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Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in 20th-Century America by Lillian Faderman
moononatuesday's review against another edition
Honestly all non fiction that isn’t biographic is too repetitive for me
paige_sl's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
bookish_smorgasbord's review against another edition
5.0
Lillian Faderman presents an accessible, thorough look at the development of lesbian consciousness and life during the 21st century (in the U.S.). She further informs the text with a review of romantic friendship and the cultural constraints on women during the 20th century. I couldn't put it down and recommend it to anyone with an interest in women's history.
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
3.0
I actually feel this book is closer to four stars, but after reading a few reviews on here and sitting with some of my own discomfort regarding word choices and phrasing, I'm keeping it at three stars.
This is a very thorough and easy-to-read history of, well, lesbian life in twentieth-century America. The first half of the book, which details very late nineteenth/early twentieth century women, romantic friendships and the start of women's higher education leading to liberation was fantastic- a theme that continued up until Faderman's writing on McCarthyism and the 1950s. The concept of Boston marriages and romantic friendships is something that's been close to my heart most of my adult life and an ideology that, well, enchants me.
But once the history reached the 1970s and the concept of lesbian feminists and 'political lesbians' came about, I began to be turned off. From what Faderman wrote (and I'm not sure if this is her own belief or what actually occurred during this decade), but the idea of women 'choosing' to become lesbian is something that makes me grit my teeth. The idea that homosexuality is something someone decides to practice and not an innate part of the biological makeup bothers me. It also reeks a little of radfem ideology and verges into TERF territory, which I'm not thrilled about. I've read some discussions about fourth wave feminism being repackaged second wave feminism, and after reading these chapters, I'm inclined to agree.
Faderman also describes in the first half of the book about women who dressed as men to both find work and to go about their life easier, but also as a way of exploring their lesbian identity. I'm willing to chalk this up to a difference in language, given how language and gender identity has evolved over the past thirty years (and this is also addressed in the epilogue), but also... a good number of these folk could be trans. I'm not sure if Faderman has addressed this recently, but I'd be curious to read her thoughts.
Overall, I think this is a very valuable historical text and one that really does cover a lot of history. It's thoroughly researched and while I'd have liked a few more primary sources, I can't say I'm disappointed.
This is a very thorough and easy-to-read history of, well, lesbian life in twentieth-century America. The first half of the book, which details very late nineteenth/early twentieth century women, romantic friendships and the start of women's higher education leading to liberation was fantastic- a theme that continued up until Faderman's writing on McCarthyism and the 1950s. The concept of Boston marriages and romantic friendships is something that's been close to my heart most of my adult life and an ideology that, well, enchants me.
But once the history reached the 1970s and the concept of lesbian feminists and 'political lesbians' came about, I began to be turned off. From what Faderman wrote (and I'm not sure if this is her own belief or what actually occurred during this decade), but the idea of women 'choosing' to become lesbian is something that makes me grit my teeth. The idea that homosexuality is something someone decides to practice and not an innate part of the biological makeup bothers me. It also reeks a little of radfem ideology and verges into TERF territory, which I'm not thrilled about. I've read some discussions about fourth wave feminism being repackaged second wave feminism, and after reading these chapters, I'm inclined to agree.
Faderman also describes in the first half of the book about women who dressed as men to both find work and to go about their life easier, but also as a way of exploring their lesbian identity. I'm willing to chalk this up to a difference in language, given how language and gender identity has evolved over the past thirty years (and this is also addressed in the epilogue), but also... a good number of these folk could be trans. I'm not sure if Faderman has addressed this recently, but I'd be curious to read her thoughts.
Overall, I think this is a very valuable historical text and one that really does cover a lot of history. It's thoroughly researched and while I'd have liked a few more primary sources, I can't say I'm disappointed.
anachronistique's review against another edition
I can't remember when this was recommended to me, but I didn't realize it was written as far back as 1991. DNFed for stuff that hasn't aged well - nothing wildly offensive but just enough, especially regarding trans men, that I wasn't up for reading it right now.
grace_b_3's review against another edition
1.0
I finished this book because I wanted to learn more about lesbians of the past. I did walk out of this book knowing a little bit more about lesbian subcultures of the past.
My issue with this book has everything to do with the social constructionist lense that Faderman utilizes. I also found this book dated, and while I try to be understanding of the time a book was published in, I found the way that trans and racial issues were handled distasteful.
Here is a quote from the introduction that I feel illustrates my issues with this book (honestly, should have stopped reading here):
My issue with this book has everything to do with the social constructionist lense that Faderman utilizes. I also found this book dated, and while I try to be understanding of the time a book was published in, I found the way that trans and racial issues were handled distasteful.
Here is a quote from the introduction that I feel illustrates my issues with this book (honestly, should have stopped reading here):
…in the debate between the "essentialists" (who believe that one is born a lesbian and that there have always been lesbians in the past just as there as lesbians today) and the "social constructionists" (who believe that certain social conditions were necessary before "the lesbian" could emerge as a social entity) my own research has caused me to align myself on the side of the social constructionists. While I believe that some women, statistically vey few, may have been "born different, i.e., genetically or hormonally "abnormal," the most convincing research I have been able to find indicates that such an anomaly is extremely rare amongst lesbians...A small number of the women I interviewed told me they were convinced that they were born men trapped in women's bodies; however, for the most part they suspected that they were not lesbians but "transexuals" (two of them had actually had sex change operations and are living as men). Others told me they were born lesbians, but what they said in the interview suggested to me that what they saw as the earliest signs of "lesbian feeling," erotic interest in other females, in most cases may have not been particularly different from the childhood crushes that even Freudians have described as being "normal" in the young. Their early "lesbian behavior" also seemed often to have amounted only to "inappropriate" gender behavior, a phenomenon that has been convincingly called into question by feminism.
If, after reading that quote, you feel like you could read about 300 more pages, maybe it would be worth wading into this book for more insight into lesbian history. If that quote makes your blood boil, skip this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Racism