Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers : : a History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America

Locations
Call Number: 306.766 Fa
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	306.766 Fa	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	306.766 Fa	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Imperfect But Important submitted by Meginator on July 16, 2020, 9:41am This book is surprisingly accessible for an academic study, as Lillian Faderman uses personal stories to illustrate broader trends in U.S. lesbian life throughout the 20th century (up to 1990). Tracing the history of lesbianism from the demure 19th-century notion of romantic friendship to calls for public recognition in the 1970s and 1980s, Faderman discusses the personal and (increasingly) political aspects of these women’s lives. She pays particular attention to the ways in which class and, less often, race affected women’s experiences and defined their communities; she does, however, notably omit any meaningful discussion of transgender people (outside of the context of early 20th-century notions of masculine and feminine minds, as they related to sexual attraction). Overall, this is an important, if not comprehensive, examination of the ways that lesbian women viewed themselves and formed communities throughout the 20th century, and the book provides vital context for more recent developments in American lesbian life.

Important cultural & historical text submitted by judahorli on June 10, 2022, 1:38pm I recently reread this book and it still strikes me as incredible and moving - not that the contents itself are particularly emotional in this way, but as an important artifact of lesbian, and more generally, queer history. Imperfect, certainly - while I think it would be interesting to have meaningful discussion of trans people here, I (as a trans person) am not particularly bothered by this omission. While Faderman oft discusses class differences among lesbian populations through the years, and mentions race, I think race deserved to have more screen time. Ultimately I would highly recommend this important history.