Talk:Georgia O'Keeffe/bisexuality draft

Approach: pulling information relative to bisexuality, gender-neutral clothing, lifestyle here... then see what of it should be summarized or used for the article. Just gathering thoughts right now.–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:27, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

See #Draft and #Discuss sections below.

I merged Marriage and Relationship to Georgia O'Keeffe#Marriage and relationships section because the Marriage part discusses her relationship with her husband until the mid 1920s and the Relationship section started with 1930. The changes were made here.

Since this content was merged into the Georgia O'Keeffe article, please make any changes there and discussion at Talk:Georgia O'Keeffe#Accuracy.–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:22, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

Research

By the way, just because something is found in research, it doesn't mean it will go in the draft.

1. From O'Keeffe and Stieglitz pages 398, 458–459, 505

• Lesbian women of note in the fields of photography, archaelogy, and anthropology were drawn to Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1920s and 1930 for professional and personal reasons. Unburdened by societal norms, they had the "psychological space and sexual freedom" to be themselves. It made sense to dress in gender-neutral clothing like pants and moccasans or boots in the West.(p. 458)f

Just used as citations:

• Stieglitz had a sexual fling with Mabel Dodge, and out of jealousy, O'Keeffe had an affair with Tony Lujan and was briefly Dodge's lover.(p. 398)

• Honi Pollitzer Weiss was sexually attracted to O'Keeffe, partly because of the masculine traits that she presented and also because she found out that O'Keeffe was bisexual.(p. 505)

2. See pages 113–114 in Marjorie Garber's 2012 book, Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life (Taylor & Francis) [1] from Netherzone

Just used as a citation:

• While married to Stieglitz, O'Keeffe had sexual relationships with men and women in Santa Fe and Taos, including a brief affair with Mabel Dodge Luhan and perhaps Paul and Rebecca (Beck) Strand.(pp. 113, 288)

• Frida Kahlo flirted with O'Keeffe, which was fine with her husband Diego Rivera, who preferred that Frida had sexual relationships with women, and not men. Rivera had affairs with women.(p. 114)

• O'Keeffe followed her inclinations and feelings, rather than the gender of a person, for who she would select as a sexual partner.(pp. 113–114) O'Keeffe vacillated between having sexual relationships with men and women, which is the definition of bisexuality.(p. 115)

• She knew lesbian and bisexual women in New Mexico,(pp. 113–114) in a community of people who lived free of society's heterosexual norms of the time.(p. 114)

• Lesbian couples (p,a,a professions) lived openly in Taos and Santa Fe.(p. 113)

3. 100 Most Important Women of the 20th century

• O'Keeffe began to visit New Mexico in the 1930s, living apart from her husband, and creating a new body of works based upon the desert.(p. 140)

• "She produced a dual legacy of magnificent art and fidelity to her own special vision."(p. 140)

4. Pride: LGBTQ+ Artists and CAM, an art museum blog, written by a Cincinnati Art Museum staff member.

• "O'Keeffe did not claim to be bisexual, which, if true, could have caused her to be shunned. There are differing opinions about whether there is proof or not that she was bisexual.
• She broke free of "strict gender roles" and adopted "gender neutral" clothing.

5. "O'KEEFFE WAS NO SAINT, TELL-ALL BOOK REVEALS" Benita Eisler, author of O'Keeffe & Stieglitz: An American Romance, was the first biographer to state that O'Keeffe was a bisexual. She states that it is a claim that was "known for years", but would have been difficult to live with during her lifetime. She came to the conclusion after reading daily corresondence between Beck and Paul Strand.

6. Modern Nature: Georgia O'Keeffe and Lake George Colin B. Bailey, Director of Museums, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco states that for the people who have written that O'Keeffe was bisexual, doing so brought the topic into "murky historical waters"

7. From Feminists to Public Figures: Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Suzanne Lacy by Natalee G. Palmer

• O'Keeffe and Stieglitz had an open relationship
• She experienced pain by Stieglitz's affairs with women
• O'Keeffe lived independently, exploring sexual relationships with men and women, that was unusual for women of the 1930s (perhaps just add as another source or merge with the #2 item about societal norms)

8. Behind Frida Kahlo's Real and Rumored Affairs With Men and Women

O'Keeffe met Frida Kahlo in the 1930s, who cared for her. Frida told a friend that while O'Keeffe was recuperating in Bermuda, the two women didn't make love due to her health.

9. The View from Out There Cady Wells: Ruminations at the New Mexico Museum of Art

• O'Keeffe was friends with bisexual and gay men, like Cady Wells, who was a lifelong friend, yet she avoided Santa Fe's lesbian women.

10. Subtexts: Georgia O'Keeffe

• Santa Fe was a haven for men and women who wanted to live a life free of other community's construct that one must live a heterosexual life.
• Georgia preferred to focus on her artistic skills than her sexual orientation.

11. Foursome

I am having a hard time seeing what is relevant in google books, because a lot of pages aren't in this "preview" - and the book is not on archive.org - Doing my best, but could use some help - or will go to the library

• What interested O'Keeffe was her surroundings and her work. She was not interested in sex. (p. 320) - merge / cite with #10, second bullet
• In part because she weathered the prejudice against women artists and became successful, she was an “extraordinary artist” according to art critic E.C. Gosseen . (p. 106)
• O'Keeffe was frustrated by the number of people who used her gender to explain the quality of her work. (p. 113, 327)
• Mabel was aware that Tony slept with other women, and feared that he slept with O'Keeffe. (p. 200)
• When discussing her marriage, O'Keeffe said that she was happy being ME, rather than worrying about affairs that Alfred might be having. (p. 200)
• Beck and O'Keeffe enjoyed spending time together, living gleefully, traveling together, and thinking of years ahead (p. 202)
• Beck said that she was totally herself when with O'Keeffe, which the author did not take to mean that they were having an affair (p. 202)
• Other than these t [letters between Beck and Paul], evidence is lacking to support such a reading, which contradicts the strong heterosexual attractions expressed by both women. (p. 202)
• O'Keeffe thought that people who saw genitals in her works were really fixated on their own affairs (p.327)
• Although a member of the Woman's Party, O'Keeffe did not like to be called or live like a feminist. She did the hard work to become successful in her profession and she thought that other women should do the same. (p. 327)−

--- in progress

Thought: O'Keeffe preferred to be evaluated by her talent. She didn't like being considered a feminist or bisexual woman who made paintings of women's vulvas. - there are sources for this. Nor a good woman painter, rather a good painter.

Draft

Note:Modified Relationship section in the article, summarizing info about Frida and removing speculation, trivia. -- so not drafting anything here, struck out Frida info above, now that part is done.–CaroleHenson (talk) 22:34, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

Relationships

O'Keeffe began to visit New Mexico in the 1930s, without her husband, and created a new body of works based upon the desert. She knew lesbian and bisexual women and was friends with bisexual and gay men, like Cady Wells, who was a lifelong friend. O'Keeffe broke free of "strict gender roles" and adopted "gender neutral" clothing, as did other professional women in Santa Fe and Taos who experienced "psychological space and sexual freedom" there.

O'Keeffe and Stieglitz had an open relationship, which could be painful for O'Keeffe when Stieglitz had affairs with women. She also said that she was happy being "me" rather than worrying about affairs that Stieglitz might be having. She lived independently in New Mexico, exploring sexual relationships with men and women, which was unusual for women of the 1930s.

She had a close relationship with Beck Strand (wife of Paul Strand). They enjoyed spending time together, traveling, and living with "glee". Beck said that she was most herself when with O'Keeffe. According to Foursome — a book about O'Keeffe, Stieglitz, and Beck and Paul Strand — the women had a heterosexual relationship. Further, letters that some conclude meant that they were sexual partners are incongruent with the way that they lived their lives.

Bibliography

• Eisler, Benita (1992). O'Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Romance (Paperback reprint ed.). New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140170944.
• Burke, Carolyn (2020). Foursome. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 1-9848-9970-8.

Discuss

Feel free to add comments / questions / more sources, etc.

• Question: What is meant by living gleefully? Is that a quote from one of the sources or her letters? Other than that the section looks very good.

Netherzone (talk) 17:31, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

Yes, Netherzone the source does say that they were gleeful. I added a citation for the two references in the book re: their glee.

Apparently when O'Keeffe and Beck were together, they would do things that Beck would not do with anyone else, and it was part of their "gleeful" attitude. I think one of the examples was to go to the top of the roof in the middle of the night for a look around.

Thanks for your feedback!–CaroleHenson (talk) 18:00, 4 July 2023 (UTC)