Category: 2020s

  • Lesbian perspectives on “queer”

    Lesbian perspectives on “queer”

    Being a lesbian is the least weird thing about me. An integral part of overcoming internalised homophobia many moons ago was recognising that homosexuality exists in many mammal species and throughout human history. Perhaps that’s why I started the lesbian_herstory Instagram in the first place: as a place to remind myself and other lesbians that…

  • Should dangerously homophobic countries get to host global competitions?

    Should dangerously homophobic countries get to host global competitions?

    There is no sport more synonymous with freedom than surfing. You can fight me on this. Surfers harness the waves despite the unknown deep below, tapping into the human urge to go “weeeeee!” while somehow controlling our mortal fears. Sometimes, I can’t leave my bedroom – usually after hearing of another woman murdered by a…

  • Off the Calendar: What does Trump’s billionaire boys’ club mean for lesbians?

    Off the Calendar: What does Trump’s billionaire boys’ club mean for lesbians?

    I’m the first to admit that I find months dedicated to the classes I belong to, such as Pride month, performative and kind of cringe. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against Pride gatherings or even the odd parade here or there, so long as capitalists do not sponsor them. They don’t really give a…

  • Heard of the male gaze? Get ready for the lesbian lens with Halie Torris

    Heard of the male gaze? Get ready for the lesbian lens with Halie Torris

    How does a lesbian artist express lesbian sexuality in her work when lesbian desire is usually either ignored, denied, purified or assumed to be created for men? Halie Torris’ art appeals to the legions of lesbians craving sexy depictions of ourselves through a lesbian lens. Halie Torris is a lesbian figurative painter who channels emotion…

  • Lesbian fetishism is not lesbian acceptance!

    Lesbian fetishism is not lesbian acceptance!

    Lesbian fetishism is a power move resulting from the tension of uncertainty between hatred and acceptance. A trained attack dog, running on conditioned hate, will chase blood in the enemy. But there’s a space between the attack and the dog lying on its back in acceptance of its surroundings. Lesbian fetishism, like the fetishism of…

  • Flamboyance and Fortitude: Butch-Femme Relationships in 2024

    Flamboyance and Fortitude: Butch-Femme Relationships in 2024

    Butch-Femme relationships play an important role in lesbian history. What does the Butch-Femme relationship mean today?

  • ‘I Kissed a Girl’ is better than ‘The Ultimatum: Queer Love’

    ‘I Kissed a Girl’ is better than ‘The Ultimatum: Queer Love’

    What do you think of when you read the words “I kissed a girl”? I hope it’s not the song by Katy Perry from 2008, where the singer portrays female same-sex desire as something for the male gaze. I hope it’s the recently aired BBC television show hosted by Dannii Minogue. I Kissed a Girl…

  • Is lesbian separatism possible in 2023?

    Is lesbian separatism possible in 2023?

    Q&A style posts on LesbianHerstory.com are an opportunity for readers to ask questions that serve as prompting topics for LH to write about. Questions can be advice-based, about our hot takes, asking whether we’ll cover a certain event or figure from history, or about lesbian news and media – you name it. Send your questions/prompts…

  • Lesbian Visibility Week 2023: Female Homosexuality is Not Bigoted

    Lesbian Visibility Week 2023: Female Homosexuality is Not Bigoted

    For Lesbian Day of Visibility 2023, the team behind HER’s social media celebrated by calling lesbians bigots for only finding the female sex attractive. This should go without saying, for anyone who is not a raging homophobe: lesbianism is not a choice, let alone discrimination against the male sex. You would think this poor treatment…

  • Boston Marriages and the Language of Lesbian Relationships

    Boston Marriages and the Language of Lesbian Relationships

    Maybe it was two women in your history textbook. Maybe it was your unmarried great aunt and her live-in ‘best friend’. We are all familiar with the story: two women are designated close friends by historians, family members and society, despite the pair’s decision to unite and entwine their lives like any marriage between a…