Misplaced Pages

Part of a series on
Lesbian feminism
Women's liberation movement
People Paula Gunn Allen Dorothy Allison Ti-Grace Atkinson Alison Bechdel Evelyn Torton Beck Miriam Ben-Shalom Julie Bindel Ivy Bottini Charlotte Bunch Cheryl Clarke Michelle Cliff Kate Clinton Jeanne Córdova Mary Daly Max Dashu Stormé DeLarverie Diane DiMassa Alix Dobkin Andrea Dworkin Elana Dykewomon Lillian Faderman Ferron Marilyn Frye Michiyo Fukaya Carolyn Gage Donna Gottschalk Sarah Hoagland Karla Jay Sheila Jeffreys Jill Johnston Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz Joan Larkin Anna Livia Audre Lorde Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Cherríe Moraga Bonnie J. Morris Ruth Mountaingrove Jean O'Leary Pat Parker Julia Penelope Janice Raymond Adrienne Rich Margaret Sloan-Hunter Barbara Smith Cris Williamson Monique Wittig Bonnie Zimmerman
Groups AMASONG Amazon Bookstore Cooperative Anjaree Artemis Singers Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance Bi-National Lesbian Conference Chicago Lesbian Liberation Combahee River Collective Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres Daughters of Bilitis Daughters of Bilitis (Australia) The Feminists First Black Lesbian Conference The Furies Collective Gay Women's Alternative Gouines rouges June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives Lavender Menace Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group Lesbian Art Project Lesbian Avengers Lesbian Feminist Liberation Lesbian Herstory Archives Lesbian Movement (Denmark) Lesbian Organization of Toronto Lesbians Against Pit Closures Lincoln Legion of Lesbians Mujeres Creando Oregon Women's Land Trust Salsa Soul Sisters Sister Spit Sisters for Homophile Equality Van Dykes
Key issues Butch Butch and femme Compulsory heterosexuality Corrective rape Dyke Feminist separatism Femme Gender-critical feminism Lesbian bed death Lesbian erasure Lesbians in Francoist Spain Lesbians in the Spanish Second Republic Lesbophobia Lipstick lesbian Political lesbianism Radical lesbianism Separatist feminism Soft butch Stone butch Stone femme U-Haul lesbian Womyn-born womyn Womyn's land
Media Books Les Guérillères (1969) Le Corps Lesbien (1973) Lesbian Nation (1973) Lover (1976) The Wanderground (1979) Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) Lesbian/Woman (1991) The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992) Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993) Your Silence Will Not Protect You (2017) Other Die Freundin (1924–1933) Vice Versa (1947–1948) The Ladder (1956–1972) Arena Three (1963-1972) The Woman-Identified Woman (1970) Off Our Backs (1970–2008) Lavender Woman (1971–1976) Lesbian Tide (1971–1980) Dykes & Gorgons (1973–1976) Lesbian Feminist Circle (1973–1986) WomanSpirit (1974–1984) Lesbian Connection (1974–present) Conditions (1976–1990) Sinister Wisdom (1976–present) Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (1977–1983) Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (1980–1996) Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter (1982–1984) Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui (1982–present) Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008) Hothead Paisan (1991–1998) Diva (1994–present) Journal of Lesbian Studies (1997–present) Jane's World (1998–2018) Curve (2000–present) AfterEllen (2002–present) Velvetpark (2007–present) Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2017)
Actions and ideas Cineffable Dyke march Lesbian bar Lesbian flags Lesbian literature Lesbian pulp fiction Maud's (bar) Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Motherpeace Tarot Mountain Moving Coffeehouse Olivia Records Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival Peg's Place (bar) Some Prefer Cake Women's music Women's Week Provincetown
Feminism portal
v t e

Part of a series on
Feminism
History Feminist history History of feminism Women's history American British Canadian German Waves First Second Third Fourth Timelines Women's suffrage Muslim countries US Other women's rights Women's suffrage by country Austria Australia Canada Colombia India Japan Kuwait Liechtenstein New Zealand Spain Second Republic Francoist Switzerland United Kingdom Cayman Islands Wales United States states
Intersectional variants Fat Lesbian Lesbian of color Radical lesbianism Separatist Sex-positive Transfeminism Postgenderism Vegetarian ecofeminism Socialist Anarchist Queer Jineology Marxist Critical theory Standpoint Materialist Ecofeminist Postcolonial Global Transnational Xenofeminism Multicultural Africana womanism Black Hip hop Lesbian Ratchet Chicana Lesbian Indigenous Native American Multiracial Romani Womanism
Other variants Anti-abortion Equity Femonationalism Maternal Postfeminism Reactionary State Carceral Imperial Embedded Gender-critical or trans-exclusionary Victim White
Religious variants Atheist Buddhist Christian Mormon New Womanist Asian Neopagan Dianic Wicca Reclaiming Ecofeminist Hindu Islamic Jewish Orthodox Sikh
Movements and ideologies 4B movement Analytical Anti-fascist Anti-pornography Cyberfeminism HCI Networked Difference Cultural Neo Ecofeminism Eugenic Individualist Lipstick Stiletto Liberal Equality Social Labor Libertarian Post-structural Postmodern Radical Political lesbianism Separatist Technofeminism Women's liberation
Concepts Antinaturalism Choice feminism Cognitive labor Complementarianism Literature Children's literature Diversity (politics) Diversity, equity, and inclusion Effects on society Equality Female education Female genital mutilation Femicide Femonationalism Feminism in culture Feminist movement African-American women's suffrage movement Art movement In hip hop Feminist stripper Formal equality Gender equality Gender quota Girl power Honor killing Ideal womanhood Invisible labor Internalized sexism International Girl's Day and Women's Day Language reform Feminist capitalism Gender-blind Likeability trap Male privilege Matriarchal religion Media Men in feminism Misogyny Trans Oedipus complex Opposition to feminism Pro-feminism Protofeminism Purplewashing Racism Reproductive justice Sex workers' rights Sexual harassment Sexual objectification Substantive equality Toxic masculinity Transmisogyny Triple oppression Violence against women War on women Women's empowerment Women-only space Women's health Women's rights Women in the workforce
Outlooks Bicycling and feminism Criticism of marriage Views on BDSM Views on pornography Views on prostitution Views on sexual orientation Views on sexuality Views on transgender topics SCUM Manifesto
Theory Feminist method Gender studies Gender mainstreaming Gynocentrism Kyriarchy Male gaze Matriarchy Women's studies Men's studies Patriarchy Écriture féminine Areas of study Anthropology Archaeology Architecture Art Art criticism Literary criticism Film theory Science fiction Biology Composition studies Criminology Pathways perspective Economics FDPA Geography International relations Constructivism Legal theory Pedagogy Philosophy Aesthetics Empiricism Epistemology Ethics Justice ethics Existentialism Metaphysics science Political ecology Political theory Pornography Psychology Therapy Revisionist mythology Sex wars Sexology Sociology Technoscience Theology womanist theology
By continent/country Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Mali Nigeria Senegal South Africa Albania Australia Bangladesh Canada China Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Israel Italy Japan Latin America Argentina Brazil Chile Haiti Honduras Mexico Paraguay Trinidad and Tobago Lebanon Malaysia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Northern Cyprus Norway Pakistan Philippines Poland Russia Saudi Arabia South Korea Sweden Syria Taiwan Thailand Turkey Vietnam Ukraine United Kingdom United States History of women
Lists and categories Lists Articles Feminists by nationality Literature American feminist literature Feminist comic books Feminist songs Conservative feminisms Ecofeminist authors Feminist art critics Feminist economists Feminist philosophers Feminist poets Feminist rhetoricians Jewish feminists Muslim feminists Feminist parties Suffragists and suffragettes Women's rights activists Women's studies journals Women's suffrage organizations Categories Women's rights by country Feminists by nationality
Feminism portal
v t e

Political lesbianism is a phenomenon within feminism, primarily second-wave feminism and radical feminism; it includes, but is not limited to, lesbian separatism. Political lesbianism asserts that sexual orientation is a political and feminist choice, and advocates lesbianism as a positive alternative to heterosexuality for women as part of the struggle against sexism.

History

Political lesbianism originated in the late 1960s among "second-wave" radical feminists as a way to fight sexism and compulsory heterosexuality. Sheila Jeffreys helped to develop the concept when she co-wrote in 1981 "Love Your Enemy? The Debate Between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism" with the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group. They argued that women should abandon support of heterosexuality and stop sleeping with men, while encouraging women to rid men "from your beds and your heads". While the main idea of political lesbianism is to be separate from men, this does not necessarily mean that political lesbians are required to have sex with women. According to the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group, the definition of a political lesbian is "a woman-identified woman who does not fuck men". They proclaimed men the enemy and women who were in relationships with them collaborators and complicit in their own oppression. Heterosexual behavior is seen as the basic unit of the patriarchy's political structure, and therefore lesbians who reject heterosexual behavior are disrupting the established political system.

Ti-Grace Atkinson, a radical feminist who helped to found the group The Feminists, is credited with the phrase that came to embody the movement: "Feminism is the theory; lesbianism is the practice."

Shared interest

Feminism provided a platform for some women to come out of a perceived suffocating shell of heterosexual norms, traditional sexuality, marriage and family life, a life viewed by some feminists as one of hard labor with little consideration and a system that subordinates women. By coming out of dominating heterosexual relationships, women are given an opportunity to declare themselves as lesbians with shared interests. As a result, feminism would be able to provide an environment in which lesbianism was not focused on personal pain or anguish, but was instead framed as an important political issue.

In a broad sense, political lesbianism entails the political identification of women with other women; it encompasses a role beyond sexuality and supports eschewing forming relationships with men. It is partly based on the idea that women sharing and promoting a common interest creates a positive and needed energy which is necessary to enhance and elevate the role of women in the society, a development which will be curtailed by the institutions of heterosexuality and sexism if women choose the traditional norms.

Though there has historically been discrimination against lesbians within the feminist movement, the movement still ended up providing a needed political platform for them. In its wake, it also expanded and introduced divergent views of sexuality.

Lesbian separatism

Separatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls. Generally, separatist feminists do not believe that men can make positive contributions to the feminist movement, and that even well-intentioned men replicate the dynamics of patriarchy. In a similar vein, lesbian separatism advocated for the separation of lesbian women from what they characterize as a heterosexist, sexist society.

Charlotte Bunch, an early member of The Furies Collective, viewed lesbian separatism as a strategy, a "first step" period, or temporary withdrawal from mainstream activism to accomplish specific goals or enhance personal growth. Members of The Furies Collective recommended that lesbian separatists relate "only (with) women who cut their ties to male privilege" and suggest that "as long as women still benefit from heterosexuality, receive its privileges and security, they will at some point have to betray their sisters, especially Lesbian sisters who do not receive those benefits".

Criticism

Some feminist theory on sexuality evaded biological fixation and embraced social construction as the basis of sexuality. However, this idea posed further questions on the subject of sexuality and lesbianism, and the long term sustainability of a purely lesbian society without men or children. If sexuality could be a construction of human nature, then little room is given to understanding the nature of the historical formation of human nature, especially, if the historical nature of man or woman enhanced heterosexuality.

A lack of theoretical clarity of lesbianism and sexuality becomes more profound as sexuality is viewed as much more than choice. Also, if lesbianism becomes a social institution, the avenue for a dominant persona in the relationships may also pose challenge to the original intention of political lesbianism.

According to A Dictionary of Gender Studies, some lesbians who believed themselves to be 'born that way' considered political lesbians or those who believe lesbianism is a choice based on institutionalized heterosexuality were appropriating the term 'lesbian' and not experiencing or speaking out against the oppression that those women experience. Additionally, some feminists argue that "political lesbianism," which reduces lesbianism as a political choice to reject men and the penises, overlooks the deeply personal nature of lesbianism as an expression of attraction between women and erases the experiences of trans women and their lesbian partners.

See also

• Lesbian erasure
• Lesbian feminism
• Lesbophobia
• Fourth-wave feminism
• Radicalesbians
• Radical lesbians
• Separatist feminism
• Womyn's land

Proponents

• Adrienne Rich
• Gloria E. Anzaldúa
• Julie Bindel
• Yvonne Rainer

References

1. Bindel, Julie (27 March 2004). "Location, location, orientation". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
2. ^ Krebs, Paula. "Lesbianism as a Political Strategy" (Document). Off Our Backs 17.6. ProQuest 197156630.
3. Jeffreys, Sheila. "Love Your Enemy? The Debate Between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism" – via Google Docs.
4. Bindel, Julie (30 January 2009). "My sexual revolution". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-10-21. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
5. ^ "Political Lesbianism: The Case Against Heterosexuality". Love your enemy?: The debate between heterosexual feminism and political lesbianism (PDF). London: Onlywomen Press. 1981. p. 5. ISBN 0906500087. We do think that all feminists can and should be political lesbians. Our definition of a political lesbian is a woman-identified woman who does not fuck men. It does not mean compulsory sexual activity with women.
6. Bunch, Charlotte. "Lesbians in Revolt". The Furies: Lesbian/Feminist Monthly. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
7. Koedt, Anne. "Lesbianism and Feminism". The CWLU Herstory Website - Archive. Archived from the original on 2015-04-29.
8. "Feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice." (Chicago Women's Liberation Union pamphlet, Lesbianism and Feminism, 1971; Stevi Jackson, Sue Scott, Feminism and Sexuality: A Reader, Columbia University Press, 1996, p. 282)
9. Krebs, Paula M. (1987). "Lesbianism as a Political Strategy". Off Our Backs. 17 (6). ProQuest 197156630 – via ProQuest.
10. ^ Ramazanoglu; Routledge, Feminism and the Contradictions of Oppression, Routledge, 1989. pp 84–86
11. Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, Feminism and the Schooling Scandal, Taylor & Francis, 2009 ISBN 0-415-45510-3, ISBN 978-0-415-45510-7 p. 104.
12. Sarah Hoagland, Lesbian Ethics: toward new value, p. 60, 154, 294.
13. "Lesbian Feminism, 1960s and 1970s · Lesbians in the Twentieth Century, 1900-1999, by Esther Newton and Her Students · OutHistory". outhistory.org. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
14. Sandilands, Catriona (2002). "Lesbian Separatist Communities and the Experience of Nature: Toward a Queer Ecology". Organization & Environment. 15 (2): 131–163. doi:10.1177/10826602015002002. ISSN 1086-0266.
15. Davis, Flora. Moving the Mountain: The Women's Movement in America since 1960, University of Illinois Press, 1999, ISBN 0-252-06782-7, p271
16. ^ Bunch, Charlotte/The Furies Collective, "Lesbians in Revolt", in The Furies: Lesbian/Feminist Monthly, vol. 1, January 1972, pp.8–9
17. "Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding of sexual orientation & Homosexuality". American Psychological Association. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
18. "Psychiatry and LGB People". Improving the lives of people with mental illness. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
19. Griffin, Gabriele (2017). A Dictionary of Gender Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191834837.
20. Stephanie Farnsworth (2016-01-30). "Being a lesbian is not a political choice". The Queerness. Retrieved 2024-10-12.

Further reading

• Allison, Ruth (1967). "Lesbian by choice". Lesbianism: Its Secrets and Practices. Los Angeles: Medco Books. OCLC 7965371.
• Baderoon, Gabeba (December 2015). Jain, Andrea R. (ed.). ""I Compose Myself": Lesbian Muslim Autobiographies and the Craft of Self-Writing in South Africa". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 83 (4). Oxford: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion: 897–915. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfv075. eISSN 1477-4585. ISSN 0002-7189. JSTOR 43900142. LCCN sc76000837. OCLC 1479270.
• Barnes, J.J. (July 8, 2017). "Lesbianism is under attack, though not by the usual suspects". Feminist Current. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
• Gottschalk, Lorene (1999). Genderations of Women Choosing to Become Lesbian: Questioning the Essentialist Link. OCLC 320880086.
• Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group; Onlywomen Press (1981). "Afterwords From Leeds Revolutionary Feminists". Love Your Enemy? The Debate Between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism. London: Onlywomen Press. p. 66. ISBN 0906500087.
• Kitzinger, Celia; Wilkinson, Sue (1987). The Social Construction of Lesbianism. London; Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications. ISBN 0-8039-8116-3. OCLC 18388282.
• Morris, Bonnie J. (2016). The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture (1st ed.). SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-6177-9.
• Rich, Adrienne (1986). "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980)". Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985. W.W. Norton & Company. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-393-31162-4. (Originally published in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Summer 1980, 5, no. 4, pp. 631–660.)
• Robertson, Michelle (1984). The Politics of Sexual Identity: The Case of Political Lesbianism. Nathan, Qld.: Griffith University. OCLC 222860038.
• Thompson, Denise (1991). Reading Between the Lines: a Lesbian Feminist Critique of Feminist Accounts of Sexuality. Chicago: Spinifex Press. ISBN 978-1-74219-457-8. OCLC 782877206.

v t e Radical feminism
People	Wim Hora Adema Chude Pam Allen Ti-Grace Atkinson Kathleen Barry Rosalyn Baxandall Linda Bellos Julie Bindel Jenny Brown Judith Brown Susan Brownmiller Phyllis Chesler D. A. Clarke Nikki Craft Kimberlé Crenshaw Mary Daly Christine Delphy Gail Dines Andrea Dworkin Melissa Farley Shulamith Firestone Marilyn French Marilyn Frye Germaine Greer Carol Hanisch Merle Hoffman bell hooks Sheila Jeffreys Robert Jensen Lierre Keith Anne Koedt Marjorie Kramer Holly Lawford-Smith Audre Lorde Catharine A. MacKinnon Sheila Michaels Kate Millett Robin Morgan Meghan Murphy Irene Peslikis Janice Raymond Rosetta Reitz Adrienne Rich Florence Rush Kathie Sarachild Alix Kates Shulman Valerie Solanas Gloria Steinem John Stoltenberg Michele Wallace Marilyn Salzman Webb Ellen Willis Harriet Wistrich Monique Wittig Laura X
Groups	Cell 16 Chicago Women's Liberation Union Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Deep Green Resistance Lesbian Organization of Toronto Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Mountain Moving Coffeehouse New York Radical Feminists New York Radical Women Redstockings Stop Porn Culture The Feminists The Furies Collective WOMAD Women Against Pornography Women's Liberation Front (WoLF)
Issues	4 NOs Child sexual abuse False consciousness Feminism Lesbian Second wave Feminist separatism Feminist views on transgender topics Gender role Male privilege Patriarchy Political lesbianism Pornography Feminist views on pornography Postgenderism Prostitution Feminist views Reproductive rights Sexism Misogyny Internalized sexism Social construction of gender Violence against women
Media	Books The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970) Sexual Politics (1970) Sisterhood Is Powerful (1970) "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" (1970) The Female Eunuch (1970) Lesbian Nation (1973) Woman Hating (1974) Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape (1974) Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981) Ain't I a Woman? (1981) Against Sadomasochism (1982) Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984) Sisterhood Is Global (1984) Intercourse (1987) Feminism Unmodified (1987) Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989) The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992) Only Words (1993) Scapegoat: The Jews, Israel, and Women's Liberation (2000) Sisterhood Is Forever (2003) The Industrial Vagina (2008) Other Off Our Backs (1970–2008) SCUM Manifesto (1967) She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014)
Other	Consciousness raising Herstory Miss America protest (1968) Radical lesbianism Womyn's land
Feminism portal

• Political lesbianism
• 1960s neologisms
• Feminism and history
• Lesbian feminism
• Lesbianism
• LGBTQ and society
• LGBTQ terminology
• Radical feminism