This groundbreaking critical anthology gathers together a wide range of primary source material on lesbian lives in the past. The material here is drawn from a diverse range of sources, including court records, newspaper reports, literary sources, writings on lesbianism from psychologists, doctors, anthropologists, as well as personal letters and journals. The sources are arranged into thematic chapters, covering topics such as archetypes of lesbians - cross-dressing women and romantic friends, the making of lesbianism in culture, professional discourse on lesbians, public perceptions of lesbianism and women's own experiences. This book will be a milestone in the publishing of lesbian history, and is set to provoke the impetus for fresh research.

This groundbreaking critical anthology gathers together a wide range of primary source material on lesbian lives in the past. The material here is drawn from a diverse range of sources, including court records, newspaper reports, literary sources, writings on lesbianism from psychologists, doctors, anthropologists, as well as personal letters and journals. The sources are arranged into thematic chapters, covering topics such as archetypes of lesbians - cross-dressing women and romantic friends, the making of lesbianism in culture, professional discourse on lesbians, public perceptions of lesbianism and women's own experiences. This book will be a milestone in the publishing of lesbian history, and is set to provoke the impetus for fresh research.

The Lesbian Liberation Movement is both a movement that encompasses liberating a sexual practice from stigmatization and a political movement challenging the dual oppression of women by the patriarchy's assumption of male supremacy and heterosexuality. Over the years, much has been written on homosexuality and the Gay Liberation Movement, yet much of the focus has been on male homosexuals, especially male homosexual activity and the politics that activity raises. The A to Z of the Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage is a comprehensive overview and resource guide for one of the most invisible social political movements: the Lesbian Liberation Movement. This book helps to make the still-active movement visible_the history, successes, setbacks, controversies, and issues. This book is a good resource for those studying this social political movement, containing a chronology, contextual overview, dictionary entries that cover persons, laws, terminology, issues, and countries, and an extensive bibliography of primary resources and current work.

Family history is often seen as the stories of people who were part of a traditional family unit, married to someone of the opposite gender, had children and lived their lives as 'normally' as possible. But what of the relatives who could not accept that this was the life for them, and were attracted to same-sex partners? Was it possible for them to live their life as they wished to, with their chosen partner and without hindrance, ridicule or attack? Would they be breaking the law in doing so, and how would family and society react if they were found out?Some of those concerned married and had children, like the majority, and buried their feelings in the bustle of everyday life; others stayed single but abstained from relationships altogether, as a way of keeping safe. A number managed to live openly and proudly as themselves, challenging the prejudices and misconceptions of the day.This is the story of all those people, the brave, the discreet, the frightened, the loving and the loved, as well as love against all the odds; more than likely, it is a story that can be found in every family history.Told in an empathetic and clear-sighted way, this is the first history of same-sex relationships aimed specifically at family historians and offers valuable insights into the lives of those who were often seen as outcasts. It includes research guidance for genealogists researching this often-neglected aspect of family history, and offers invaluable insights into the families, society and culture they lived in.

This unique book sheds new light on the most invisible members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Hidden from view by a combination of prevailing cultural assumptions and their own unwillingness to be seen, older lesbians have been consistently under-represented in both popular culture and research. This ground-breaking study, based on an unprecedentedly large research sample of nearly four hundred lesbian-identified women between the ages of 60 and 90, offers a fascinating insight into the lives of older lesbians in the UK. Drawing on data from a comprehensive questionnaire survey and illustrated with vivid personal testimonies, it explores both the diversity and the distinct collective identity of the older lesbian community, arguing that understanding their past experience is crucial to providing for their needs in the future. It is essential reading for scholars in the fields of women’s studies and genders and sexualities, and will also appeal to sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, social and cultural historians, and experts in ageing, gerontology, nursing and social work.

Often, our most fascinating ancestors are those on society’s margins. They might have been discriminated against due to personal misfortune, or have been a victim of society’s fear of difference. You may have ancestors who were poor, or sick, illegitimate, or lawbreakers. Were your family stigmatised because of their ethnicity? Perhaps they struggled with alcoholism, were prostitutes, or were accused of witchcraft. This book will help you find out more about them and the times in which they lived. The nature of this book means that it deals with subjects that can make uncomfortable reading but it is important to confront these issues as we try to understand our ancestors and the society that led to them becoming marginalised. In Tracing your Marginalised Ancestors, you will find plenty of suggestions to help you uncover the stories of these, often elusive, groups of people. Will you accept the challenge to seek out your marginalised ancestors and tell their stories?

Feminist history continues to change the way history is written, and in doing so changes our view of the past. The authors of this collection explore how issues of sexuality, class, nationalism and colonialism informed the ways in which women were represented and continue to be represented in history. They show the ways in which women have been excluded, silenced and misrepresented in stories of the past, and how women's lives have been distorted or simplified in conventional historical accounts. Together, they suggest fresh ways of approaching women's history, and use examples of work in new areas of research such as women's health and leisure in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the various methodologies being proposed.

This interdisciplinary collection considers public and popular history within a global framework, seeking to understand considerations of local, domestic histories and the ways they interact with broader discourses. Grounded in particular local and national situations, the book addresses the issues associated with popular history in a globalised cultural world, such as: how the study of popular history might work in the future; new ways in which the terms ‘popular’ and ‘public’ might inform one another and nuance scholarship; transnational, intercultural models of ‘pastness’; cultural translatability; and the demand for high-quality work on new technologies and history. A wide range of international contributors consider a broad selection of locale and media, from American television and Canadian heritage to the representation of history in contemporary Chinese culture. They consider the way in which the study of public or popular texts invoke multiple historiographies, and demonstrate our need to think about public and popular aspects of the past in new, ‘emerging’ locales, such as China, Eastern Europe and South America. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Rethinking History.

This book situates the single woman within the evolving landscape of modernity, examining how she negotiated rural and urban worlds, explored domestic and bohemian roles, and traversed public and private spheres. In the modern era, the single woman was both celebrated and derided for refusing to conform to societal expectations regarding femininity and sexuality. The different versions of single women presented in cultural narratives of this period—including the old maid, odd woman, New Woman, spinster, and flapper—were all sexually suspicious. The single woman, however, was really an amorphous figure who defied straightforward categorization. Emma Sterry explores depictions of such single women in transatlantic women’s fiction of the 1920s to 1940s. Including a diverse selection of renowned and forgotten writers, such as Djuna Barnes, Rosamond Lehmann, Ngaio Marsh, and Eliot Bliss, this book argues that the single woman embodies the tensions between tradition and progress in both middlebrow and modernist literary culture.

Beginning in 1869, when the study of homosexuality can be said to have begun with the establishment of sexology, this Encyclopedia offers accounts of the most important international developments in an area that now occupies a critical place in many fields of academic endeavours. While gays and lesbians have shared many aspects of life, their histories and cultures developed in profoundly different ways. To reflect this crucial fact, the Encyclopedia has been prepared in two separate volumes assuring that both histories receive full, unbiased attention and that a broad range of human experience is covered. Written by some of the most famous names in the field, as well as new researchers this is intended as a reference for students and scholars in all areas of study, as well as the general public.