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A review by justabookishreader
A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture by June Thomas
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Not really one of my favorite queer women non-fiction, but I think mostly because there is quite literally none of what is described where I live at all. The closest thing we have is actually a d*ke night at a normally for gay men bar this Friday night. (literally, on April 4, 2025).
So I guess I'm admitting that I'm heavily biased and honestly pretty disappointed in the state of my home. The writing was excellent, and I learned a shocking amount - I am still astonished by the "lesbian land" section and the fact that capitalism lead to a feminist sex toy store being bought by a man.
And this isn't a narrative that leaves out trans-women and nonbinary people, in fact Thomas highlights the transparent transphobia from the lesbian land movement in the 1970s/1980s, and comments on how hopeful she is after seeing the new generation despite the disappearing queer women's spaces. At least that's how I read it.
I think this is definitely something that every queer woman could get something out of. I mean there's a whole section on softball (I will never understand this - as I click "notify me" on the next PVF livestream on youtube - Indy Ignite vs Columbus Fury - if its unclear, this is professional volleyball). I definitely now want to try to find <i> anything </i> for queer women in my city, much less my state, as at first glance there are none. I'm hoping that they're just kinda hidden for whatever reason.
I don't think I'll ever tire of reading nonfiction about queer women, whether memoirs or essay collections like this one, or comedic essays like [book:Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays|58438562], or a book diving into the history of sapphic couples ([book:Lesbian Love Story|56150014]). Also I'm just gonna say it now, we get all the pretty covers, and I love it.
If anyone wants to recommend me any queer women or plainly lesbian women nonfiction for me to read please feel free. I make no promises but I would love to look at some more!
So I guess I'm admitting that I'm heavily biased and honestly pretty disappointed in the state of my home. The writing was excellent, and I learned a shocking amount - I am still astonished by the "lesbian land" section and the fact that capitalism lead to a feminist sex toy store being bought by a man.
And this isn't a narrative that leaves out trans-women and nonbinary people, in fact Thomas highlights the transparent transphobia from the lesbian land movement in the 1970s/1980s, and comments on how hopeful she is after seeing the new generation despite the disappearing queer women's spaces. At least that's how I read it.
I think this is definitely something that every queer woman could get something out of. I mean there's a whole section on softball (I will never understand this - as I click "notify me" on the next PVF livestream on youtube - Indy Ignite vs Columbus Fury - if its unclear, this is professional volleyball). I definitely now want to try to find <i> anything </i> for queer women in my city, much less my state, as at first glance there are none. I'm hoping that they're just kinda hidden for whatever reason.
I don't think I'll ever tire of reading nonfiction about queer women, whether memoirs or essay collections like this one, or comedic essays like [book:Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays|58438562], or a book diving into the history of sapphic couples ([book:Lesbian Love Story|56150014]). Also I'm just gonna say it now, we get all the pretty covers, and I love it.
If anyone wants to recommend me any queer women or plainly lesbian women nonfiction for me to read please feel free. I make no promises but I would love to look at some more!