Lesbian invisibility

“What is a lesbian? A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion.” This opening line from The Woman Identified Woman, a manifesto published in 1970 by Radicalesbians, articulates the role and struggles of lesbians, especially within the women’s liberation movement.

In our heteronormative and patriarchal societies, the term lesbian holds significant meaning in and of itself. The term has been used and thrown around as a pejorative to any woman who dares to be independent and challenge the power of men.

Feminists, however, have claimed this resistance and even argued that lesbians fall outside of societies’ heterosexual binary between men and women. Feminist theorist Monique Wittig, for example, argued that “lesbians are not women”. The category of woman as we know it, she explained, has a meaning only in relation to the category of man, within a heterosexual system of thought and economy. Rejecting heterosexuality reveals the ways that lesbianism exists as a form of resistance, not only to male supremacy, but to the idea of men and women as distinct genders. Lesbianism becomes a resistant alternative that can allow us to push for the abolition of gender, by allowing women to organise outside the heterosexual model of society.

This does not mean, unfortunately, that lesbians were always included in feminist movements. Whilst the first wave of feminism, mostly active in the UK and USA, focused on voting rights for women, the second wave of feminism challenged gender inequality. Second-wave feminists fought to expand the definition of womanhood, ensure reproductive rights, increase financial independence, improve workplace equality, and address domestic violence. Despite the movement having gained traction throughout the 60s and 70s, there were still many demographics of women that were being left behind by this second wave of feminism, including lesbians.

For queer people in the 70s, especially queer women, achieving visibility as a means of challenging social stigma was seen as a political priority. This was in contrast to previous

attitudes to gay and lesbian social life, which had accepted and even sometimes enjoyed the

secrecy, separateness, and relative anonymity from straight culture.

During this period, there was also growing criticism of butch/femme dynamics from a feminist direction, for supposedly mimicking outdated heterosexual stereotypes. At the time lesbians had to choose between the feminist and LGBT rights movement, where the concept of gender roles posed challenges. While some feminists argued for dismantling rigid gender expectations, others believed that emphasising femininity could be a source of empowerment. This clashed with one of the goals of the LGBT rights movement that sought to challenge traditional notions of masculinity and femininity altogether. Despite these tensions, lesbian feminism provided a vital theoretical framework, analysing the ways in which patriarchy oppressed women of all sexualities.

The concept of “coming out,” pioneered by the LGBT rights movement, influenced feminist calls for women to embrace their authentic selves. Lesbian feminism is necessary to enrich our understanding of how heteropatriarchy oppresses all women. It allows us to think about resistance not simply as empowerment or choice, but as structural and militant opposition to patriarchy. It allows us to understand how women loving other women functions as a form of resistance, and testifies to the possibility of another world. A world without male domination.