Lesbian feminism

[4] Some key thinkers and activists include Charlotte Bunch, Rita Mae Brown, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Marilyn Frye, Mary Daly, Sheila Jeffreys, Barbara Smith, Pat Parker, Margaret Sloan-Hunter, Cheryl Clarke, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Cherríe Moraga, Monique Wittig, and Sara Ahmed (although the last two are more commonly associated with the emergence of queer theory).

[9] Lesbian feminists of color argue for intersectionality, in particular the crossings of gender, sex, class, and race, emphasizing that most research and data about sexual orientation is provided by white cis males.

The delegates passed a resolution in favor of women's liberation, but Martin felt they had not done enough and wrote "If That's All There Is", an influential 1970 essay in which she decried gay rights organizations as sexist.

[20] Charlotte Bunch, an early member of "The Furies", viewed separatist feminism as a strategy, a "first step" period, or temporary withdrawal from mainstream activism to accomplish specific goals or enhance personal growth.

In addition to advocating withdrawal from working, personal or casual relationships with men, "The Furies" recommended that Lesbian Separatists relate "only (with) women who cut their ties to male privilege"[23] and suggested that "as long as women still benefit from heterosexuality, receive its privileges and security, they will at some point have to betray their sisters, especially Lesbian sisters who do not receive those benefits".

[28] Faderman also believes that lesbian feminists who acted to create separatist institutions did so to "bring their ideals about integrity, nurturing the needy, self-determination and equality of labor and rewards into all aspects of institution-building and economics".

On the other hand, male separatism (one might cite gentleman's clubs, labour unions, sports teams, the military and, more arguably, decision-making positions in general) is seen as quite a normal, even expedient phenomenon.

[35][36][37] Uninvited, they lined up on stage wearing matching T-shirts inscribed with the words "Lavender Menace", and demanded the microphone to read aloud their manifesto, "The Woman-Identified Woman", which laid out the main precepts of their movement.

This is one of the principal areas in which lesbian feminism differs from queer theory, perhaps best summarized by Judith Halberstam's quip that "If Sheila Jeffreys didn't exist, Camille Paglia would have had to invent her.

"[39] "Womyn" along with "wimmin" and "womin" were terms created by alliances within the lesbian feminist movement to distinguish them from men and masculine (or "phallogocentric") language.

A new vocabulary emerged more generally, sometimes referencing lost or unspoken matriarchal civilizations, Amazonian warriors, ancient – especially Greek – goddesses, sometimes parts of the female anatomy and often references to the natural world.

It has certainly been argued that mainstream feminism has been guilty of homophobia in its failure to integrate sexuality as a fundamental category of gendered inquiry and its treatment of lesbianism as a separate issue.

[49] That year, NOW also committed to offering legal and moral support in a test case involving child custody rights of lesbian mothers.

In November 1977 the National Women's Conference issued a National Plan of Action, which stated in part:[52]Congress, State, and local legislatures should enact legislation to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual and affectional preference in areas including, but not limited to, employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, public facilities, government funding, and the military.

State legislatures should enact legislation that would prohibit consideration of sexual or affectional orientation as a factor in any judicial determination of child custody or visitation rights.

Rather, child custody cases should be evaluated solely on the merits of which party is the better parent, without regard to that person's sexual and affectional orientation.American photographer Deborah Bright created a series called Dream Girls which challenged mainstream gender-sex identities that the Hollywood industry in the 1980s chose to propagate.

Whereas lesbian feminism is traditionally critical of BDSM, butch/femme identities and relationships, transgender and transsexual people, pornography, and prostitution, queer theory tends to embrace them.

[54] Barry (2002) suggests that in choosing between these possible alignments (lesbian feminism and/or queer theory) one must answer whether it is gender or sexuality that is the more "fundamental in personal identity.

[58] Because of its focus on equality in sexual relationships, lesbian feminism has traditionally been opposed to any form of BDSM that involve perpetuation of gender stereotypes.

Samois members felt strongly that their way of practicing BDSM was entirely compatible with feminism, and held that the kind of feminist sexuality advocated by Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media was conservative and puritanical.

"[80] In her book, Raymond includes sections on Sandy Stone, a trans woman who had worked as a sound engineer for Olivia Records,[81] and Christy Barsky, accusing both of creating divisiveness in women's spaces.

[85] Apart from this, lesbian feminists of color addressed the relationship between feminism as a movement and "ideology of cultural nationalism or racial pride", as well as the differences found in the prevalent texts.

[86] Among the most influential lesbian feminists of color are Audre Lorde, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Cherrie Moraga, Barbara Smith, Pat Parker, Kate Rushin, Margaret Sloan-Hunter, Cheryl Clarke, and Ochy Curiel.

[89] The prominent authors who were at the roots of black lesbian feminism include Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, Pat Parker, Kate Rushin, Doris Davenport, Cheryl Clarke, and Margaret Sloan-Hunter.

[90][91][92] Black lesbian feminism emerged as a venue to address the issue of racism in the mainstream feminist movement, which was described as white, middle-class, and predominantly heterosexual.

[100] The name of the organization alludes to the Underground Railroad Combahee River Raid that happened in 1863 under Harriet Tubman's leadership and freed 750 slaves.

The organization also claimed that unlike some white feminist groups or NBFO, the Collective members are in "solidarity with progressive Black men and do not advocate the fractionalization" and emphasizing that "the stance of Lesbian separatism ... is not a viable political analysis or strategy.

[108] The key Chicana lesbian feminist thinkers include Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, Lidia Tirado White, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Emma Pérez, Carla Trujillo, Monica Palacios, Ana Castillo, Natashia López, and Norma Alarcón.

"[109] Specifically, as described by Moraga and Anzaldúa, "a theory in flesh means one where the typical realities of our lives —our skin color, the land or concrete we grew up on, our sexual belongings—all fuse to create a political born out of necessity.

As Moraga explains in her prose Loving in the War Years: Lo que nunca paso por sus labios:[109]In this country, lesbianism is a poverty — as is being brown, as is being a woman, as is being just plain poor.