Gertrude Stein: Devouring Her Son!

Introduction

0:00Please enjoy this ringback tone while your podcast is reached.

0:11This is Raquel and Chelsea, and you're listening to Baroque Bitches. Welcome to Baroque Bitches, your art history gossip podcast. I'm Chelsea.

Art History Gossip

0:39I'm Raquel. And we're going to get into the down and dirty tea on this high-brow, fancy-schmancy art and art history. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay. I know that everybody, I think everybody in the fucking world is feeling this energy right now. Am I wrong? Wrong. Is this weird energy that we're dealing with right now?

Astrology and Energies

1:09So we are heading towards February 16th and 17th. And if you are, you know us, we're into astrology. And we're into energies and all of that woo-woo stuff. Woo-woo. But if you're following some of these astrologers and everybody, and I watch all these on YouTube and everything, and we're freaking out, we're freaking out. This is the very last shedding of the skin of the year of the snake.

1:44Okay. That's what's happening. We are.

Year of the Snake

1:48It's like, so when the snake has like, has all that skin, but there's like still a little attached, and it's so fucking annoying, and it's going to hurt a little bit to rip it off. That's where we are. Like when you have a hangnail and the cuticle is attached to it, and you're like, I want to get it off, but it also really hurts. But then if you take it off, it's going to start bleeding, and then you're going to have a whole new hang. It's going to be gross and scabby. Yeah. That's where we're at. I'm very uncomfortable. We are not in the year of the fire horse yet.

Year of the Fire Horse

2:20Okay.

Year of the Fire Horse

2:20So that's going to be happening, I believe, the 17th. Okay. That's going to be a whole new era. I mean, this is going to be, think about a snake of just shedding skin. Your old world is dying. The fire horse is literally running on fire. That doesn't sound good. I think it might be a little good and a little bad. Oh, God. Okay. The planets right now, I think it's going to be good in the end because we have a very powerful year. But how long is the middle?

2:52I don't know. They're saying maybe like another six years. No. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Oh, no. But there's a lot of different people saying different things. Okay. Lots of different planets are lined up at the current moment. So I think especially for our beautiful Aquarians. Yeah. Yeah, this is, there's going to be some weird stuff. We've got the solar eclipse coming up in Aquarius. So this is going to be like new moon energy. There's going to be like some truth being uncovered.

3:24Which I think you've seen that. And new era, but also like revolution and chaos and things will be ensued. There's going to be a major, there's going to be for major life shifts in every sign. So yeah, this is going to be, it's going to be a weird year, but I think it's going to be positive. I think there's going to be some shifting perspectives. So that's always fun to like, make sure to be open-minded.

3:54Don't be a bitch. Like be super nice to everybody. Cause we're all going through like major fucked up changes. And like, this is hard. There's some physical deaths. There's some actual, there's some mind deaths. There's some old thinking deaths. There's some old addictions. Get rid of those. Like tower energy. We're done. We're done. We're falling to the ground and seeing what's really fucking real.

Saturn's Day

4:25Okay.

Saturn's Day

4:25So things will be unveiled, I think this year. So we're still in the era of like, we're freaking out. Yeah. But so astrologically, it's going to be, it's going to be a funky one, I think. But I think we're going to be moving forward. Okay. I can do that. I can do that with Greece. We're going to be moving forward fast. So, so get ready. I'm like already tired. Just hearing about it. Yeah. And the best thing you can do is just talk to your neighbor, smile, smile at people.

4:58That's all I can really do right now. Go with the flow. Yeah. Try to get back if you can. Whatever. Or, or not. Or sleep in bed. Or just, just doom scroll. I don't know. No, don't do that. Don't do that. Stop it. We just had, yeah, 15 minutes before this talking about how we're not going to doom scroll anymore. We are going to just put the Instagram in a folder way far away. That's how I have it. So when I'm, I'm like, I need a little Instagram. I need a little TikTok. And no. To work together. I don't. I don't.

5:29I don't need it. Shadow self. Get away from me. Get away from me. It's a demon. Yeah, no.

Gertrude Stein Introduction

5:35So, I think we're going to be getting into a super relevant one today.

5:43So, we might as well get into it. Yes. We need this. We need this. We need this. Yes. So, let's visualize. Visualize. Visualize. Visualize.

6:05Saturday.

6:08Saturn's day. The only day named after a Roman god. And not any Roman god. The devourer. The timekeeper. The patriarch of all that grows. He marks the beginning of the end. The end of illusion. Of masks. Of predatory powers. And the beginning of justice. New gods. And new philosophies. Saturn wants you to think. He wants you to be suspicious. He wants you to shed your skin. And howl at the moon. Like a rabid animal.

6:39Some cultures think of Saturn's day. As a day of rest. Some think of it as a holy day. And some think of it as a day to gather. Witches. Specifically. The ones who live on the outside of manufactured society. The searchers. The so-called wicked. Witches gather on this day. Because Saturn lifts the veil of separation. Between the light and the dark. Because it is in darkness that we see the truth. They gather because collaborative divination is more powerful.

7:12They understand that working together in darkness can bring forth the most light. And that there's safety in numbers. Especially in the darkest nights. And lately we've seen some very dark nights. And on Saturn's day we are not afraid of the dark. He allows you to lean into it. To call upon your demons. To seek revenge on your enemies without shame. You can keep shame in the projected safety of your churches. While Saturn's children dance naked in the night.

7:44Knowing full well. That the life they once knew will be gone by morning. Leaving a phoenix. Transformed by Saturn's darkness into a new awakened self. And with this I call out to all the witches, artists, writers, actors, philosophers, and revolutionaries. To gather on this day of liberation. To write that profane poem. Paint that sinful painting. And cast that revenge spell into the darkness. So that one day we can collectively experience the light again.

8:17Which brings us to our gossip topic. Gertrude Stein devouring her son. Oh my god. I am so excited. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Relevant. Relevant. And so many different unexpected ways. She is like the epicenter of so much.

8:52We need her. And we also got some questions.

8:57Yeah. So my visual eyes, obviously Goya reference with Saturn devouring his son. Check out our Goya episode. You got to scroll way down for that one. Yeah. That one's oldie. But a goodie. Oldie but a goodie. But our Gertrude is a Baroque bitch and a half. Oh my god. She's so good. Highly requested by our super sexy listeners. So thank you for letting us know what you want to hear. You guys are so hot and smart.

9:25We're obsessed with you. Seriously. Oh my god. And talented. Oh my god. And if you're like, I don't know Gertrude Stein and what's the deal with Saturday? Like that's totally fine. That's why you're here. We still think you're hot and smart. That's what we're here for. That's what we're here for. Even better. Even better. So we get to fill you in on this Baroque bitch and her special day. Yes. What do you know about this bitch?

9:57Oh my god. I feel like I know a lot. But I like one thing that I feel like is poignant about Gertrude Stein is that Kathy Bates gets casted as her in Midnight in Paris. And like anybody that Kathy Bates is going to play, you know it's going to be like iconic. But I feel so interconnecting like all the artists. We just watched Misery.

10:28We just watched Misery the other day. Oh my god. Because it was on like Hulu or something like that. Can't be me. Can't be me. Yeah. And I was like, have you ever seen, for my husband, I was like, have you ever seen Misery? He's like, no. I'm like, yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. She is so creepy in that. Oh my god. She has range. Range. She's so good. She's so good. And it was also like, she's manipulating me too.

11:00Like, she's totally manipulating me.

11:03Yes. She's so good. Yeah. So we have a personification of Gertrude. A perfect personification of Gertrude Stein. Like a bold personality, someone who's not going to take shit from anybody, had a lot of power and, like, what do you call it? Notoriety in her time. Ooh. And we will get into all of that too. Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay. So let's get into our Gertrude A-S-L.

11:36Who are you? And are you, sorry, you said you're going to break this into two. Yes. This is part one. Just so you guys know. Just because the mess. So much life. So much life. The tea that I have digging up on this thing. I mean, it's just, there's too much. So we do have to split it up. So this is going to be part one. All warranted. And part two will be next time. If there was one to do it, I feel like this makes so much sense. Yeah. Yeah. Because we have to talk about all of these other people that matter too around her.

12:08Sure, sure. It's a collective. She is the head of a collective. So let's get into her. Yes.

Gertrude Stein's Life

12:15Gertrude Stein, no middle name, was born February 3rd, 1874. An Aquarius. 1874. 1874. Yes. Another Aquarius. A revolutionary, independent, unconventional, obsessed. And another Pennsylvanian, just like Alice Neal. Yes. Another Aquarius Pennsylvanian. Like Alice, I guess we need this right now. We need it.

12:45The year of the Pennsylvanians. Yes. So 1874 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. And we're obsessed. We need this Aquarius energy right now. They don't give a shit. What you think? They're disruptors. The agitators. The ones living happily on the outside of society. We don't care. Laughing at false structures. You guys built those rules. You made those rules, not me. I didn't make the rules here. I'm always surprised there's not more Aquarian artists, but we're air signs.

13:21We're not water signs. You are air signs. We're air signs. So it does kind of make sense because we're not very good at staying grounded. No. You're way up above it all. And that's good and bad. That can be good and bad. But you see the truth right away. Oh, you're manipulating me. Oh, my God. Ew. That's cute. I'm not going to take it. Nice. Darling. I will laugh. And they're like the goth kids hanging out behind the school making fun of all like the sheeple blindly following.

13:52Like, ew, conformist. How cute. Bye. Wow. Also, I don't care. It looks like you spent a lot of time getting ready today. Oh, bitch. Wow. I got that one once. I'm like, wow, did it take like an hour for you to get ready? I'm like, no.

14:13God. Do you think I caked it on? Like, I feel. Shot the fire. Like, no, you look beautiful. It must have taken a while. I don't understand. Why fuck you? Anyway. We need this, though. We need the truth. And we just talked about the industrial powerhouse of Pennsylvania in the late 1800s in our last episode, the American dream, factories, factories, factories, little kids, working, working

14:45machines. Gears. It's good. So you lost your fingers. Metal clanking. Good for you. Hammers.

14:55He was ripped apart. Lots of ashiness. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of fumes. Oil. Sobs. Yeah. Lots of horrible, horrible. We're sorry. We wish our fault. Everybody looks like they've just been like working at an auto body shop all day. Everyone's covered in soot. Yeah. We're sorry. We did it. We did it. I'm sorry. But not Gertie's fam. Gertie's fam is a little different.

15:25A little rich. Yeah. They're a little typical from your average American family. It gives money. Oh, it's giving money. It's giving wealth. It's giving refined. Oh. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. So there's so much tea. Dad. Daddy. Dad was Daniel Stein and came from a German Jewish background and he was an overall successful rich guy. Okay. So business, entrepreneur vibes.

15:57He liked money and know how to make it. He started out as a real estate investor, buying, improving, and reselling urban property in Algony and Pittsburgh. So he was like a flipper. Okay. And he had this knack of knowing which properties would do well. And later he'd be working on the transit routes himself. So dad is super smart and rich. And like a lot of other smart, rich guys, he's not very lovey-dovey. It seemed like his business intelligence mirrored his emotional intelligence.

16:31So like high standards, strict, rigid, loss of high expectations, and possible standards. Not really what you want from a dad. Not really what you want, but totally good at making the money and supporting his family. That was all of his, that was his whole thing. That was his whole, that was his whole jam. So we do like him for that. Show love through hard work and money. And providing you with things. Mom. Mom was Amelia Kaiserstein.

17:03And she was, also came from a German Jewish immigrant family. She greatly valued education and stability and cultural aspiration. Like, she different. She's different. All right, mom. She was also gentle and affectionate. And we all need that. She had seven fucking kids. Jesus. And she wanted them to all be smart and cultured and refined. Okay, I love that. Yeah, specifically that. So she would hire German and French governesses, which are like nannies.

17:37So three languages were spoken in the house. Wow. She encouraged all of her kids to read a lot. And she really wanted her family to act and sound more European than your typical American family. She was kind of like looking at the Americans like, cute, cute. You guys are a little, it's not the point. You're missing the point in this industry. So I don't know. We also want to, like, culture is also good.

18:08We'll see some stuff. So with that little side quest, let's get into the outlook on Jewish families at this time in America. Okay, yeah. How's that going? Things are weird, yeah. People are being mean, but, like, on the DL. It's all very shady. Okay. So families like the Steins would be seen as industrious and respectable, but ultimately othered. I'm sure. Jewish success was admired, but resented.

18:41Okay. The stereotype that Jewish people are good with money can be seen as a compliment, but it's totally coded in suspicion. Yeah, sure. Like, how did you get that much money? How did you be this successful? And there was a lot of little discrepancies and a lot of huge, glaring, obvious ones, like Jewish people being excluded from social clubs, elite schools, professions, and neighborhoods all together. But, like, sly. Like, there weren't signs or anything.

19:13It was just noted. Noted. That, oh, they don't want us here. They don't want us here. Okay. And this really shaped Gertie's thoughts on American school hierarchies, or social hierarchies. And soon, anti-Semitism will be much less coded and much more violent. Yeah. But we'll get into that later. Fuck all genocide. Anyway.

19:37Our Gertie, the last of seven, two who died in infancy, was quiet, intense, observant, and analytical. Sure. Like, the perfect Aquarian child. Yes. Yeah. She's absorbing everything and just working in the shadows. And she is not into normal school. Like, that shit's boring. But she was into Shakespeare and the romantic poems of William Wordsworth. Oh, my God. Love her. Like, as a baby.

20:09She's already slain. Mommy, I want helmet. Can I have some Wordsworth? Can you read me, Hamlet? Yeah, this bitch. And Wordsworth specifically, because he wrote about the inner life, memory, childhood, writing one of the most famous lines in English literature, the child is the father of the man. Wow. Boom, dude. Layers. Existential. So, she's a tea basket.

20:41She's got layers. She's got a lot going on. She understands that early on, perception shapes consciousness. So, you are what you think, dude. I'm still trying to figure that out. I hate that idea. You know how many bad thoughts I have, where I'm like, why? I think those. Send those away. Send those away. Now, when our Gertie was a kid, the fam moved to Vienna. And then Paris.

21:12Why? I thought you were doing this so well in America, Dad. Well, because they thought America was dumb.

21:21Accurate. And at this point. We are above this. We just think you guys are dumb. And at this point, Dad made enough money and could focus on giving his kids a proper European education. Sure. Like, while they're growing up, at least. Right. They lived in Vienna for a little less than a year. And this was a place where they wouldn't be othered. They spoke German, invested in education, and lived in a cultural hub. So, they're like, yeah, these people are all aligned with our values.

21:53Sure, sure, sure. I just watched Sound of Music on a total side note. Done. Yeah. And then we watched Before Sunrise. It was like a very Austrian-themed. I don't know if I've seen that. Ethan Hawke. I'll watch it. Ooh. But it takes place in Vienna as well. And... It looks so fucking cute. It looks so fucking cute. It looks so fucking cute. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Yeah, it's not only beautiful, it's smack dab in the middle of all that juicy European

22:23culture that they wanted for their kids. Yeah. So, this is the hub. This is the place where their people are at. It's the place to be. Captain Von Trapp. I'm sorry. Get in there, Austria. Get in there, Austria. Yeah. But it's got some stuff coming up. Yeah. So, especially for the Jewish people. Yeah. Tension's brewing. However, yeah, tensions are brewing. But everybody's happy with it. This is like, this is the little rose-colored glasses stage, right?

22:54The calm before the storm. Europe is so wonderful. And mom wants it even more. She didn't just want her kids to be cultured. Remember, she wants them to be refined. And Vienna is just not there with the refined part. Okay, mom's starting to get a little annoying. And mom is intense, dude. So, off they go to the coolest spot in Europe. Of course, Paris, France. Paris, okay. Duh. I mean, this is.

23:25I'm not, like, thinking refined, though, of Paris with the bohemian life situation. That is just starting. So, keep that in mind. Okay, okay, okay. That's totally on the underground. That's just kind of coming to the surface. Okay. And sometimes when that stuff is happening, there's more culture and stuff. So, she's trying to find the best spot for now to get her kids into this, like, really balanced European.

23:55Type of lifestyle. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And keep in mind that Gertie is very young. She's only four. Okay. But she knew that this was her real home. Okay. And just as our Gertie is, like, vibing with the French culture, it's taken away. Yeah. So, dad wanted to move back to America because of business. Yeah. Business. Yeah. Like, look, they are wealthy. Dad has money. But living in Paris with multiple governesses and tutors and five kids, they're not aristocrats.

24:30Dad is self-made. He needs to get back to his investments. And they didn't have Zoom back then. Yeah. So, you couldn't really work remote that easily. So, he had to go back to America because he's like, dude, there's just so much money to be made there, dude. We got to just do it. I was like, all right, let's go back. But she's not going back to Pennsylvania. They're off to a whole new world. California. So, dad scored a fancy gig working as the director for the Market Street Railway in San Francisco.

25:11Okay, dad. While they lived in the neighboring city of Oakland. Wow. So, Oakland, California became once again a new home. She learned to adapt and reinvent herself. She's learning that identity is fluid. And nostalgia? What's that? I'm not doing that. Now, she's not alone. She does have her favorite. She has her siblings and her favorite brother, Leo, to help her adapt. So, she didn't really see a place as home.

25:43She really saw Leo as her home. So, they were super close. Almost acted as twins. They were two years apart. And they would describe themselves as intellectually fused. Aw. These guys are so fun, too. And he was also a gifted reader, an academic, and even an early smarty pants art critic. Yeah. He's super smart. And they went together like bread and butter. But there will be major tea later on. So, we'll get it.

26:13But Oakland, Gertie, the town, Bay Area. Yeah, yeah. And we've talked about San Francisco in the late 19th and early 20th century in our Ansel Adams episode, but not really Oakland. And yes, we called it the town because I did not know this. It was legally titled the town of Oakland in 1852 before it was considered a city. Oh. That's what they called it. That makes so much fun. Okay. Okay.

26:44All right. It was like, the town. Oh. I didn't call that. It was a town before. It was just a little town before. And our girl pretty much grew up here like for reals from age six to 17. And Oakland wasn't the big industrial city as we know it today. Back in the late 1800s, it was totally farmy vibes. So it was rural. It was in the hills. Like you are sound of music vibes. Totally. Right. And her and Leo would wander around and explore nature.

27:15And what is art? What is life? Talk. Be existential. Be little weird intellectual selves. And then she went to the first Hebrew congregation of Oakland's Sabbath school. That's the name. It's a long name. And it was one of the earliest Jewish institutions in the Bay Area. So she's actually pretty chilling pretty hard in Oakland. There is a small close knit Jewish community starting to pop off. Dad's doing great at their railroad job. She's still got all of her fancy governesses and fucking speaking German and reading and shit.

27:52And. No. No. No. It's gone. It has to. It has to be gone. Okay. Mom died. No. Yeah. Mom died when Gertie was 14. Oh, no. Probably from ovarian cancer, but we're not totally sure. And this was devastating, of course, to the whole family. She was the source of emotional stability in the household.

28:23And later in, later in Gertie's writing, she will be yearning for a replacement mother. Oh, okay. So, big ask. Oh, man. Which we'll get into later. Yeah, big ask. Yikes. But that's kind of, that's where things started really. Smushing around in her brain. At 14, like, fuck, dude. Yeah, that's too much. And then, three years later. Dad dies, too? Dad died. What the fuck? Yeah. Okay.

28:53The big deaths during pretty much the teen years. So, rough one. And dad died from, we think, stomach cancer. So, there was a lot of, like, similar symptoms kind of leading up to his death. So, we kind of, we saw it coming with mom. We also have her being in pain and not really knowing what it was. And then, we saw it again, all over again with dad of not really knowing what this internal pain is. And it's cancer. Ugh. Okay.

29:24So, there's still a bunch of kids. So, Michael, her oldest brother, then 26, took charge of the family and the estate. And moved the family to San Francisco. Okay. Because it was the center of industry in the Bay Area. And the Oakland estate, it was, it was giant. It was just too big. It was, like, 10 acres. Oh, my God. It was just too big for him to take on himself. Dude's 26, dude. When we were 26, we were, like, waking up in a pile of Taco Bell.

29:56Like, should we get mimosa?

30:00We actually, we do really like Michael. Good times. Yeah. We do like Michael. He's great. He took over. He totally took over. Somebody knew a few. Yeah, yeah. And it was a strategic move. But it had to be hard for the siblings to get up and leave the quiet, rural, farmy home to be in the city with mom and dad gone. So, she is totally in her existential crisis mode right now. So, a year later, so they're in San Francisco. And a year later, Michael was, like, in full force dad mode and wanted to do kind of what his parents would probably have done for their extended education.

30:40So, he wanted his siblings to get a better education because the Bay Area didn't really have that elite education system that the East Coast had. And especially when it came to opportunities for women and Jewish people and Jewish women in particular. So, he sent them to live in Baltimore with his mom's fam. So, they have extended family out in Baltimore. Okay. And this move was actually really good for Herdy.

31:12So, she felt more at home with her mom's extended family and vibed with their inner, like, intellectual little niche group of friends. Sure. Specifically, these bitches. We're going to be radicalizing already real soon. The Cone sisters. Ooh, okay. Clarabelle and Etta Cone. And these were some Baroque-ass bitches. So, Clarabelle earned a medical degree. She's super smart, studied pathology, traveled, she's cultured, and very uninterested in dating, uninterested in marriage, and had deep emotional bonds with other women.

31:57Okay. Yeah. Cone. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Etta. Etta was more the artsy one. She was an art collector and gifted in recognizing talent. She was gentle, analytical, and sensitive. She was also uninterested in dating, uninterested in marriage, and spent her entire life living with other women. Yeah. Okay. And Gertie really, really likes these girls. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We see you.

32:28Okay, okay. We see you. Yes, yes, yes. So, she's radicalizing. Wait, I don't have to marry a guy. I can be with chicks? Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. Done. Done. Done. Yeah. Was not interested anyway. And this is where Saturday comes in. So, the Cone Sisters held Saturday evening salons in their home for musical performances, readings, and art shows, all from women. Yes. These bitches are crazy.

32:59Like, I want to go. This is huge for this time. Like, this just doesn't happen. Yeah, that did not happen. This doesn't happen. Like, this is so cool. And this was Gertie's vibe. Like, oh my gosh. Yeah. She's just jizzing all over this right now. She was able to talk to other intellectuals about what she was reading. She was introduced to new philosophies, discussed new art exhibitions, listened to live music, and even learned about science and medicine. All from bitches. I don't want to generalize, but lesbians are objectively cool.

33:37And this shit is really crazy for the times. It was a radical thing that women were encouraged to be intellectuals in the first place. It was definitely, like, a right place, right time, and right German-Jewish community. Right. For sure. Right. And there was hardly any backlash for these salons because they're working in the shadows. They're held in a respectable home with a respectable name attached to it. The ladies were not doing anything inappropriate.

34:08There was no nudity. There was no avant-garde ideals. There was no feminism yet. But Gertie's going to take it up a notch pretty soon. Yeah. She's like that vampire in the Klan that's always like, why don't we just eat them all? We're stronger than them. We can rule them. Why do we have to be a secret? Like, she's there. She's there and, like, the rebel vampire that's going to leave the Klan. And after a year in Baltimore, it was time to decide where to go to college.

34:40And this was definitely one of the few families where you're like, yeah, no, all you bitches are going to college. Sure. And she decided to go to Radcliffe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At this time, it was the Annex of Harvard because it was like the women's school. Women couldn't attend Harvard specifically. But the Annex allowed women to take Harvard courses without getting the fancy Harvard degree. They're cunts. They're cunts. They're cunts. However, at Radcliffe, she did have this professor, William James, and he was the leading psychologist and philosopher at Harvard.

35:16He was a huge deal in psychology and would teach at Radcliffe, too, and was one of the few professors who actually took Radcliffe students seriously. The women seriously. Seriously. Sure, sure, sure. So he's a big fucking deal and quickly became Gertie's mentor because he knew that her mind was different and she was just – he was just as fascinated with her as he was of him. Like, okay. So he really respected him. You get it. Here we go. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

35:46Famously calling her, quote, my most brilliant woman students. Oh. Okay. I mean, I'm like – I love slash hate that. My most brilliant woman student. Of course. Of course. She's okay for a girl. She's okay for a girl. Now, William chose to pair Gertie with his other Harvard psychology student, Leon Solomons, because he thought that they were similar in their thinking. They were both super methodical, experimental, and, like, kind of rugged and fearless.

36:21Okay. So Gertie and Leon actually did get along well with their studies. She is influenced by him. They respected each other. They were, like, perfect science buddies. Right. And together they co-authored a thesis titled Normal Motor Automatism, which was a huge fucking crazy deal in the psychology world. And people had, like, all of these – people had questions. So here's the Normal Motor Automatism for Dummies version.

36:54So, like, your hand keeps writing stupid little loops and fragments while your mind is off doing something else. So they're studying how you can split your attention, how your brain can drift while your hand keeps moving, and what comes out might make sense or not. But basically how your body can work on autopilot and when does it disconnect from the brain. Or is it still connected? I don't know. That's interesting.

37:24Yeah. So it's a little hard for my silly mind, but psychologists were freaking out about this. Sure. Some of the reactions were more on the side of is this science or is this pseudoscience? Okay. Because remember, seances were going on at this time of, like, are you talking about ghosts? Is this, like, real or not? He's talking about ghosts. How do we distinguish, like, what is accredited and, you know, something that we as a community can back?

37:56Totally. Can we really back this up? However, there's a bunch of scientists studying hypnosis and automatic writing, and they were feeling validated by Gertie and Leon's thesis. And even today, researchers still look back on the work while studying, like, theories of consciousness and stuff. And guess who gets the credit? The man. You know. Leon. Cunts.

38:24So, but she was fine with Leon. She was fine. But she just knew, like, okay, you're going to get the credit. So, regardless of these polarizing reactions, William, her mentor, was stoked about their experiments and pushed her to go to Johns Hopkins Medical School. Wow. Okay. Which is the hardest, most prestigious program in the country. Yeah. Right. And this is where she's going to start immediately spiraling. Oh, no. So, here's the fucking tea, dude. Oh, my God. Hopkins provided so much tea. So, of course, we can only guess that she experienced the most sexism that she's ever experienced before, with only a handful of women attending, like, two to five women attending at a time during this time.

39:08And, side tea, women were only allowed to attend because of this iconic group of women who donated a shit ton of money to the school with the condition that the school was open to women. And, so, girls had to make it so. So, this requirement didn't say that the women who attended were to be respected, I guess. So, there was an insane level of hostility that she and the few other women attended that, who, traumatizing, traumatizing, hostility.

39:48I mean, professors would just refuse to teach class with them in there. Like, they would just refuse to teach them. It's fucking brutal, dude. Oh, my God. This shit pissed me off so I was just like, dude. That's insane. That's. Why? Why wouldn't you want, you really don't respect them that much, dude? And, because of this hostility, I mean, she obviously, she was depressed. She was totally lonely and alienated. Like, after writing the successful thesis at Radcliffe with a professor who was encouraging to this, like, fucking cut it off, throw it in the fields.

40:22Right. Rage. Rage. Oh, my God. So, she's radicalizing. And, while she's under all of this pressure at school, she meets a girl. Oh.

40:37Two girls. The other, I was going to say, like, the other two that go there. Yeah. She meets one girl that goes there and another girl that doesn't go there. So, she meets two girls. And do it for the plot. She's doing it for the plot. So, first, she meets May Bookstaver through her Baltimore social circles. Okay. And this bitch was it, dude. Like, I had to look up her zodiac sign because she was going way too hard. She's a Libra ruled by Venus.

41:09So, she's hot. Libras are, like, always hot. And Gertie fell, dude. Like, she fell for this chick. Yeah. He thought May was smart, insanely charming, and they would spend hours together, like, long walks, writing letters, the whole thing. She's in. And Gertie said, quote, she was always charming, always winning, and always a little cruel. Ouch. Yeah, we know you. So, which brings us to May's fucking girlfriend.

41:43Yeah, her girlfriend, Mabel Haynes, who was another one of the few women in Gertie's classes. Oh, God. I'm getting messy. Oh, no. Oh, my God. Okay, so here's the tea. And lesbians, you might relate to this. Okay. I think Gertie thought that May and Mabel were, like, close friends. Oh. Or maybe she was, like, hoping that. Yeah, because at this point, it's not like this, like, out, like, oh, yeah, it was her girlfriend. They're not totally out, it seems.

42:17But it seems, like, obviously we have a heated emotional connection. Yeah. Yeah. I think it became clear. It started becoming clear when they were hanging out, and it was like, oh, wait, you think, I thought I was her girlfriend. You think you're her girl, you're her girlfriend. Oh, I thought we, oh, fuck. Dude, wait. Yeah. She's in the middle of a fucking love triangle. No. Yeah, Mabel and May were already together.

42:50And because of May, she wanted May, but she knew that Mabel was in the picture. Right. And May ate all of this up, dude. She ate up all this attention. Love having two massively intellectual women fight over her affection. Oh, my God. She is toxic. God. You gotta be careful with the Libras, dude. They're too pretty. She's literally balancing this bitch. Settle down, Libras. Oh, my God. And after a while, May starts to cancel plans with Gertie.

43:22It starts being like me. It starts being snappy at her. She's ghosting. And she's spending a lot more time with Mabel, her girlfriend. Okay. Yeah. So ultimately, Gertie began to recognize that May chose Mabel. Aw. Fuck. Honestly, you don't need that, Gertie. You don't need that energy in your life. You need somebody who chooses you. Imagine this. Like, you're in school. Like, my whole purpose is to grow more academic, to get more cultured.

43:54Like, I'm being alienated at school for being a woman. I finally found another woman on my level. Oh, my God. I feel a little chill. Devastating. It's like you finally find a pocket of the world and, like, the world that doesn't understand you. And you're like, yay, finally. God. And you're still coming to terms with, like, fuck, am I a lesbian? Yeah. I don't even know what that is. Am I romantic? Did they even have the term lesbian yet? Like, no. I mean, it just wasn't really – it's kind of an unspoken thing.

44:29Like, oh, yeah, clearly we're in a relationship.

44:32It's very confusing. She's confused. Yeah, sure. And as it goes, everything collapses for her. She stops going to class. She becomes extremely depressed. She's failing exams. And she eventually drops out of school altogether. And then as she's sitting, like, in her darkest depression cloud, she writes her first book. Duh, because you have to. Q.E.D. One of the earliest American lesbian novellas and a foundational queer text today, of course.

45:09It wasn't published until after her death because, you know, it's too gay. Yeah. But now we have it, so we can get into it. So first of all, Q.E.D. stands for Quad Erat Demonstrandum, which is Latin for it has been demonstrated. And this is a phrase that math nerds use to say, like, I've shown my work. So I was able to demonstrate this formula or something. Okay. It's so refined. You're so nerdy. Oh, my God.

45:40But it's not a math book. This was a novella. So this was pretty much the exact story of her love triangle using different names. Okay. So this is some shadow work right here. She's analyzing this heartbreak like a scientist. Essentially, the book concludes that Helen, the character for May, was never going to choose her. Hence the title, it's been demonstrated.