With hair slicked back and shirt collar framing her young patrician face, Katherine Hepburn's image in the 1935 film Sylvia Scarlett was seen by many as a lesbian representation. Yet, Amy Villarejo argues, there is no final ground upon which to explain why that image of Hepburn signifies lesbian or why such a cross-dressing Hollywood fantasy edges into collective consciousness as a lesbian narrative. Investigating what allows viewers to perceive an image or narrative as "lesbian," Villarejo presents a theoretical exploration of lesbian visibility. Focusing on images of lesbians in film, she analyzes what these representations contain and their limits. She combines Marxist theories of value with poststructuralist insights to argue that lesbian visibility operates simultaneously as an achievement and a ruse, a possibility for building a new visual politics and away of rendering static and contained what lesbian might mean. Integrating cinema studies, queer and feminist theory, and cultural studies, Villarejo illuminates the contexts within which the lesbian is rendered visible. Toward that end, she analyzes key portrayals of lesbians in public culture, particularly in documentary film. She considers a range of films—from documentaries about Cuba and lesbian pulp fiction to Exile Shanghai and The Brandon Teena Story—and, in doing so, brings to light a nuanced economy of value and desire.

“A landmark work of lesbian fiction” and the basis for the acclaimed film Desert Hearts (The New York Times). Against the backdrop of Reno, Nevada, in the late 1950s, award-winning author Jane Rule chronicles a love affair between two women. When Desert of the Heart opens, Evelyn Hall is on a plane that will take her from her old life in Oakland, California, to Reno, where she plans to divorce her husband of sixteen years. A voluntary exile in a brave new world, she meets a woman who will change her life. Fifteen years younger, Ann Childs works as a change apron in a casino. Evelyn is instantly drawn to the fiercely independent Ann, and their friendship soon evolves into a romantic relationship. An English professor who had always led a conventional life, Evelyn suddenly finds all her beliefs about love, morality, and identity called into question. Peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, this is a novel that dares to ask whether love between two women can last.

DIVJane Rule’s fourth book explores lesbianism as portrayed by authors from Gertrude Stein to Colette, from Vita Sackville-West to May Sarton and Willa Cather /divDIV Lesbian Images opens with a disclaimer from the author: “This book is not intended to be a comprehensive literary or cultural history of lesbians.” Rather, as Jane Rule goes on to tell us, her goal is to present her own attitudes and measure them against the images of lesbianism as depicted by other female authors. Thus, chapters titled “Gertrude Stein 1874–1946,” “Willa Cather 1876–1947,” and “Ivy Compton-Burnett 1892–1969,” among many others, reveal how the concept of love between women can be filtered through one’s personal experiences and perceptions./divDIV /divDIVThere are also chapters about lesbian myths and morality; the effect of the women’s movement on lesbianism; the inherent conflicts between lesbianism and feminism; how Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness changed fifteen-year-old Rule’s life; and what it means to be labeled a lesbian writer./divDIV /divDIVAt once astute and nonjudgmental, Lesbian Images is a deeply engaging work that sounds a powerful note of hope for the future. /div

"Adventures in Lesbian Philosophy contains many illuminating discussions (of S/M sex, lesbian ethics, lesbian desire, bisexuality), and includes a useful bibliography of lesbian criticism." --Passion "This new collection edited by Claudia Card includes important articles of interest to feminist philosophy relating to lesbian feminist issues and ethics." --Ethics "... a fun and engaging conceptual romp." --Journal of the History of Sexuality These essays explore diverse positive understandings of "lesbian philosophy," from contested sexual behaviors such as pornography and sadomasochism to the meaning of "lesbianism." Editor Claudia Card has also included an up-to-date bibliography of lesbian philosophy and related works.

In August 1989, Jane Rule – novelist, essayist, and the first widely recognized “public lesbian” in North America – summed up the first eight years of her correspondence with Rick Bébout, journalist and editor with the Toronto-based Body Politic: “It seems to me that what has concerned us is richly human and significantly focused on the concerns of our time and our tribe.” Rule lived in a remote rural community on Galiano Island in British Columbia but wrote a column for the magazine. Bébout was a resident of and devoted to Toronto’s gay village. A Queer Love Story presents the first fifteen years of their correspondence. At turns poignant, scintillating, and incisive, their exchanges include ruminations on queer life and the writing life as they document some of the most pressing LGBT issues and events of the 1980s and ’90s, including HIV/AIDS, censorship, youth sexuality, public sex and S/M, Toronto’s infamous bath raids, and state regulation of identity and desire.

`The creation of a new field of lesbian and gay studies over the past thirty years has been a fascinating project. This volume brings together key authors in the field in 26 major essays and provides a clear sense of just how much has been achieved. It is a guide to the state of the art, and invaluable for scholars throughout the world' - Ken Plummer, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex; and Editor of Sexualities `This book is unique in lesbian and gay studies. From politics to health, cyber-queers to queer families, the review essays in this volume cover all the important bases of GLB history and politics. The Introduction is a simple and accessible overview of the changing faces of theory and research over many decades. This book is bound to be an important resource in a burgeoning field' - Janice Irvine, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst `The Handbook of Gay and Lesbian Studies, assembled by two leading theorists of sexuality, makes available more than two dozen new cutting-edge essays in gay studies. Essential for social science scholars and students of gay/queer studies' - David F. Greenberg, Professor of Sociology, New York University With this benchmark work, lesbian and gay studies comes of age. Drawing from a rich team of global contributors and carefully structured to elucidate the core issues in the field, it constitutes an unparalleled resource for teaching, research and debate. The volume is organized into 4 sections: · History and Theory This covers the roots of lesbian and gay studies, the institutionalization of the subject in the Academy, the 'naturalness' of heterosexuality, science and sexuality, the comparative sociology of homosexualities and the heterosexual/homosexual division. · Identity and Community This examines the formation of gay and lesbian identities communities and movements, 'cyber-queer' research, sexuality and space, generational issues in lesbian and gay lifecycles and the subject of bisexuality · Institutions This investigates questions of the governance of sexualities, lesbian and gay health, sexualities and education, religion and homosexuality, homosexuality and the law, gay and lesbian workers, homosexuality and the family, and lesbian, gay and queer encounters with the media and popular culture · Politics This explores the formation of the gay and lesbian movements, impact of globalization, antigay and lesbian violence, nationalism and transnationalism in lesbian and gay studies and sexual citizenship. The result is an authoritative book that demarcates the field, stimulates critical discussion and provides lesbian and gay studies with an enriching focal reference point. It is, quite simply, a breakthrough work that will galvanize discussion and research for years to come.

An award-winning novel of lesbian identity and camaraderie amid violence and war Ruth Wheeler is the one-armed caretaker of a motley crew of boarders living in her rooming house in Vancouver, British Columbia. The miscreants and outcasts in residence include a sexually confused academic, a one-time-dope-addict-turned-law-student, a high-minded deserter of the Vietnam War, a socially conscious female radical, and a gay man on the run from the cops. Despite personal differences and a turbulent outside world teeming with police brutality, the renters’ affection for one another grows and they form a progressive and idealistic “chosen family.” However, Ruth’s devoted and assimilative spirit is put to the test when her property is slotted to be destroyed by developers. The household packs up and sails to Galiano Island, where they establish a new home, start a business, and strive to overcome the initial antipathy of their neighbors. They even decide to collectively raise a baby born from an unwanted pregnancy. Winner of the 1978 Canadian Authors Association Best Novel of the Year Award, The Young in One Another’s Arms stands as one of the most sophisticated portrayals of an alternative model for domestic life.