Radical lesbianism is a

lesbian 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 homosexu ...

movement that challenges the status quo of heterosexuality and mainstream

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. It arose in part because

mainstream feminism Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political reform, political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy and informed by a ...

did not actively include or fight for lesbian rights. The movement was started by

lesbian feminist 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 logica ...

groups in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. A Canadian movement followed in the 1970s, which added momentum. As it continued to gain popularity, radical lesbianism spread throughout Canada, the United States, and France. The French-based movement, ''Front des Lesbiennes Radicales'', or ''FLR'', organized in 1981 under the name ''Front des Lesbiennes Radicales''. Other movements, such as

Radicalesbians "Radicalesbians" were several Lesbian feminism, lesbian feminist organizations founded in the post-Stonewall riots, Stonewall period of gay activism. The first, most well-known of these groups was founded in New York City, and was short-lived, thou ...

, have also stemmed off of the larger radical lesbianism movement. In addition to being associated with social movements, radical lesbianism also offers its own

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

, similar to how

functions in both capacities.

History

Radical or "separatist" lesbianism and other similar movements represent a rupture with the broader

feminist movements The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's l ...

. They offer an attempt by some feminists and lesbians to try to reconcile what they see as inherent conflicts with the stated goals of feminism. Many of these conflicts and ruptures are a result of issues arising from broader and nationally specifically cultural narratives around women. Some of them are created independently in response to these needs, while others draw inspiration from radical movements in other countries. This results in no single history of radical lesbianism, but of separate national struggles. Internationally, radical lesbians often took advantage of convergent international spaces to create their own events to increase the visibility of lesbianism. Examples of this include the 1994 lesbian march in New York on the 25th anniversary of Stonewall. Another example was at the 1995 Beijing hosted World women's Conference. A third example took place during the 1997 Amsterdam hosted Gay Games.

Asia

In Asia, radical lesbianism lagged a decade behind Europe, Latin America and North America, with the movement not starting until the 1980s. It was in this period that activists starting forming their own groups and creating their own publications.

Europe

European radical lesbianism developed during the 1970s in response to specific situations in different European countries. International Lesbian Front was created in 1974 in Frankfurt, Germany. ILIS (International Lesbian Information System) was created in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1977.

France

Following the 1970s Canadian movement, a radical lesbian movement in France began to take shape in 1981. ''Front des Lesbiennes Radicales'' was proposed as an organization in June 1981. In a way similar to the American and Canadian movements, these radical, French lesbians sought to carve out space for themselves within feminism and within politics as a whole. They focused on the representation of lesbians and excluded heterosexual women, although they differentiated themselves from lesbian

separatists Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

. The ' were inspired by the words and writings of French philosopher

Monique Wittig Monique Wittig (; 13 July 1935 – 3 January 2003) was a French author, philosopher, and feminist theorist who wrote about abolition of the sex-class system and coined the phrase "heterosexual contract." Her groundbreaking work is titled '' The ...

, and their philosophic inquiries began through a Paris-based group including Wittig and

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

who published the journal ''

Questions féministes A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are interrogat ...

''. Wittig's 1981 essay, ''One is not Born a Woman'', titled after Simone de Beauvoir's

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

, posits that "Lesbians are not women," as "what makes a woman is a specific social relation to a man, a relation that we have previously called servitude, a relation which implies personal and physical obligation as well as economic obligation, ... a relation which lesbians escape by refusing to become or to stay heterosexual". Wittig also believed that "lesbianism provides ...the only social form in which (lesbians) can live freely". In the encyclopedia ''Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing'', editor Gabriele Griffin calls Wittig's writing "part of a larger debate about how

heteropatriarchy In feminist theory, heteropatriarchy (etymologically from '' heterosexual'' and ''patriarchy'') or cisheteropatriarchy, is a social construct where (primarily) cisgender (same gender as identified at birth) and heterosexual males have authority ov ...

and women's oppression within it might be resisted."

Latin America

Latin American radical lesbianism developed during the 1970s, and like other parts of the movement, resulted from specific national conditions. Radical lesbianism began to develop in Mexico in 1977, led by the group Mujeres guerreras que abren caminos y esparcen flores (Oikabeth). Radical lesbianism arose in Chile in 1984 in response to national conditions resulting from the dictatorship. Costa Rica developed a radical lesbianism movement in 1986. During the 1980s and 1990s, life for lesbians in Latin America was difficult because of lesbophobic repression across the region. Consequently, the communities in Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Brazil began working more closely together on shared goals.

North America

Canada

After gaining momentum in the U.S., radical lesbianism made its way to Canada in the 1970s.

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

were the predominant cities in which the Canadian movement took place. Lesbian organizations in Canada focused on building up lesbian culture and making service available to the Canadian lesbian community. The

Lesbian Organization of Toronto The Lesbian Organization of Toronto (L.O.O.T. or LOOT) was a lesbian organization founded in 1976 and disbanded in 1980. The group was Toronto's first openly lesbian feminist group, and its members elected to open Canada's first Lesbian Centre. ...

, for example, established Amethyst, which provided services for lesbians who were struggling with addiction.

United States

Second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...

was influential in the development of radical lesbianism, and the number of radical lesbian organizations in the U.S. grew from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Moreover, the creation of radical lesbianism was directly linked to other left-wing social movements such as the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

, the Vietnam-era Antiwar movement, and the American civil rights movement.

Ideology

Radical and liberal movements

Though both

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

and

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

currents within feminism seek social change, there is a distinctive difference between the two. Radical movements such as radical lesbianism seek to dismantle the status quo whereas liberal movements seek to reform it. Additionally, radical movements align with liberation whereas liberal movements focus more heavily on

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

. Radical lesbianism specifically sought to challenge male domination and male-centered definitions of gender and sexuality.

Feminism

Radical lesbianism is separate from other feminist movements because it exists in opposition to the exclusion of lesbian women from mainstream feminism. For example,

formed in response to

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan (; February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book '' The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the s ...

's declaration that lesbians should not be involved in the feminist movement because they were a "lavender menace" on the movement's work. The group repurposed the phrase "lavender menace," painting it on t-shirts in preparation for a protest at the Second Congress to Unite Women in May 1970. There, they distributed "The Woman-Identified Woman," which remains a key early lesbian-feminist work.

Internal problems

A radical lesbian community in Toronto excluded those who were

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, or identified as

trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

Difference from lesbian separatism

The principles of radical lesbianism are similar to those of

lesbian separatism Feminist separatism or separatist feminism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's sex segregation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, ...

; however, there are some important differences. In her preface to

's '' The Straight Mind and Other Essays'', Quebec radical lesbian Louise Turcotte explains her views that "Radical lesbians have reached a basic consensus that views

heterosexuality Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or ...

as a

political regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democracy, democratic and Autocracy, autocratic. A ...

which must be overthrown." Turcotte notes that lesbian separatists "create a new category" (i.e., complete separation not only from men but also from heterosexual women)" and that the radical lesbian movement aims for the "destruction of the existing framework of heterosexuality as a political regime". Turcotte goes on to discuss

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

's landmark essay, ''

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" is a 1980 essay by Adrienne Rich, which was also published in her 1986 book ''Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985'' as a part of the radical feminism movement of the late '60s, '70 ...

'', noting that Rich describes heterosexuality as a violent

political institution In political science, a political system means the form of political organization that can be observed, recognised or otherwise declared by a society or state. It defines the process for making official government decisions. It usually comprizes ...

that has to be "imposed, managed, organized, propagandized and maintained by force". Rich sees lesbian existence as an act of resistance to this institution, but also as an individual choice, whereas the principles of radical lesbianism see lesbianism as necessary, and consider its existence as necessarily outside of the heterosexual political sphere of influence.

Creating a culture

The end goal of many radical lesbian groups was to create a new lesbian culture outside of the confines of heterosexuality. One way of doing this was through the written word. The 1980s and 1990s saw the development of a number of

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

lesbian periodicals in Quebec, Canada, including '' Amazones D'Hier: Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui'', ''Treize'', and ''L'Evidante Lesbienne''. This was also a period of strength for French-language lesbian presses, such as ''Editions nbj'' and ''Oblique Editrices'', and lesbian bookstores like

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

's ''L'Essentielle''. Radical movements seek to challenge the status quo, producing material goods such as art, music, and other consumable goods — a consumerism that leads to tangible representations of identity. Lesbian activists also began cultivating their own material economy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radical lesbianism Feminism and sexual orientation Lesbian feminism Lesbian history Lesbian history in the United States Lesbianism LGBTQ terminology Political lesbianism Radical feminism