| Description |
496 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Pt. I: The sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Lesbianism in a phallocentric universe. Lesbianism and the libertines ; What do women do? ; Eighteenth-century fantasy and the lesbian image ; Transvestism : persecution and impunity -- The enshrinement of romantic friendship. The revival of same-sex love : sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; The "fashion" of romantic friendship in the eighteenth century ; The battle of the sexes ; Romantic friendship in eighteenth-century literature ; Romantic friendship in eighteenth-century life -- Pt. 2: The nineteenth century. Loving friends. The asexual woman ; Kindred spirits ; New women ; Boston marriage ; Love and "women who live by their brains" -- The reaction. The rise of antifeminism ; The contributions of the sexologists ; Lesbian exoticism ; Lesbian evil -- Pt. III: The twentieth century. Sophistication. The last breath of innocence ; The spread of medical "knowledge" ; Keeping women down ; Fiction as a weapon ; Internalization and rebellion -- When it changed. The rise of lesbian-feminism ; Writing lesbian ; Romantic friendship and lesbian love |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Gay Book Award (American Library Association), 1982 |
| Subject |
Lesbianism -- History.
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Lesbians in literature.
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Lesbians -- Psychology.
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Love.
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| LC no. |
80024482 |
| ISBN |
0688003966 (paperback) |
|
068803733X |
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