Visual Art Piece

Abstract

In keeping with the project to offer a safe platform for marginalized individuals to express various modes of being, my drawing seeks to shed a light on the femme couples silenced not only by heteropatriarchal norms, but also by norms commonly experienced within LGBTQ+ communities, too. This sketch was designed to showcase the love between a femme lesbian couple. It was important for me to respectfully capture this intimate moment to counter heteropatriarchal distorted and biased notions of sexuality amongst femme couples. Lesbian women, more so than their heterosexual counterparts, are often asked “how” they partake in sexual activities with their respective partners, and often these sexual experiences are then minimized by the majority of society. I argue that “how” lesbian women have sex is that they connect with one another through a mutual attraction, and thereafter, partake in intimacy: simple. “Femme” couples face many forms of oppression, such as underrepresentation, the presumption of their heterosexuality or bisexuality, and their hypersexualization by society. Against these odds, it is imperative that the love between femme couples is validated.