadogan. In spite of their
achievements, they were forcibly separated by doctors using sleep treatment, and
possibly electric shock treatment, and Muriel Cadogan died as a result. See Sally
Irwin. 2000. Between Heaven and Earth: The Life of Mountaineer, Freda du Faur.
13 scaling octaves. Dame Joan Hammond 1912-1996, the first Australian operatic diva
to sell a million records and golfing champion who lived with her partner, Lolita
Marriott for 62 years.
14 living to a hundred and six. Monte Punshon, born Ethel Punshon in 1882 worked in
the theatre, and after travelling to China, Korea and Japan in 1929, decided to
learn first Mandarin then Japanese. When war broke out she used her language
skills to assist Japanese interned in camps in Australia. At 105 she attended the
launch of her autobiography in Kobe. She died in 1989 aged 106. Margaret
Taylor’s 1989 article in Melbourne Star Observer, p. 1 and p. 3. Her life was
included in the travelling exhibition, Forbidden Love which toured Australia
between 1996 and 1998.