Romantic Friendship? Some Issues in Researching Lesbian History and Biography
1992; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 1; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/0961202920010201
ISSN1747-583X
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural History and Identity Formation
ResumoABSTRACT The main feminist conceptualisation of women's close relationships from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century characterises these as ‘romantic friendships’ and argues that a stereotype of ‘the lesbian’ was invented by sexologists such as Havelock Ellis and applied to these relationships in order to condemn them. A number of pieces of primary research are presented which suggest that this approach is highly problematic. In the case of Emily Wilding Davison's close relationship with Mary Leigh there is simply too little historical evidence to be able to draw any conclusions as to its character or its meaning for the women concerned. In addition, Edith Lees Ellis has been seen as a woman whose romantic friendships were ‘morbidified’ as lesbianism by her husband Havelock Ellis, although in this case archival evidence clearly shows that she certainly saw herself as a ‘invert’. And relatedly, the same archival source also shows that some women experienced their sexuality in ‘mannish’ terms in the absence of any evidence of an influence on them of the pejorative writings of sexologists. Rather than premature theoretical generalisation, what is needed is more primary research on particular women's close relationships and the social context in which these were located.
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