Reclaiming Lesbian Pride

[Chazz]

Originally Posted by Anya/Georgia

I read this about 5-years ago and am sure it is just as timely. The description is from Google Books.

Identity poetics: race, class, and the lesbian-feminist roots of queer theory
Linda Garber

Columbia University Press, 2001 - Social Science - 262 pages
"Queer theory," asserts Linda Garber, "alternately buries and vilifies lesbian feminism, missing its valuable insights and ignoring its rich contributions." Rejecting the either/or choice between lesbianism and queer theory, she favors an inclusive approach that defies current factionalism. In an eloquent challenge to the privileging of queer theory in the academy, Garber calls for recognition of the historical -- and intellectually significant -- role of lesbian poets as theorists of lesbian identity and activism.

The connections, Garber shows, are most clearly seen when looking at the pivotal work of working-class lesbians/lesbians of color whose articulations of multiple, simultaneous identity positions and activist politics both belong to lesbian feminism and presage queer theory. "Identity Poetics" includes a critical overview of recent historical writing about the women's and lesbian-feminist movements of the 1970s; discussions of the works of Judy Grahn, Pat Parker, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria AnzaldAa; and, finally, a chapter on .

Great quote, Anya/Georgia. It's exactly as stated, I've seen it first hand.

I can't, I won't, rend my lesbianism from my Feminism. I don't care what new, kitschy "theory" comes along, or how much pressure is brought to bear to buy into it. My understanding of myself as a white privileged, woman and lesbian was illuminated for me by Feminism. It gave me an informed, humanistic/heuristic/moral center from which to function in the world that took me beyond self-preoccupation without insight. As I said earlier, Feminism is based in the personal is political - queer theory is based in the political is personal . That semantic shift is huge.

I'll have a lot to say about this, and will, in the coming days. Just now, I'm in a make or break battle with Patriarchy.... My Feminism tells me to reach out to other lesbian women who have been through this. Queer theory tells me to change myself and my wardrobe.