The situation of lesbianism as feminism's magical sign: Contests for meaning and the U.S. women's movement, 1968–1972 1

Abstract

Origin stories about the women’s movement are interested stories: they construct the present moment, and a political position in it, by invoking the history out of which that moment unfolds. The period 1968-1972 is a potent originating moment for US feminism, one frequently invoked in current feminist thinking and drawn upon as different accounts of “the women’s movement” are ideologically and rhetorically constructed. Ware talks about needs for the women’s movement to address class differences, concerns about political alliances with men, and collective identity around race. The idea that homosexuality is a choice was not always taken for granted, however, outside the feminist movement. This chapter describes lesbianism as a constantly shifting construction in the women’s movement. There is not “lesbianism” but rather many “lesbianisms” and similarly many “lesbians.” The one word situates a number of constructions, each bound in a specific moment, a political moment, a moment in time and place. It reduces the complexity of signification and accountability.