Majestic Mutterings
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Historic bits
Ahhhh history. Just the very word takes me back. Specifically actually, to Room 7, Presdales Comprehensive School, Ware, Herts. circa 1978 (or maybe 1878, the mists of time cloud everything). I loved the subject, swallowing up the ‘Dissolution of the Monasteries’, the ‘Industrial Revolution’ and, of course, the ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’ with great gusto. I remember thoroughly useful pieces of information such as Anne Boleyn being born with an extra finger on each hand – these unwanted fifths falling off after the medieval version of string was tied around them apparently - oh how the irony was lost on me way back then.
But two events stand out far more prominently that occurred during those lessons. Firstly, probably less by accident and more by design was that I always sat behind Lizzy. I realised that I spent a lot of time gazing at her back. And it wasn’t just that I liked her jumper (pale grey and quite bobbly, not a fashion item to covet). It was because I liked her. In history lessons I realised I fancied girls dammit!!!! Which was a bit of a shock, but over the two years spent slaving over the past I kind of got used to it. Though I’m not sure if my teacher did, and so on to event number two….
One Tuesday morning before some kind of mock exam, as we were all shuffling pens and farting around with question sheets, completely out of the blue, Miss Carpenter suddenly slammed her fist on her desk, looked me straight in the eye and screamed “Josephine. Not only do you never concentrate in class, and are a totally disruptive element, but you are also downright stupid!!!”. At the time everyone sat and gaped. I was totally bemused, though not at all amused. Why this outburst? Occasionally I was maybe a bit cheeky, but I’d always got decent marks. What had she seen that got her so fired up with fury?
Perhaps she was just mad that it seemed she had a dirty filthy lezzer in her class, what with my staring at another girls arse all the time. Or that she went crazy as she’d just realised that whilst ‘The Well Of Lonliness’ was her bible, the future generation of dykes might actually sort themselves out into fun-lovin-ladies-what-unashamedly-love-ladies-without-hiding-or-remaining-repressed. Or maybe she just didn’t like my glasses and was in a bad mood as she had her period. Whatever. It was a moment when I realised life could be very unjust, and is an episode in my history that whilst I still don’t fully understand, I shall never forget.
Whether I’m a stronger person because of those incidents I’m not sure. I remember my glee at getting a good O Level grade and hoping it made that that old bag seethe – and I’m not a bitter lesbian even now so I guess that was an isolated incident. My class-mate crush wasn’t though. A life-long love of women never stopped…..
xxxHRH
# posted by Queen Josephine : 9:50 AM