Sister & Brother: Lesbians & Gay Men Write About Their Lives Together

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From the 1890s to the 1930s, American heiress Natalie Clifford Barney held a weekly salon in Paris to which major artistic celebrities were invited and where lesbian topics were the focus. Combining Greek influences with contemporary French eroticism, she attempted to create an updated and idealized version of Lesbos in her salon. [91] Her contemporaries included artist Romaine Brooks, who painted others in her circle; writers Colette, Djuna Barnes, social host Gertrude Stein, and novelist Radclyffe Hall. Invisibility for lesbians continued in the 1970s when homosexuality became the subject of dramatic portrayals, first with medical dramas ( The Bold Ones, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center) featuring primarily male patients coming out to doctors, or staff members coming out to other staff members. These shows allowed homosexuality to be discussed clinically, with the main characters guiding troubled gay characters or correcting homophobic antagonists, while simultaneously comparing homosexuality to psychosis, criminal behavior, or drug use. [287]

Because of society's reluctance to admit that lesbians exist, a high degree of certainty is expected before historians or biographers are allowed to use the label. Evidence that would suffice in any other situation is inadequate here... A woman who never married, who lived with another woman, whose friends were mostly women, or who moved in known lesbian or mixed gay circles, may well have been a lesbian. ... But this sort of evidence is not 'proof'. What our critics want is incontrovertible evidence of sexual activity between women. This is almost impossible to find. [41] Esterberg, Kristin G. (September 1994). "From Accommodation to Liberation: A Social Movement Analysis of Lesbians in the Homophile Movement". Gender & Society. 8 (3): 424–443. doi: 10.1177/089124394008003008. S2CID 144795512.In Latin America, lesbian consciousness and associations appeared in the 1970s, increasing while several countries transitioned to or reformed democratic governments. Harassment and intimidation have been common even in places where homosexuality is legal, and laws against child corruption, morality, or "the good ways" ( faltas a la moral o las buenas costumbres), have been used to persecute homosexuals. [158] From the Hispanic perspective, the conflict between the lesbophobia of some feminists and the misogyny from gay men has created a difficult path for lesbians and associated groups. [159] More than half a century after Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking 1952 novel The Price of Salt/Carol was released, Todd Haynes's big-screen adaptation Carol became revolutionary in its own way. The film, starring Cate Blanchett as the titular Carol, a soon-to-be-divorced New Jersey socialite and mother who falls for Rooney Mara's Therese, the shopgirl who is, as Carol notes, "flung out of space," earned six Oscar nominations, even if it was snubbed in the Best Picture category. Still, it was the first Oscar-worthy love story about a female couple in which a man does not steal focus and that doesn't end in disaster or death for the women. In fact, the novel and the film's hopeful ending offers a possible happily-ever-after for Carol and Therese. Zimmerman, Bonnie, ed. (2000). "Symbols (by Christy Stevens)". Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia (1sted.). Garland Publishing. p. 748. ISBN 0-8153-1920-7. This did not mean that women could not pursue sexual relationships with other women, but that such associations could not impose upon women's relationships to men. Rare references to lesbianism were written by Ying Shao, who identified same-sex relationships between women in imperial courts who behaved as husband and wife as dui shi (paired eating). "Golden Orchid Associations" in Southern China existed into the 20th century and promoted formal marriages between women, who were then allowed to adopt children. [183] Westernization brought new ideas that all sexual behavior not resulting in reproduction was aberrant. [184] The onset of World War II caused a massive upheaval in people's lives as military mobilization engaged millions of men. Women were also accepted into the military in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WACs) and U.S. Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Unlike processes to screen out male homosexuals, which had been in place since the creation of the American military, there were no methods to identify or screen for lesbians; they were put into place gradually during World War II. Despite common attitudes regarding women's traditional roles in the 1930s, independent and masculine women were directly recruited by the military in the 1940s, and frailty discouraged. [113]

Rawles, Timothy (July 12, 2019). "The many flags of the LGBT community". San Diego Gay & Lesbian News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019 . Retrieved 24 August 2019. R Dennis Shelby; Kathleen Dolan (2014). Lesbian Women and Sexual Health: The Social Construction of Risk and Susceptibility. Routledge. p.34. ISBN 978-1317718192 . Retrieved April 11, 2018. Near the Congo River, a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the Nkundo people is known as yaikya bonsángo (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in Ghana among the Akan people. In Lesotho, females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in cunnilingus, and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians. [171] I had a lot of empathy toward her. She had a rich inner life and she didn't have a lot of outlets," Sevigny told The Advocate about Lizzie, who's depicted as being an avid reader and a patron of the arts. Newspaper stories frankly divulged that the book's content includes "sexual relations between Lesbian women", and photographs of Hall often accompanied details about lesbians in most major print outlets within a span of six months. [98] Hall reflected the appearance of a "mannish" woman in the 1920s: short cropped hair, tailored suits (often with pants), and monocle that became widely recognized as a "uniform". When British women supported the war effort during the First World War, they became familiar with masculine clothing, and were considered patriotic for wearing uniforms and pants. Postwar masculinization of women's clothing became associated primarily with lesbianism. [99] Harlem resident Gladys Bentley was renowned for her blues songs about her affairs with women.a b c Kimball, Geoffrey (6 December 1993). "Aztec Homosexuality: The Textual Evidence". Journal of Homosexuality. 26 (1): 7–24. doi: 10.1300/J082v26n01_02. PMID 8113605.

In 1976, sexologist Shere Hite published a report on the sexual encounters of 3,019 women who had responded to questionnaires, under the title The Hite Report. Hite's questions differed from Kinsey's, focusing more on how women identified, or what they preferred rather than experience. Respondents to Hite's questions indicated that 8% preferred sex with women and 9% answered that they identified as bisexual or had sexual experiences with men and women, though they refused to indicate preference. [202] Solarz, Andrea L., ed. (1999). Lesbian Health: Current Assessment and Directions for the Future (1sted.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-309-06567-4. Individuals identifying with or otherwise engaging in lesbian practices in the region can face family violence and societal persecution, including what are commonly referred to as " honor killings." The justifications provided by murderers relate to a person's perceived sexual immorality, loss of virginity (outside of acceptable frames of marriage), and target female victims primarily. [156] Americas Lesbian Flag, Sadlesbeandisaster". Majestic Mess. April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019 . Retrieved 24 August 2019.

Culture

Lisa M. Diamond (2009). Sexual Fluidity. Harvard University Press. pp.105–106. ISBN 978-0674033696 . Retrieved July 20, 2014.

The development of medical knowledge was a significant factor in further connotations of the term lesbian. In the middle of the 19th century, medical writers attempted to establish ways to identify male homosexuality, which was considered a significant social problem in most Western societies. In categorizing behavior that indicated what was referred to as " inversion" by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, researchers categorized what was normal sexual behavior for men and women, and therefore to what extent men and women varied from the "perfect male sexual type" and the "perfect female sexual type". [17] Lucas, R. Valerie (1988). " "Hic Mulier": The Female Transvestite in Early Modern England". Renaissance and Reformation. 12 (1): 65–84. ISSN 0034-429X. JSTOR 43445585. Murphy-Kasp, Paul (6 July 2019). "Pride in London: What do all the flags mean?". BBC News . Retrieved 11 July 2019. As equality was a priority for lesbian-feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian-feminists eschewed gender role play that had been pervasive in bars, as well as the perceived chauvinism of gay men; many lesbian-feminists refused to work with gay men, or take up their causes. [147] Lesbians who held more essentialist views that they were born homosexual, and used the descriptor "lesbian" to define sexual attraction, often considered the separatist, angry opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights. [148] Brogan, Donna; Frank, Erica; Elon, Lisa; O'Hanlan, Katherine A. (2001). "Methodologic Concerns in Defining Lesbian for Health Research". Epidemiology. 12 (1): 109–113. doi: 10.1097/00001648-200101000-00018. PMID 11138804. S2CID 6560616.

Arts

Bendix, Trish (September 8, 2015). "Why don't lesbians have a pride flag of our own?". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015 . Retrieved 23 July 2019. The women, experiencing stirrings of feminist thought without a vocabulary to express them as well as a desire for each other, find intellectual and emotional support on afternoons when their husbands are away. The meetings of feminist lesbians of Latin America and the Caribbean, sometimes shortened to "Lesbian meetings", have been an important forum for the exchange of ideas for Latin American lesbians since the late 1980s. With rotating hosts and biannual gatherings, its main aims are the creation of communication networks, to change the situation of lesbians in Latin America (both legally and socially), to increase solidarity between lesbians and to destroy the existing myths about them. [163]