Suchergebnisse

Jane Rule's fourth book explores lesbianism as portrayed by authors from Gertrude Stein to Colette, from Vita Sackville-West to May Sarton and Willa Cather Lesbian Images opens with a disclaimer from the author: "This book is not intended to be a comprehensive literary or cultural history of lesbians." Rather, as Jane Rule goes on to tell us, her goal is to present her own attitudes and measure them against the images of lesbianism as depicted by other female authors. Thus, chapters titled "Gertrude Stein 1874-1946," "Willa Cather 1876-1947," and "Ivy Compton-Burnett 1892-1969," among many oth

"I don't believe they (lesbians and homosexuals) have any rights at all."President Robert Mugabe, 2 August 1995I remember that it was a Monday. I had been running with my partner over lunch time and we had just returned to my office in town. The doorbell rang and standing outside were about nine policemen and women. Demanding entry, one of the senior officers brandished a search warrant for "pornographic material."I was so angry I didn't know what to do with myself. I had been targeted simply because I worked for the national Zimbabwean lesbian and gay organization. Furthermore, the police had no broader agenda other than to intimidate and harass me under the pretext of searching for pornography.

Presenting reasoned rejections of the hierarchical implications of "philosopher" and the sexual implications of "lesbian," the author's method leads her to indicate that her resistance to these names is motivated partly by particular facts of her early life.

This is an introduction to a series of writings about lesbian feminism included on UNSWorks. It also briefly discusses my own experiences of and theorising about lesbian feminism in the 1970s and 1980s. The papers are: • Homosexuality: the invisible alternative (1978); • Lesbianism as political practice (1980); • The third Women and Labour conference (1982); • Anti-intellectualism at the lesbian conference (1989); • Theory and its difficulties (1990); • Impressions of the lesbian conference (1991); • Rules, Principles, Policies, Standards and Guidelines: Do We Need Them? (1991); • A Discussion of the problem of horizontal hostility (1993); • Lesbian feminist politics in Sydney: fighting over meaning (1993); • On pornography (1997); and • Lesbian politics (2004—written after the first version of this Introduction).

Key scholars in the field of lesbian and sexuality studies take part in an innovative conversation that offers a radical new methodology for writing lesbian history and geography, drawing new conclusions on the important and often overlooked work being done on female same-sex desire and identity in relation to premodern cultures.

The paper examines the assessment of lesbians who apply to foster or adopt, using data generated from 30 interviews with local authority social workers. Using feminist and queer theories, the author suggests that lesbian applicants pose a challenge to the discourse of 'compulsory gender and heterosexuality' which structures fostering and adoption work. It is argued that this discourse relies upon a series of assumptions about the automatic fitness of heterosexual applicants, especially concerning the idea of gender and sexuality role models needed for children's development. Further, this 'heteronormative' discourse relies upon the continuing need to make 'other' the categories 'lesbian' or 'gay'. The article considers how 'the lesbian' is constructed as a 'threat', as 'militant', or as 'automatically safe' in assessments, and makes the point that social work is productive of versions of the lesbian subject. The author argues that only certain versions are likely to be approved to foster or adopt, particularly that which is termed 'the good lesbian'.

This narrative essay reflects upon experiences at the Toronto Women's Bathhouse to think about asymmetrical conditions of trans inclusion in lesbian erotic and cultural spaces. It queries the affective disjunctures between formal policies of trans-inclusion in women's spaces and "on the ground" interpersonal recognition of trans women as women and of trans men as men. Résumé Cet étude narrative se penche sur les expériences à la Women's Bathhouse de Toronto, pour penser aux conditions asymétriques de l'inclusion trans dans les sites culturels lesbiens érotiques. Elle questionne les disjonctions affectives entre les politiques formelles de l'inclusion trans dans les sites de femmes à raison de la reconnaissance inter personnelle de femmes trans en tant que femmes et d'hommes trans en tant qu'hommes.

Because mainstream society privileges and assumes heterosexuality, nonheterosexual persons experience isolation and disconnection, especially lesbian women who may also in turn strategize a corrective form of disconnection. Relational-cultural theory (RCT) is applied to enhance the understanding of how lesbian women cope through connection and disconnection, explained generally and then applied specifically to unique lesbian issues in the creation of relationship, political advocacy, and spirituality. Although RCT is a powerful tool to inform practice, social workers must be mindful of the interpretation of connection. Lesbian strategies of disconnection may be the goal for an enhanced quality of life and a quest for connection.