Overview
The lives of many lesbians who grew up before 1965 remain cloaked in mystery. Historians have turned the spotlight on upper-middle-class ""romantic friendships"" and on working-class lesbian bars, but the lives of the lower-middle-class majority remain in the shadows. Drawing on a rich collection of archival sources and interviews, Awfully Devoted Women offers a nuanced portrait of middle-class lesbianism in English Canada in the decades before the gay rights movement. Accounts and explorations of these women's sexual practices, thoughts on same-sex desire, and relations with friends and family unveil a world of private relationships, house parties, and discreet social networks. This intimate study of the lives of women forced to love in secret not only challenges the idea that lesbian relationships in the past were asexual, it also reveals the courage it took for women to explore desire in an era when they were supposed to know little about sexuality.
Full Product Details
Author: Cameron Duder
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
Imprint: University of British Columbia Press
Weight: 0.480kg
ISBN: 9780774817394
ISBN 10: 0774817399
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 01 January 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
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Reviews
Awfully Devoted Women tells the awfully interesting stories of two groups of Canadian women - upper-middle-class professionals from the first half of the twentieth century and lower-middle class women in the postwar period - who fill in the gaps between romantic friendship and the working-class bar culture. By showing us women who kept their desire and love for women private, yet could locate others like themselves, Duder helps to transform our understanding of the closet.- Leila J. Rupp, professor of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Awfully Devoted Women tells the awfully interesting stories of two groups of Canadian women - upper-middle-class professionals from the first half of the twentieth century and lower-middle class women in the postwar period - who fill in the gaps between romantic friendship and the working-class bar culture. By showing us women who kept their desire and love for women private, yet could locate others like themselves, Duder helps to transform our understanding of the closet.<br>- Leila J. Rupp, professor of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN > An excellent contribution to canadian lesbian historiography and to the growing literature on gender and sexuality. Highly recommended. -- D.A. Chekki, University of Winnipeg CHOICE, Vol. 48, No. 3 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN > Engaging and accessible without slacking on the analysis, this book is required reading for anybody with an interest in the history of lady-lovin' ladies. -- Kate Zieman QueeriesMag.com
Author Information
Cameron Duder is an independent researcher based in Vancouver. His research interests include sexuality, transgender studies, and the history of mental health.
