Halfway Between a General History and a Textbook

Introduction: Who is the Lesbian?

For the purposes of this book, “British lesbian history” begins in the late 18th century. It was unclear to me if this was simply a chosen scope based on the source material they wanted to present, or if the authors believe there is no lesbian history prior to that date. They assert that “lesbian identity” is a late 20th century concept. “Women…did not necessarily have a language to describe themselves as lovers of women.” [Note: we can take it as given that I disagree with that position.]

The book’s definition “ideally includes some evidence of eroticism” but somewhat broadly defined. They’re looking for evidence of sexual activity with the caveat that “sexual” is often defined in male-centered terms. Secondly, their definition includes “the transgressing of gender roles,” with the caveat that gender transgression is more socially visible than femme lesbians. Somewhat less clearly, they are looking for evidence of self-knowledge by women who desire women.

The book is structured first to examine two archetypes (roughly: female husbands and romantic friendships), then public “expert” commentary in the fields of medicine, education, and law, followed by the cultural construction of lesbian identity (primarily restricted to the 20th century.

They discuss the history of lesbian history, the importance of developing a sense of lesbian history to social movements, and the development of a body of scholarship. They are interested in a broad scope of sources, not only the writings of the elite, but this interest is primarily found in the 20th century sources.

There is a discussion of the nature of the evidence: published sources (media, government publications, edited collections of personal papers), much of which is poorly indexed from the point of view of lesbian history. Documentation of women’s sex lives is rare, in part because personal papers were often deliberately destroyed. The documentation of working-class women’s lives is most often by outside observers, who typically are unsympathetic.

Somewhat more common than personal data is general commentary on the idea of the lesbian, especially by professionals. In every era, social norms constrained how people understood and discussed the topic.

The introduction closes with the importance of interrogating the sources and reading them in their historic context.

Part I: Archetypes of Love Between Women

Chapter 1: Cross-Dressing Women

The chapter begins with a survey of the motivations, contexts, and reception of gender-crossing. This is followed by excerpts from historic documents illustrating the subject, with brief contextual introductions.

• 1773 – A crossdressing woman marries an old woman for her money
• 1777 – A cross-dressing woman marries 3 different women and defrauds them of money.
• 1815 – A Black woman cross-dresses and works as a sailor, no lesbian elements
• 1861 – Mary Newell cross-dressed as part of absconding with her employer’s money
• (see tags for others)

Chapter 2: Romantic Friends and Lesbian Couples

This archetype is associated with middle and upper class women (although the authors note that this may be due to the skewed nature of the sources, and evidence for working class romantic friendships may not have been recorded or preserved). They assert that romantic friendship belongs to the 18-19th centuries. [Note: This is incorrect, as there are early versions of the archetype at least as early as the 17th century.]

The texts in this chapter document shifts in how this archetype was framed. There is a contrast between the acceptance of f/f partnership and the difficulty of economic independence to enjoy it. The motif interacts with the theme of “surplus women” and female alliances within the women’s movement (the “New Women”). Both the expressions and the probably reality of romantic friendships existed across a continuum. There is a discussion of lesbian theorists regarding that continuum and how that idea expands the scope of interest. There are conflicting opinions on erotic aspects of romantic friendship. The example of Anne Lister acted substantially to break the image that all romantic friendships were non-sexual.

• 1858 D.M. Craik’s advice book to women
• 1887 Constance Maynard, diary entries
• (see tags for others)

Part II: Professional Commentaries

Chapter 3: Medicine

The next 3 chapters look at professional discourse and how it reflects larger social attitudes toward lesbianism, as well as other social trends that the popular mind connected with that subject. 19th century British medical writing didn’t really address lesbianism much, or for that matter female sexuality in general. The texts that did exist tend to associate lesbianism with foreign practices or sex workers. Sexological writing arrived relatively late in Britain and only barely overlaps the very end of the 19th century. The texts do include a couple of references from the mid 19th century to lesbianism among sex workers or schoolgirls, or—later in the century—among actresses.

• 1939 M. Ryan work on prostitution that mentions lesbianism among sex workers
• 1840 T. Laycock’s book on “nervous disorders of women” that cautions against very euphemistically described schoolgirl relationships
• 1892 an early British sexology work that discusses homosexuality, but not lesbianism in particular

Chapter 4: Education

The texts in this chapter touch on school friendships that have a romantic or erotic component.None date to much before the turn of the 20th century, which reflects the era when such friendships came to be pathologized.

• 1893 An advice manual for girls that warns of “schoolgirl friendships” that lead to ignoring one’s family

Chapter 5: Law

Other than an extended excerpt from the Pirie & Woods trial, this chapter is focused entirely on the 20th century, reflecting shifts in legal approaches.

Part III: Making Lesbianism in Culture

Chapter 6: The Well of Loneliness

This chapter concerns reactions to the publication of The Well of Loneliness and its content. By definition, entirely 20th century.

Chapter 7: Social Perceptions

As public discourse around lesbianism became more explicit, there is a wider range of texts reflecting that awareness. All included material is 20th century.

Chapter 8: Identities and Networks

In contrast to the preceding few chapters, this one dips back to the early 19th century to document personal writings of women expressing self-conscious desire for women and something resembling a lesbian identity. These texts also trace the connections and networks of like-minded women that their authors created, as well as details of how those connections were established. We begin, naturally, with Anne Lister and her circle of lovers in Yorkshire. But other diarists and letter writers of the Victorian era are reflected here, speaking of love and wooing, discussing such passions with others who shared them. But the majority of the material is 20th century.