Valmikis Daughter reminds me of the many stories that I’ve heard of black people denying their sexuality and taking the path of being perceived as a straight person. Valmiki is a gay man and instead of leaning into his sexuality he decides to run from it and marry Devika. Although married to Devika he still has an affiar with a man. This makes me wonder if he feels if he is not in a romantic relationship with a man he can’t truly be considered gay.
Valmikis Daughter Viveka is a lesbian. Her story mimics her fathers in a way. She knows she is a lesbian and she has feelings of other girls, however she struggles with her sexuality. Viveka is not allowed to fully explore her sexuality nor is she able to partake in any activity that may involve women only, like volleyball. In the end Viveka has a relationship with a woman but because she was not able and is still not able to explore and accept her sexuality she does not allow this relationship to develop into anything more than an affair. Viveka ends up in the same pattern as her father, married to someone she is not attracted to sexually in an effort to cover up who she truly is. Black children are not able to explore their sexualities because in our culture its sen as wrong, unacceptable. and not right. This cycle of covering up who you really are continues and likely will until someone changes what it. It will likely take generations and will most definitely takes years.
Gender and Lit Blog 