lesbianherstorian - Tumblr blog

[lesbianherstorian]

thank you so much for this context!!

a comic drawn by leslie ewing published in the program guide for the march on washington for lesbian gay and bi equal rights and liberation, april 1993

[lesbianherstorian]

i was fortunate enough to experience the absolute joy that is french pride yesterday. my heart is so full. here are some of my favorite signs: “pass through here, become a lesbian” and “god save the dykes” lyon, france, june 11, 2022

[lesbianherstorian]

“LESBIAN MOMS ARE GREAT,” photographed by cathy cade, reprinted in i know you know: lesbian views & news vol. 2 no. 1, december 1985

[lesbianherstorian]

here’s just a handful of FBI files from the ’50s through the ’70s released through FOIA wherein the FBI obsessively documented and surveilled lesbian bars and the Daughters of Bilitis if you’d like to explore and learn more about how the U.S. government stalked us for merely existing, click here

[lesbianherstorian]

alright so after finishing this reread of odd girls i am struck by what feels like the total lack of sympathy for working-class lesbians and butch/femme identity. painful ! please go read boots of leather, slippers of gold rn

i'm currently researching butch identity in mid-century america! here's a fact about post-WWII LGBT communities in port cities that blew my mind today. from lillian faderman's odd girls and twilight lovers: a history of lesbian life in 20th century america

[lesbianherstorian]

i'm currently researching butch identity in mid-century america! here's a fact about post-WWII LGBT communities in port cities that blew my mind today. from lillian faderman's odd girls and twilight lovers: a history of lesbian life in 20th century america

[lesbianherstorian]

reblogging in honor of me writing a research paper on the 1950s butch today

“the butch question” by judith p. stelboum, published in common lives/lesbian lives: a lesbian quarterly no. 47, summer 1993

[lesbianherstorian]

happy pride, lesbians!

i just watched an amazing documentary on the iconic ruth c. ellis, a black lesbian activist, who was the oldest surviving open lesbian living to the incredible age of 101. watch her story, directed by yvonne welbon, here !

[lesbianherstorian]

happy lesbian visibility day!!!

from an article about lesbian comic robin tyler performing at the san francisco international women’s day celebration, published in the berkeley barb vol. 30 no. 14, march 1980

[lesbianherstorian]

“‘a hymn to the love that dares not speak its name.’ not for all eyes but just for those women who have walked soft in the dark dark light. i give you my praise - a song of many textures and moods.”  from the cover of pointblank times: a lesbian/feminist publication, vol. 2 no. 5, june 1976

[lesbianherstorian]

“want” from cold river: poems by joan larkin, october 1997 

[lesbianherstorian]

a pin from the dr. madeline davis lgbtq archive of western new york

[lesbianherstorian]

madeline davis is the author of boots of leather, slippers of gold, teacher of the first ever college course on lesbianism, organizer of the first all-lesbian theatre company, founding member of the mattachine society of the niagara frontier, and so much more. she is a legend who has given her all to creating lesbian community, enriching our culture, and impacting countless lives in innumerable ways.

she recently suffered a stroke, and insurance will not pay for her healthcare. please help her fund her medical bills here.

[lesbianherstorian]

"quelques femmes à bicyclette" by raymond de la nézière for la vie parisienne, september 1893

[lesbianherstorian]

excerpt from who cares if it’s a choice? snappy answers to 101 nosy, intrusive, and highly personal questions about lesbians and gays by ellen orleans, june 1994

[lesbianherstorian]

a quote from patricia bailey at the national women’s conference. patricia was a former catholic nun, bus driver, union steward, and lesbian feminist. published in the press and sun-bulletin, november 1977

[lesbianherstorian]

Q: What’s the difference between identifying as “fem” vs. “femme”? I’ve seen a lot of different women who are adamant about dropping the extra “me,” do you know what this choice is about? Thanks so much!! xx

there really isn’t a consensus on what the right way to stylize fem(me) is, and it seems to depend on your age, culture, and location. “femme” is certainly more popular, but there are exceptions — some elder lesbians are fond of “fem” as they consider it old school, and some lesbians of color use “fem” (e.g. black lesbians referencing stud/fem).

a lot of young lesbians have been adamant about asking nonlesbians to drop the “me” and just use “fem” as a shorthand for feminine. i regularly see discourse that repeats “just say fem, femme is for lesbians”. this started as a way to push back against the popularity of the label “queer femme”, and it would fully make sense if you think it shifts to the nonlesbian dichotomy of “masc/fem” as opposed to our “butch/femme”. but this largely doesn’t work, either, when you take into account the above lesbians who do use fem. and the fact that there is no noticeable difference when said out loud. people arguing over the internet seem to forget that.

i have also seen people who are wholly unfamiliar with the rich history of ballroom culture saying the same to drag queens using “fem(me)”. it gets positioned as ballroom culture vs. lesbian bar culture, but they are dissimilar — fem(me) is an aesthetic in ball culture. fem(me) is a role and identity in lesbian bar culture.

it’s depressing enough, but femme does feel like a losing battle for lesbians sometimes, and the discourse can be unproductive. i’ve seen friendships lost over it, and threads with hundreds of comments arguing about it. i think that instead, we should focus our collective energy on getting straight people to stop commercializing femme (those godawful “femme forever” and “femme vibes” shirts), and to stop self-describing as a word we know they could not even begin to understand.