Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette”

Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette” special on Netflix is one of the most powerful pieces I have seen in a very long time. Gadsby is famous for her comedy, writing, and tv personality, and her work commonly centers around the discourses of homosexuality, childhood turmoil, mental illness, and more. Her Netflix special discusses how a combination of her upbringing, comedy career, and external social constructs have denied her access to the LGBTQ+ discourse community. It was only through strength and an effective means of communicating her story that she is able to better align herself with her lesbian identity. Gadsby’s upbringing by a mother who raised her as straight in a small town that deemed homosexuality as a crime internalized with her. Both these factors made her feel shameful and failed to teach her the way that being homosexual works in the world. She even says that other members of the LGBTQ+ discourse community have criticized her for not being “lesbian enough.” To these people, my response is that an individual’s sexual identity cannot be measured to a certain degree or level because it is fluid.

Truthfully, the first third portion of “Nanette” did not appeal to me because I was interested in a deeper message without the constant humorous remarks around her own sexual orientation. Ironically, this ended up being one of Gadsby’s biggest arguments: She did not need to humiliate herself in order to have the platform to speak. This transition quickly grabbed my attention. Her primary audience is the corrupt white, heterosexual, cisgender men who she strongly feels have abused their power to deem her and other minority groups as powerless. She makes a direct connection to the political discourse by criticizing Trump for engaging in inappropriate relationships with women simply because he could. One of the things I found most unexpected was her application of the art history discourse community. Picasso is able to get away with being a misogynist and still have his work romanticized by the public, which demonstrates her claim about the power of the dominant gender. I appreciate how Gadsby used her art history background to improve her literacy development and also apply it to other discourses.

At the end of “Nanette,” Gadsby briefly shares her sexual assault and rape experiences. I believe that she strategically chose the placement of those statements near the closing to ensure that her audience’s perception of her as a victim would not become the only narrative of her show. I believe that Gadsby is working on normalizing her sexual orientation and would like the public, especially white cisgender men, to do the same. In order to do so, she advocates for humanity over reputation and an open-mind to difference.

“Because diversity is strength. Difference is a teacher. Fear difference, you learn nothing.”