Part 1 of Growing Up Queer in Russia: a talk with Polina

for this episode, i invited Polina, an art-manager and a Sorbonne philosophy student currently based in Paris. You can find Polina on Instagram under @pauline_artcritic. Unlike me, she lived through a large part of her queer years while still based in Russia. as a child, Polina wished to be a guy to be able to date girls, while I was making girl Sims kiss. we reflected back on teen and young adult hair and fashion style choices as an act of rebellion. we even remembered our gay-awakening movies, and my way of covering up attraction to women by “feminism” to avoid peer judgement. Polina talked about coming out to closest family and facing self-identity/discovery, as well as her first intimacy experience, and rejecting feelings for women due to internalised homophobia.