You Could Say It's on Love
Graduation Date
12-2017
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Director of the Honors Program
Gigi Gokcek, PhD
First Reader
Robert Bradford, MA
Second Reader
Chase Clow, PhD
Abstract
Human romantic, companionate, and sexual relationships are a minefield of exploration. Through the lens of poetry, this book invites its readers to engage with modes of love and sexuality which may be foreign, and are definitely non-normative. The protagonist, a female dealing with the too-usual struggles of rape, sexuality, and self-identity, openly bares herself as she grows and changes, poetically striving for Selfhood and the celebratory aspects of “true” love. As she fails in finding what she seeks, the protagonist is led on a different journey, one that leaves her fortified in her own skin. This work was inspired by the artistry of a dear friend who took each of her pains to paper, and indeed, I decided to do much of the same. Written in response to events in my life and those of the people close to me, this book helped me exorcise some of my own demons on a path to recovery and meaning. The ramifications of this work may not touch everyone, but to victims of sexual assault, homophobia, or anyone struggling with feelings of insufficiency, this work could be catalytic. Without the courageous and emboldening works of women like Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Kylie Walsh, Dara Ackerman, and Kehlani, I would not feel able to share these tokens of Selfhood. It truly was the boldness of the women who came before me that taught the great lesson: nothing is taboo.
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