lambda nordica

Sex at the Borders

Jenny Sundén, Susanna Paasonen, Katrin Tiidenberg — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Sisters Across the Gulf

Rebeka Põldsam, Riikka Taavetti — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article explores the connections between Estonian and Finnish lesbian communities in the early 1990s, based on oral history interviews along with media and archival sources. The Estonian lesbian community formed very quickly in the spring and summer of 1990 and from the very start developed a strong bond with the Finnish lesbian community that then lasted for several years. We have interviewed both Finnish and Estonian lesbian women about the period to learn about the activities of this transnational network and the meaning it carried for its members. In our analysis, we focus on personal and social challenges and tensions, national differences and diverse identities and ways of living as a lesbian woman, but also on the fun and rewarding connections. Our study portrays the transnational network as an example of a relatively equal community, despite the stark economic differences, and addresses how the translocal connections formed as a natural, important and integral part of the development of both these communities.

Pornography and Transnationality

Mariah Larsson — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article addresses border crossings in the 1970s related to sexual commerce, in particular in the small community of Hälle, located near the Sweden–Norway border at Svinesund and European route E6. As the legal situation with regard to pornography differed in Norway and Sweden, Swedish legislation being more liberal, Norwegians travelled to Sweden to both buy and to consume on-site sexually explicit material and entertainment. By choosing this perspective, the article shifts focus away from the sexually explicit material itself, towards the spaces in which it can be found, and reflects upon consumption of such material as a literally transgressive, non-normative sexual behavior.

Monsieur Mosse

Susanna Paasonen, Mari Pajala — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Raimo Jääskeläinen, better known as Monsieur Mosse (1932–1992), was a hairdresser, makeup artist, gossip columnist, convicted blackmailer, and Finland’s first out gay male celebrity. The topic of endless articles, befriending and falling out with beauty queens and fashion models, publishing a tell-all memoir elaborating on his taste for luxury, working for straight porn magazines and briefly editing one, Mosse was both the subject and object of popular media and, in his flamboyance, a key domestic celebrity figure of the 1970s and 1980s. Meanwhile, his relationship with the gay rights movement was frictional at best in that his brand was considered “dishonorable” vis-à-vis liberatory politics. Building on media historical inquiry and taking cue from Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller’s (2022) popular argument for studying “bad gays” – historical figures not fitting aspirational and inspirational narratives of queer activism and agency – this article examines Mosse’s trajectory as a celebrity, focusing especially on his 1980s collaborations with the sex press. We argue that Mosse’s particular brand of shameless extravagance and candid gossiping knowingly operationalized “badness” as a vehicle of distinction and visibility in a largely homophobic national context.

Transnational Connections

Tuula Juvonen — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

In reference to recent interest in transnational queer studies, this essay takes steps to document the long-standing tradition of cultural connection and exchange with regard to homosexual images that has taken place across the Gulf of Bothnia and influenced the understanding of homosexuality, lesbianism included, in both Finland and Sweden. It argues that the cross-border exchange has not only nourished lesbian and gay culture and cultural production in both countries, but also influenced the way in which homosexuality – and thereby the countries themselves – have been viewed. In the article, Finnish cultural products, such as detective novels, films, scandal and porn magazines are searched for traces of the enduring idea of Swedishness being intrinsically intertwined with homosexuality. Whereas the image of Sweden was rather tainted by homosexuality in the 1950s, the public perception of Sweden in Finland changed markedly in the 1960s. In addition to ideas changing, people also started to travel between the two neighbouring countries, ensuring that the cultural exchange was by no means a one-way street.

When Queers Reproduce

Ulrika Dahl — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Keaney, Jaya. 2023. Making Gaybies: Queer Reproduction and Multiracial Feeling. Duke University Press. (218 p)

Exploring "Close Relations"

Sara Eldén — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Wahlström Henriksson, Helena & Klara Goedecke, eds. 2022. Close Relations: Family, Kinship, and Beyond. Singapore: Springer. (220 pages)