week 11 learning outcomes lesbians in lit n film (post feminist fiction)

- lesbian love poetry is less likely now to be presented in a political context.

In post lesbian-feminism times it focuses mostly exclusively on women's sexual passion for eachother.- the younger generation frequently attempts a lighter tone and a looser set of prescriptions for behavior.- always had to be described by others now ok its enough they had to do it themselves

- The biggest conflict bt these two eras is the literary representation of lesbian sexuality

- these new era lesbians are far less critical of males bc many of them believe that w the success of feminism-- women are no longer victimized by men.- many post-lesbian-feminists see themselves as forming alliances with men, especially gay men, with whom they share common enemies.-

writers who were part of the lesbian-feminist movement, such as Joan Nestle, Pat Califia, and Susie Bright came to feel that this kind of representation was colorless and boring. - they criticized the lesbian-feminist conception of sexuality for excluding, in its attempt to be politically correct, a whole section of fulfilling and important sexual expressions.

- "danger" is presented now only as a stimulant to pleasure--and the the lesbian reader is the one who is now pleasured by this literature rather than the straight male, who was often the targeted reader of literature about lesbians in other eras- lesbian sexual appetite is now often celebrated! the more the better!- those who align themselves with the pro-sex side believe that female empowerment is dependent mostly on a woman's right to sexual exploration, experimentation, and expression.

the lesbian vampire who was a staple in earlier literature that villainized the lesbian, becomes a cultural icon, a force for good, in the work of contemporary lesbian writers such as Katherine Forrest and Jewelle Gomez.

- "Queer Nation" became the harbinger of queer style, with its "in your face" approach to homophobes and all forms of orthodox thinking.- Queer aesthetics are a calculated attempt to outrage the conventional and complacent by unorthodox dress, music, writing, and other cultural expressions.- Queer style represents determination to redefine what it means to be a sexual outlaw.- The queer aesthetic is colorful and untame - it is manifested in literature by outrageous subject matter and a queer chauvinism (excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for ones own cause, gorup, gender)- Queer ethics are as critical of the older generation as are queer aesthetics, claiming that gay liberation was a male-dominated, white, middle-class movement and that lesbian-feminism was barely better.

.. it pretty much excluded people of color, the working class, and all "queers: who didn;t fit their narrow precepts- "Queer" is meant to be inclusive of not only forward-thinking lesbians and gays but all manner of sexual outlaws

- The New Queers refuse to believe in the simple binary division between homo and hetero just as much as they refuse to believe in appropriate gender behavior- Queers often play with gender, viewing it as little more than performance.

- Lesbians of color have found significant voice in the new climate, speaking not only to other lesbians of color but also to white lesbians who are eager to understand racial and ethnic difference- much of the literature of lesbians of color explores the difficulties in bridging their various differences as both lesbians and members of racial communities!!!!-- HOW CAN THEY TRUST EITHER THEIR RACIAL OR LESBIAN COMMUNITIES WHEN THEY SUSPECT THE FORMER OF BEING HOMOPHOBIC AND THE LATTER OF BEING RACIST?

- this anthology brought together the work of women of color, many of whom were lesbian, there has been a great flowering of literature that explores such questions--that flowering has included a proliferation of writing by groups that were almost silent in earlier eras, such as Asian and Native American lesbians- to the white lesbian reader this literature is a call to conscience as well as a revelation of forms of oppression different from, yet similar to their own