Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy

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Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold : The History of a Lesbian Community by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline D. Davis (Contributor)

A groundbreaking oral history, culled from the collected histories of forty-five women and featuring numerous photographs, offers a chronicle of the lives of lesbian women in Buffalo, New York from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold traces the evolution of the lesbian community in Buffalo, New York from the mid-1930s up to the early 1960s. Drawing upon the oral histories of 45 women, it is the first comprehensive history of a working-class lesbian community. These poignant and complex stories show how black and white working-class lesbians, although living under oppressive circumstances, nevertheless became powerful agents of historical change. Based on 13 years of research, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold ranges over such topics as sex, relationships, coming out, butch-fem roles, motherhood, aging, racism, work, oppression and pride. Kennedy and Davis provide a unique insider's perspective on butch-fem culture and argue that the roots of gay and lesbian liberation are found specifically in the determined resistance of working-class lesbians.

"At a time when many lesbian and gay leaders are urging assimilation and moderation, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold recovers a neglected chapter of lesbian and gay history and reminds us of the enduring importance of outlaw roots." -- San Francisco Chronicle-Examiner

Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy

Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy (Ph.D., Social Anthropology, Cambridge University) is the Head of Women's Studies at the University of Arizona. Her research pioneered the study of lesbian history, a subject on which she has published widely, including the prize-winning book, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: the History of a Lesbian Community. She is currently working on One Woman, Two Lives: Gender, Class and Sexuality in 20th Century America, the life story of Julia Boyer Reinstein an upper-middle class woman, born in rural western New York in 1906, who lived her early life and her later life as a lesbian, but was married and had children in her middle years.

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Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |