33. Besotted with Beefcake: A MichelangelHO Story

In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host and art museum professional nerd Amanda Helton discuss Michelangelo Buonarroti. THE Michelangelo. And we'll get into all the juicy deets you didn't learn in art history class-- full of stories of broken noses, the gay art of forgery, big ol’ artist egos, and attempts to answer the question, “what even is a titty”? Buckle up for the extremely gay Italian Renaissance, everyone!

Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Amanda Helton, can be found at www.amandahelton.com or on Instagram at oryxbesia. 

Outline
00:00 – Introduction
5:36 – Main Topic: Michelangelo: Besotted with Beefcake
6:34 – Socio-Historical Context
15:14 – Who were they? Bio Time.
48:43 – Why do we think they're gay? 
1:22:25  – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:28:56 – How Gay were They?
1:34:06 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

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10. Thigh Fencing and the Saffron Massage

In this episode, co-hosts Gretchen and Leigh will take you on a tour of medieval Arabo-Islamic erotic literature and the many delightful descriptions of queer female experience it contains. Remember way back in episode two when ‘thigh fencing’ came up? Well, that and other martial imagery for wlw sexual experience come from medieval Arabo-Islamic poetry! Like shield banging, jousting without a lance, or our new favorite---the saffron massage. Plus, we’ll dive into cross-dressing heroines, the music of love (moaning), and the first lesbian couple, Hind and al-Zarqa’!

Outline

0:00 – Introduction
5:57 – Historical Context: Medieval Arabic Erotic Tradition More Generally
25:52 – Historical Context: Arabic Literature and Western Courtly Love Poetry
36:11 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
42:38 – Tribadism and Queer Lady Love in Arabo-Islamic Writing
1:03:17 – Tales of Cross Dressing and Same-Sex Marriage
1:16:10 – People Examples
1:24:41 – Takeaways
1:30:25 – How Gay were They?
1:33:18 – Closing and Where to Find Us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |  RadioPublic  |  Google Play    |    Stitcher    |    Download