Reclaiming Lesbian Pride

Softhearted · 08-01-2011, 07:59 PM

It took me a while before using the word lesbian to describe my sexual orientation... usually I was using the word homosexual...

For a while now, I see that the word lesbian is not only a matter of sexual orientation but an identity and it is defined differently depending on the cultural (country of origin) context and is also a question of generation.

I was surprised to read an article in Fugues (a LGBT magazine from Montréal) that many young gay women (in their teens and early 20's) found that the word "lesbienne est vieillot et représente une image de femmes démodées" which means that the word is "old" and represents the image of "outdated" women (not modern, ancient, ect...).
source: http://www.fugues.com/main.cfm?l=fr&...rticle_ID=1251
But when I speak to young hetersexual women and men, for them the word lesbian invokes: a woman who is romantically and physically involved with another woman (which by the way is how I see myself!)

So I suppose I have to use different words when addressing different crowds!

End of my rant

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08-01-2011, 07:59 PM	#11
Softhearted Member How Do You Identify?: --- Preferred Pronoun?: ---- Relationship Status: --- Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: --- Posts: 298 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 454 Thanked 285 Times in 109 Posts Rep Power: 1556235	It took me a while before using the word lesbian to describe my sexual orientation... usually I was using the word homosexual... For a while now, I see that the word lesbian is not only a matter of sexual orientation but an identity and it is defined differently depending on the cultural (country of origin) context and is also a question of generation. I was surprised to read an article in Fugues (a LGBT magazine from Montréal) that many young gay women (in their teens and early 20's) found that the word "lesbienne est vieillot et représente une image de femmes démodées" which means that the word is "old" and represents the image of "outdated" women (not modern, ancient, ect...). source: http://www.fugues.com/main.cfm?l=fr&...rticle_ID=1251 But when I speak to young hetersexual women and men, for them the word lesbian invokes: a woman who is romantically and physically involved with another woman (which by the way is how I see myself!) So I suppose I have to use different words when addressing different crowds! End of my rant