Split Britches

The image I’ve chosen is called “Split Britches Cabaret.” It is a photograph taken in the early 80s during a performance of Beauty and the Beast by the Split Britches theatre company. The Split Britches theatre company is a lesbian theatre company; accordingly, both people in this photo are women. Peggy Shaw plays Beast (pictured in the white shirt) and Lois Weaver plays Beauty.

I chose this image because it intrigues me on several levels. First, it is not automatically clear that both people in the photo are women (at least it wasn’t to me, at first). As I continued looking at the image and reading about it, however, I realized that it is in fact two women and the gender/sexuality narrative I had instinctively relied upon was questioned. Second, I like this image because it brings up issues of gender performance. Although both Shaw and Weaver are women, their gender performances are markedly different. Weaver’s performance (the woman with the blonde hair) falls more closely in line with societal expectations of the feminine woman while Shaw’s performance subverts these expectations. Third, I like this image because it was taken during the enactment of a child’s story. Children’s narratives such as Beauty and the Beast are considered predictable, perhaps even safe, with their expected character styles and happy endings. Yet, this performance of the story offers unexpected changes and surprises (although, perhaps not unexpected if you are an audience member at a performance by the Split Britches theatre company). Still, it diverges from our cultural norm. This image, therefore, draws from traditions of gender/sexuality and narrative while at the same time questioning these traditions and destabilizing them.

The image raises several questions for me…
1) As Berger tells us, photos cannot lie, but, at the same time, they can only tell partial truths. What partial truths are revealed by this image? Is the truth we see dependent upon our vantage point as viewers? Our previous experiences and history? At the same time, what truths does this image conceal?

2) Would I be as interested in this photo if it were a picture of a man and a woman embracing? In other words, are we drawn to images that show scenes unlike our daily lives because we can stare at images without feeling inappropriate?

3) What is the role of reality in this photo? (Obviously lesbian relationships are part of reality…but the photo here is a posed one taken of two actors during a scene of Beauty and the Beast.)