The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman

Abstract

This essay grew out of an earlier one called "The Mythic Lesbian and the New Woman: Power, Sexuality and Legitimacy," written with Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and presented by us at the Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Vassar College, June 16, 1981. A revised version of that paper has appeared in French under the title "Le Mythe de la lesbienne et la femme nouvelle," in Strategies desfemmes (Paris: Editions Tierce, 1984). The French collection is forthcoming in English from Indiana University Press. SmithRosenberg's further use of this material will appear as chap. 9, "The New Woman and the Mannish Lesbian: Gender Disorder and Social Control," in her book The New Woman and the Troubled Man (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., in press). Developing the Radclyffe Hall material independently, I drew conclusions that do not represent Smith-Rosenberg's thinking and for which she is in no way responsible. But we workedjointly for two years, and I am in her debt for all I learned from her as historian and for her unflagging support. I am also indebted to the members of the Purchase women's studies seminar, particularly Mary Edwards, Suzanne Kessler, and Louise Yellin, who read drafts and made helpful suggestions, as did David M. Schneider, Carole Vance, Wendy McKenna, and especially Amber Hollibaugh. I thank the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York, where I did early research, and Jan Boney for technical help. And for another kind of insight and support, without which this paper might never have been written, I thank the women of the B. group.