Love Your Enemy? Tracing the Transmission of Political Lesbianism from the US to the UK, 1970-1980
In the early 1970s, radical feminists in the US and the UK were experimenting with new political ideas about how to live and practice the revolutionary ideals of women’s liberation. One such idea, political lesbianism, proposed that heterosexuality constitutes the fundamental subjugation of women by men (both personally and institutionally), and that therefore lesbianism is a conscious choice women can make to practice sisterhood and refrain from ‘collaborat[ing] with the enemy’. Such assertions elicited responses from both heterosexual and lesbian women who regarded these statements as personal attacks as well as decidedly un-feminist. Using primary source archival material, this presentation will trace how political lesbianism was transmitted from the US to the UK by means of feminist newsletters. Rather than ignoring the controversy, these newsletters effectively mediated critical engagement with political lesbianism and, as such, constitute indispensable documents for evidencing how a woman-controlled communications infrastructure shaped feminist ideas and debate.
Dr Bec Wonders is a Research Associate at the University of Oxford in the Faculty of History. Her specialty subjects include modern women’s history and feminist publishing. Bec is also an independent archivist and artist. Her work can be found at www.becwonders.com.
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This page was last updated on 30 June 2024
