Awfully Devoted Women: Lesbian Lives in Canada, 1900-65
- ISBN-10
- 0774817380
- ISBN-13
- 9780774817387
- Category
- Lesbianism
- Pages
- 328
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2010
- Publisher
- UBC Press
- Author
- Cameron Duder
Description
The lives of lesbians who grew up before 1965 remain cloaked in mystery. Historians have illuminated the worlds of upper-middle-class "romantic friends" and working-class butch and femme women who frequented lesbian bars in the ’50s and ’60s. The majority of lesbians, however, were lower-middle-class women who hid their sexual identity by engaging in discreet social and sexual relationships. Drawing on correspondence, interviews, journals, and newspaper articles, Awfully Devoted Women offers a nuanced portrait of the lives of middle-class lesbians in the decades before the gay rights movement in English-Canada. Accounts and explorations of these women’s sexual practices, thoughts on same-sex desire, and relations with friends and family unveil a world of private relationships, house parties, and discreet social networks. This intimate study of the lives of women forced to love in secret not only challenges the idea that lesbian relationships in the past were asexual, it also reveals the courage it took for women to explore desire in an era when they were supposed to know little about sexuality. Awfully Devoted Women is the first book-length study of lesbian sexuality, relationships, and community in Canada before 1965. It will be of interest to students and practitioners of Canadian history and women’s studies and to anyone interested in the history of sexuality.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Lesbian History Sourcebook: Love and Sex Between Women in Britain from 1780 to 1970
By Alison Oram, Annmarie Turnbull... R. , Daughters of Cain 171-3 Hindley , C. , Curiosities of Street Literature “ The Human Complex ( The Freewoman ) ... 94 , 237 ; see also Holtom , William Sidney 43–5 lesbian identity homeless women 78 , 232–3 I'll Stand By You .
-
Novice Death
By Robin GregoryNovice Death
-
The Joy of Lesbian Sex: A Tender and Liberated Guide to the Pleasures and Problems of a Lesbian Lifestyle
By Emily L. Sisley, Bertha HarrisThe Joy of Lesbian Sex: A Tender and Liberated Guide to the Pleasures and Problems of a Lesbian Lifestyle
-
The New Lesbian Sex Book
By Wendy CasterThe most thorough, comprehensive guide to lesbian sex hits its third edition - fully updated to include the latest first-hand information on the all things to do with lesbian sex.
-
Making Out
By Zoe Schramm-EvansWritten from the inside of the lesbian experience, this original exploration explains the realities of female relationships, looks at the intricacies of love play, and discusses lesbianism as a multicultural phenomenon in today's society.
-
Passions Between Women
By Emma DonoghuePassions Between Women looks at stories of lesbian desires, acts and identities from the Restoration to the beginning of the nineteenth century.
-
The Lesbian Sex Book
By Wendy CasterA Guide for Women who love Women A practical, illustrated guide to lesbian sexuality. Large format edition, with resource listing and b&w illustrations throughout.
-
The Joy of Lesbian Sex: A Tender and Liberated Guide to the Pleasures and Problems of a Lesbian Lifestyle
By Emily L. Sisley, Bertha HarrisThe Joy of Lesbian Sex: A Tender and Liberated Guide to the Pleasures and Problems of a Lesbian Lifestyle
-
Hijas de Adán: las mujeres también salen del armario
By Illy Nes... la reina Cristina de Suecia ha sido llevada a la gran pantalla en diversas oca- siones . Una de ellas estuvo protagonizada por la gran Greta Garbo en " Queen Christina ” ( 1933 ) , quien asombró con su retrato de esta reina lesbiana del ...
-
Lesbian Sex Wars
By Emma HealeyBut do lesbians really enjoy sexual freedom or is it the current, media-promoted emphasis on fashion and style just as limiting as the politics of 70s lesbian feminists?Emma Healey offers a bold analysis of the lesbian psyche and sexuality.