Odd
Girls and Twilight Lovers : A History of Lesbian Life in
Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman
For those readers unfamiliar with Stonewall,
Lesbian Nation, Daughters of Bilitis, lipsticks, or the difference
between "romantic friendships" and lesbian-feminists, or
for those readers who want to learn more, Odd Girls and
Twilight Lovers provides an accessible, wide-ranging,
meticulously researched history. Using information drawn from
varied sources including literature, sociological and
psychological studies, newspaper articles, military pamphlets, and
movies, Lillian Faderman sets out to show the metamorphosis of a
movement. At times the generalizations that occur as a result work
against her stated acknowledgment of the diversity among
individual lesbians, yet these generalizations also serve to show
the broader sweeps and clashes in what has been a rapidly changing
and often tumultuous history. Beginning with nineteenth-century
romantic friendships and the first all-women's colleges,
progressing through the sexologists of the 1920s and the openness
of the war years, on to the McCarthy era, the radical 1960s and
70s, and the more diversified 1980s and 90s, Lillian Faderman
documents "the extent to which sexuality, and especially
sexual categories, can be dependent upon a broad range of factors
that are extraneous to 'sexual drive.' " Perhaps the most
revolutionary and exciting thing about this history, beyond the
very fact of its existence, is its ability to present lesbianism
not only as a sexual orientation, but as a movement that has been
both affected and defined by a constantly shifting economic,
political, and cultural climate. -- From
500
Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Boots
of Leather, Slippers of Gold : The History of a Lesbian Community by
Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline D. Davis (Contributor)
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.
