Lesbian Culture In The 20th Century

A comparison of the lesbian community from the twentieth century and that which exists today shows almost no resemblance between the two. The traits that marked lesbian culture as ‘distinct’ - namely butch/femme identities - have been replaced by the modern lesbian. The butch/femme lesbian dichotomy of the early twentieth century challenged society’s definition of being female, but the rise of lesbian feminism and the “new lesbian” critiqued this traditional approach as ‘heterosexual roleplay’ and resulted in a shift towards a new lesbian culture altogether. Lesbians in the twentieth century existed in a culture that actively and openly oppressed them. People who were openly homosexual were beaten, arrested, fired, and generally persecuted. “Young and working class lesbians, who were even often without their own comfortable domiciles in which to receive their friends, had no choice but to frequent public places where they could make contact with other lesbians, but it was essential that those public places be clandestine enough to ensure privacy, since exposure could be dangerous” (161 - Twilight lovers). It was from this need for a gathering place that the lesbian bar was born. In this place, there was no need to hide who they were and could seek companionship and romantic …show more content…
Radical feminists found a way to express their female masochism in a love life that was more consonant with their personal and political ideology. “Lesbianism even came to be regarded as the quintessence of feminism . . . [it] implied that a woman could live without a man if she wanted to and still feel like a successful person. It suggested that . . . a woman should want to work both to support herself and change society. It emphasized the importance of women loving and respecting themselves and other women,” (Faderman