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A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexuality or same-sex attraction. The concept of "lesbian" to differentiate women with a shared sexual orientation evolved in the 20th century. Throughout history, women have not had the same freedom or independence as men to pursue homosexual relationships, but neither have they met the same harsh punishment as homosexual men in some societies. Instead, lesbian relationships have often been regarded as harmless, unless a participant attempts to assert privileges traditionally enjoyed by men. As a result, little in history was documented to give an accurate description of how female homosexuality was expressed. When early sexologists in the late 19th century began to categorize and describe homosexual behavior, hampered by a lack of knowledge about homosexuality or women's sexuality, they distinguished lesbians as women who did not adhere to female gender roles. They classified them as mentally ill—a designation which has been reversed since the late 20th century in the global scientific community.
Butch and femme are terms used in the lesbian subculture to ascribe or acknowledge a masculine (butch) or feminine (femme) identity with its associated traits, behaviors, styles, self-perception, and so on. The terms were founded in lesbian communities in the twentieth century. This concept has been called a "way to organize sexual relationships and gender and sexual identity". Butch–femme culture is not the sole form of a lesbian dyadic system, as there are many women in butch–butch and femme–femme relationships.
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent masculinity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex, as anyone can exhibit masculine traits. Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods.
Femme is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation. Alternate meanings of the word also exist with some non-lesbian individuals using the word, notably some gay men, bisexuals, nonbinary and transgender individuals.
LGBT slang, LGBT speak, or gay slang is a set of English slang lexicon used predominantly among LGBT people. It has been used in various languages since the early 20th century as a means by which members of the LGBT community identify themselves and speak in code with brevity and speed to others. The acronym LGBT was popularized in the 1990s and stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender.
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Lesbian feminism was most influential in the 1970s and early 1980s, primarily in North America and Western Europe, but began in the late 1960s and arose out of dissatisfaction with the New Left, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, sexism within the gay liberation movement, and homophobia within popular women's movements at the time. Many of the supporters of Lesbianism were actually women involved in gay liberation who were tired of the sexism and centering of gay men within the community and lesbian women in the mainstream women's movement who were tired of the homophobia involved in it.
One, Inc., or One Incorporated, was one of the first gay rights organizations in the United States, founded in 1952.
Queer theology is a theological method that has developed out of the philosophical approach of queer theory, built upon scholars such as Marcella Althaus-Reid, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Judith Butler. Queer theology begins with the assumption that gender variance and queer desire have always been present in human history, including faith traditions and their sacred texts such as the Jewish Scriptures and the Bible. It was at one time separated into two separate theologies; gay theology and lesbian theology. Later, the two would merge and expand to become the more inclusive term of queer theology.
Gayle S. Rubin is an American cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and theorist of sex and gender politics. She has written on a range of subjects including feminism, sadomasochism, prostitution, pedophilia, pornography and lesbian literature, as well as anthropological studies and histories of sexual subcultures, especially focused in urban contexts. Her 1984 essay "Thinking Sex" is widely regarded as a founding text of gay and lesbian studies, sexuality studies, and queer theory. She is an associate professor of anthropology and women's studies at the University of Michigan.
The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. It was published monthly from 1956 to 1970, and once every other month in 1971 and 1972. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the US. It was supported by ONE, Inc. and the Mattachine Society, with whom the DOB retained friendly relations. The name of the magazine was derived from the artwork on its first cover, simple line drawings showing figures moving towards a ladder that disappeared into the clouds.
Sheila Jeffreys is a former professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, born in England. A lesbian feminist scholar, she analyses the history and politics of human sexuality.
Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics.
Lesbophobia comprises various forms of prejudice and negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, or as a social group. Based on the categories of sex, sexual orientation, identity, and gender expression, this negativity encompasses prejudice, discrimination, hatred, and abuse; with attitudes and feelings ranging from disdain to hostility. Lesbophobia is misogyny that intersects with homophobia, and vice versa.
Les Guérillères is a 1969 novel by Monique Wittig. It was translated to English in 1971.
Dyke is a slang term, used as a noun meaning lesbian and as an adjective describing things associated with lesbians. It originated as a homophobic slur for masculine, butch, or androgynous girls or women. Pejorative use of the word still exists, but the term dyke has been reappropriated by many lesbians to imply assertiveness and toughness.
Jessica Yatrofsky is an American artist, photographer and filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY.
Maud's was a lesbian bar at 937 Cole Street in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District which opened in 1966 and closed in 1989. At the time of its closing, which was captured in the film, Last Call at Maud's, it was claimed to be the oldest lesbian bar in the United States. Its history, documented in the film and other media, spanned almost a quarter century of LGBT events.
Lesbian erasure is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of lesbian women or relationships in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. Lesbian erasure also refers to instances wherein lesbian issues, activism, and identity is deemphasized or ignored within the LGBT community.
Butch is most often a term used to describe a lesbian, or sometimes a bisexual woman or nonbinary person, who exhibits a masculine identity or gender presentation.
Eva Isaksson is a Finnish librarian and non-fiction writer, with interests in astronomy and feminism. She was employed at the Helsinki University Observatory from 1981 and became a tenured astronomy librarian in 1998. In 2010, she transferred with the merger of the physics and astronomy departments to the Kumpula Science Library, on the Kumpula Campus. Isaksson and has been involved with the Finnish LGBT and pacifist movements since the 1970s. She produced the Lesbian Information Secretariat Newsletter for the International Lesbian Information Service from 1981 to 1983 and in the 1990s, began to create on-line platforms for lesbians to network. Recognizing the potential of on-line communication she established training programs to teach women at the university how to use computer technology to network with each other and to further their research goals. She was recognized in 1999 with the Maikki Friberg Equality Prize, an award given by the University of Helsinki to recognize persons who have furthered gender equality.
References
- 1 2 "Generation Q: Science and Technology". The Advocate. Hare Publishing: 76. 19 August 1997. ISSN 0001-8996.
- ↑ Calvert, Melodie; Terry, Jennifer (2005). Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life. Routledge. p. 41. ISBN 1134824432.
- ↑ "Amy Townsend Goodloe". www.colorado.edu. University of Colorado. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- 1 2 Auerbach, David (20 August 2014). "The First Gay Space on the Internet". Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ↑ Haggerty, George; Zimmerman, Bonnie (2003). Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures. Taylor & Francis. p. 201. ISBN 1135578702.
- ↑ Wakeford, Nina (2007). "Cyberqueer". In Bell, David (ed.). The Cybercultures Reader (Repr. ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 405. ISBN 978-0415183796.
- ↑ Wakeford 2002, p. 135.
- ↑ Auerbach, David (21 August 2014). "When AOL Was GayOL". Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ↑ Wakeford, Nina (2002). "New Technologies and 'Cyber-queer' Research". In Richardson, Diane; Seidman, Steven (eds.). Handbook of lesbian and gay studies. London: SAGE. p. 120. ISBN 1847876722.
- ↑ Senjen, Rye; Guthrey, Jane (1996). The Internet for women (Reprinted ed.). North Melbourne: Spinifex Press. p. 36. ISBN 1875559523.