Conclusion

I’ve thought about this Vanity Fair cover at least once every few months since I first saw it at age 14. I’m not being dramatic when I say it genuinely changed my worldview. I finally found something that didn’t make me feel so alone, something that reflected my own feelings and desires, but without shame. I was able to imagine myself, in that fantastical way we all do, as a glamorous adult lesbian, with someone just as fabulous, to love very much. All I needed was the courage to exist as boldly as this cover does.

Myself today, age 23

As an adult lesbian, I must report that I am indeed as glamorous as I had hoped. I am able to see now, through the power of research, the boundary breaking that occurred at every level of this photo’s creation. This is queerness, construction in deconstruction, in the interrogation of “the way things should be.” The queer expression baked into every step of this process is what I could not see at 14, that is what I have spent an entire research project uncovering. Essentially, this photo is gayer than teen me could have ever imagined.

I look forward to the future of queer art and expression. I hope that other young people have the same kind of access to queer representation that I did. Imagining a future of queer joy makes it possible. For now, it’s time to get out from under the cover, put down our copy of Vanity Fair, and go live boldly.

Page updated

Report abuse