The magazine was named after Victor Margueritte's 1922 novel La Garçonne—whose title was translated for English readers as The Bachelor Girl—which was a critique of tomboys and flappers.
[3] After the publication of Margueritte's novel, the term came into popular use as a descriptor for flappers, women who wore masculine clothing, and lesbians.
[7] Frauenliebe was shut down for a time in 1928 by legal authorities, who were unable to name homosexual content as offensive under a law that prohibited "trashy and obscene" literature [de], but deemed that the "literary portion of the issues is worthless" and the advertisements that "facilitate sexual relationships [have] to be seen as obscene in the sense of the law".
[9] In addition to works of fiction and short stories, the magazine published lesbian-related news and opinion pieces from Germany and neighbouring countries; a 1931 article about the lack of lesbian organisations and publications in Switzerland led to the formation of the Swiss lesbian group Amicitia.
[11] One reader from Görlitz submitted a letter to Garçonne in 1931 declaring that "this paper means everything to me",[11] while another from Karlsruhe reported that "I cannot any longer do without this magazine".