Lesbians and other women-loving-women have for a long time had the ability to hide in plain sight by taking to the public stage. When women were expected to only dress in skirts, a trousered role was a break – if one oriented in fantasy and performance – from the norm of heterosexual femininity. Playing aContinue reading “Lesbians on Stage: Costumes and Cross-Dressing”
Author Archives: Eleanor Medhurst
Assertion: Sensible Footwear is Lesbian Camp
This post was born from thoughts about the stereotypes and signifiers of lesbianism and lesbian fashion. I think that these two things – stereotypes and signifiers – are related, but definitely not the same when placed in the lesbian context. While some things may be and remain stereotypes, they do not always work as signifiers,Continue reading “Assertion: Sensible Footwear is Lesbian Camp”
Lesbian Rebellion and the Lavender Menace
The Lavender Menace, which later reformed as Radicalesbians, was a group of lesbian feminist activists. It was created as a response to famous feminist author Betty Friedan’s assertion that lesbians were a “lavender menace” and that they would undermine the women’s movement. Her statement led to the exclusion of lesbians and lesbian issues from theContinue reading “Lesbian Rebellion and the Lavender Menace”
Black Butch Wonder: The Clothing of Stormé Delarverie
There are many stories, opinions and think-pieces about Stormé Delarverie floating around the internet, many of them arguing what her role was in the Stonewall uprisings of 1969 or, more recently, her pronouns/gender identity. As a precursor to this post, I want to state that I have thought about these discourses and, as Delarverie wasContinue reading “Black Butch Wonder: The Clothing of Stormé Delarverie”
Cottagecore Lesbians and the Landdyke Legacy
Cottagecore is the aesthetic buzzword of 2020, and cottagecore lesbians are in abundance. It’s rooted in many things, and is currently taking many forms, but it’s the link to lesbian culture and lesbian modes of dressing that I want to discuss here. There are links between cottagecore and so many manifestations of lesbian existence –Continue reading “Cottagecore Lesbians and the Landdyke Legacy”
Subverting Pink
I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on the ways that pink has been reclaimed within queer clothing, by women loving women and trans and non-binary individuals. This is a topic that I have reframed for conference papers and a journal submission (which hasn’t been published yet, so this blog post is going to be slightly moreContinue reading “Subverting Pink”
From Anne Lister’s Closet: the LBD (Lesbian Black Dress)
Anne Lister (1791-1840) is known to us, in the 21st century, as being the first modern lesbian. She is known as a diarist, an entrepreneur, a woman who “married” another woman and wrote all about it in code. Considerable works have analysed the writings that she left behind after her death, and since 1988 andContinue reading “From Anne Lister’s Closet: the LBD (Lesbian Black Dress)”
Introducing Dressing Dykes
Lesbian fashion history is a field of study that is largely ignored, and it is time for this to change. Within LGBTQ histories and fashion histories, the dress of lesbianism is invisible (alongside lesbianism itself the majority of the time). Clothing has so much to tell us and so much of an impact can beContinue reading “Introducing Dressing Dykes”
Dressing Dykes 