Thoughts I Want to Pursue/Research

[wlotus]

"...I define lesbianism, not merely by the fact that I sleep with women, but as a sense of a really deeply ingrained self; that I have a right to deal my power, whatever it is, however I can manage to do it. The word lesbian for me has a connotation that's far beyond sexual."

~ Audre Lorde, from a 1977 interview with Ellen Shapiro.


Would Lorde have recognized (or doubted) heterosexual women could have that same awareness and ownership of their power? If so, could she then use the word lesbian to refer to them? How did she use the word heterosexual?

Feel free to discuss.

Comments

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Lorde was writing from the crucible of the second wave of feminism. The ideal of lesbianism that she's talking about comes from groups like Radicalesbians, the early wave of the radical feminist movement. I think you'd find the essay "The Woman-Identified Woman" (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/womid/) really interesting - I read it in my Feminist Theory class last semester.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

I've read half of the essay this morning and have printed it out to finish later. Thanks for the reference. It is interesting. They seemed to believe heterosexual women are incapable of owning their power as fully as lesbian women. Just from reading half the essay, I can see why many people got the mistaken impression feminism was about breaking up happy marriages and alienating men.