Reclaiming Lesbian Pride

[ScandalAndy]

I'm one of the ones watching the store. I promise.

The community as a whole is so fractured in the younger generations because identities as a whole have become passe. Nobody wants to use identifiers, they believe in fluidity and rage against a system of names and notations and labels.

I ran a campus LGBT organization for two years and it was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. Everyone is so locked in to what THEY support and what they believe that they don't take the time to look and see how we are all still fighting for basic rights and need to support each other. Instead it devolves into a "why should i fight for your cause when MY cause is more important to ME".

I admit, I am one of those who minored in women's studies and can parrot herstory with the best of them, but I'm also trying very hard to learn everything I can from the pioneers. Two of my professors have been fighting most of their lives for tenured positions, and refusing to closet their lesbian identities often at the expense of their job security. One is butch, the other femme, although I doubt she's appreciate being described as such. Those two women taught me more about pride, activism, and the necessity of action than any book ever could.

Originally Posted by Kobi

My wish to rekindle lesbian pride sans the qualifiers is multifold. Part is feeling invisible as a woman and a lesbian. Part is feeling like a guest in my community as a butch. Part is feeling woman and lesbian have somehow become passe and are being phased out in the scheme of things.

My real life world is a world of lesbian women. I dont even know if there is a trans community/group here. I remember as a young woman how invigorated and validated I felt when I found the lesbian and feminist communities. I remember how proud I was to be part of the new trailblazers that would usher in a new era of creativity, development, and activism for women and lesbians. I remember soaking up every bit of information I could get my hands on, attending all the lectures, the events etc. I hadnt felt anything like it before or since.

Lately, I have been looking on the net for "lesbian" web sites or even sites that may be of interest to "lesbians". I wasnt looking for the old stuff. I was looking for the new stuff for the generations that came after us.

It has been a disappointing search thus far. I am finding many women run, lesbian in the title web sites. I was surprised to see a membership of females and males - I expect it in butch-femme but not general sites. I see many stories on beefing up (no pun intended) definitions across a wide spectrum, I see some definate blurring and almost interchangability in gender and orientation, much on relationships, fashion or lack there of, a fair amount on trans, a lot of masculine of center, a lot on variations of femme stuff ( the right words for this escapes me), a bunch on how to get laid (bookmarked those in case anyone is interested).

I didnt see anything on lesbian identity sans qualifiers, little on feminism, little on herstory.

There might be more of what I am looking for on FB but the few times I ventured there it seemed hard to navigate and pretty darn boring.

Even when chatting in real life with youngins today, they can parrot much on womens studies but it seems to be an academic exercise rather than a part of their history or their identities. They take so much for granted that we old farts had to fight for.

They have so much freedom to explore and so many more options/choices than were available back in my day. Yet they seem so unconnected to it.

At 55, I am too tired to be an activist anymore. I cant stay up late enough for the meetings.

So who's watching the store?

[Softhearted]

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

[OS Butch]

I will cross post this to a couple other threads.

Lesbian Connection, aka LC, is a magazine I have superscribed to for years.
It arrives quarterly in my mailbox in an indiscreet manila envelope!
It is a quick read with only 50 pages. They are reprinting the series "Dykes to Watch out For"
The subscription fee is sliding scale free to anyone world wide and $42 for those that can afford it. Donations and gift subscriptions are appreciated!
I am not on the staff, I am just worried that without support, this little rag will vanish as has the woman's bookstores that use to be.

Elsie Publishing
EPI
PO Box 811
East
Lansing, Mi 48826
(517)371-5257 (M-F) noon- 6pm ET
elsiepub@aol.com

www.LConline.org

[ScandalAndy]

Originally Posted by OS Butch

I will cross post this to a couple other threads.

Lesbian Connection, aka LC, is a magazine I have superscribed to for years.
It arrives quarterly in my mailbox in an indiscreet manila envelope!
It is a quick read with only 50 pages. They are reprinting the series "Dykes to Watch out For"
The subscription fee is sliding scale free to anyone world wide and $42 for those that can afford it. Donations and gift subscriptions are appreciated!
I am not on the staff, I am just worried that without support, this little rag will vanish as has the woman's bookstores that use to be.

Elsie Publishing
EPI
PO Box 811
East
Lansing, Mi 48826
(517)371-5257 (M-F) noon- 6pm ET
elsiepub@aol.com

www.LConline.org

THANK YOU!!! This is a great link.

[ScandalAndy]

I don't know if it is appropriate to post this here, but just in case it is, I will do my best to do a good job representing.


I am on a very small staff of individuals who write for a lesbian blog. it started off as a "A light-hearted lesbian and women's issues blog and community geared toward twenty-somethings" but since then we've grown to include an audience of all ages. I mostly write angry feminist articles, but the girls have been champs posting coming out stories and the like. I think it's worth the read for entertainment, and sometimes it can even make you think a little.

At the moment we are trying to raise money to give to the "Because I Am A Girl" project through Plan International, which goes to help rebuild the lives of girls rescued from the sex trafficking industry in India. I think it's one of our more noble undertakings.

The blog is here: ToughxCookies and here is the link to our "Causes" page.


I hope that these links will help show how the younger generation handles lesbian pride, and maybe give a bit of insight into how very differently we all view the world around us.


If this isn't the right place to post this, I would appreciate any guidance about where I should move this to. Thanks!

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by ScandalAndy

I don't know if it is appropriate to post this here, but just in case it is, I will do my best to do a good job representing.
I am on a very small staff of individuals who write for a lesbian blog. it started off as a "A light-hearted lesbian and women's issues blog and community geared toward twenty-somethings" but since then we've grown to include an audience of all ages. I mostly write angry feminist articles, but the girls have been champs posting coming out stories and the like. I think it's worth the read for entertainment, and sometimes it can even make you think a little.
At the moment we are trying to raise money to give to the "Because I Am A Girl" project through Plan International, which goes to help rebuild the lives of girls rescued from the sex trafficking industry in India. I think it's one of our more noble undertakings.
The blog is here: ToughxCookies and here is the link to our "Causes" page.
I hope that these links will help show how the younger generation handles lesbian pride, and maybe give a bit of insight into how very differently we all view the world around us.
If this isn't the right place to post this, I would appreciate any guidance about where I should move this to. Thanks!

****************
Andy, if "Reclaiming Lesbian Pride" is not the right place for your post-I honestly don't know where it would be! Absolutely worthy undertaking! Our young femmes and butches are exactly the right place to ensure the survival of our Lesbian Communities.

I will check it out and thank you!

Anya

[Lynn]

I've come to recognize that my online and earthly worlds do not coincide very often. Individuals and their identities are much more complex than their labels. It doesn't matter if I agree with someone's definitions, as long as they don't impose their views on me.

I'm a lesbian. That is my chief identity as far as describing who attracts me, who I love, and how I view the world. Of course, I have other identities, but they are definitely influenced by my self-view as a lesbian. For me, there is a historical and political perspective that is the context for who I am as a partner, a mother, and a worker. Coming to the point of self-understanding, self-acceptance, and a level of comfort has truly been a challenge. I won't play "your challenges have been greater than mine" game. My challenges have been representative of both the women's community at large, and what the community faced through the 70's and forward, as well as of my own struggles with family and personally. All are valid, and all have paved the way for the triumphs and challenges faced by the next generation.

When I first discovered a butch-femme online community, I was told that I was "a lesbian" not "a femme" so I didn't really belong. I do belong. I am a woman who loves butch women. I don't consider it a label, I consider it a description. Women in my community hate the idea of butch or femme, equating it with role playing or something put on. They don't understand that there is a range of self-expression just as there is a range of personal preferences. As a more feminine woman, I have been told I'm not someone's type more than once. If they can have preferences, so can I.