The Politics of Lesbian Specificity

ABSTRACT

The notion of lesbian specificity must be understood in the context of heteronormative society. Heterosexual norms affect negotiations of power and sexual desire in lesbian relationships. But this investigation into woman-to-woman sexual practices also views the possibility of lesbian specificity as potentially subversive, in the sense that it poses fundamental questions about conventional discourses on sexuality and eroticism.     

凌叔华和丁玲的两部同性恋小说的主题差异

凌叔华的《说有这么一回事》和丁玲的《暑假中》都是描写女同性恋生活的作品。两部小说虽然有着主题上的某种一致性,但更有着主题表达上的些许差异。前者的主要意图是表达旧的传统势力的强大和女性同盟消亡的迫不得已,而后者则敏锐地捕捉到女性自身的局限才是导致女性同盟破裂的主要原因。这种差异与作者本人的思想、经历有很大关系。     

Same-Sex Relationships in Yorùbá Culture and Orature

It is widely believed that lesbianism and homosexuality are foreign concepts and colonial imports to Sub-Saharan Africa. This popular view is not unconnected with hegemonic heterosexual orientation of the society. The pitfall of heterosexual orientation, which hinges on politics of sexual representation, is worth an academic investigation. Therefore, this study seeks to close the analytical gap by examining Yorùbá oral literature, which is regarded as the repertoire of their traditional and cultural beliefs and nuances, to unravel the subject of lesbianism and homosexuality from a sociological approach.

Drawing on interviews and oral literature, this article examines the vital ideas of lesbianism and gay culture among the Yorùbá people of southwestern Nigeria. This article argues that the preconceived obscenity of lesbianism and homosexuality among the Yorùbá hinges on the culture of silence within the cultural milieu of the people. The study concludes that the representation of lesbianism and gay in diverse oral literature, as the repertoire of people's experiences and worldview, rubberstamped its presence and practices in the Yorùbá society.     

Sexual Orientation and Sexual Health Care Needs: A Comparison of Women Beneficiaries in Outpatient Military Health Care Settings

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study are to compare the sexual concerns, interest and experiences in discussing these concerns with their doctor for women of “Only Men” and “Some to Only Women” sexual orientation. A survey was mailed to women patients from two military outpatient settings, with 1,196 women responding. Of eligible respondents (N = 1,170), 90% reported “Only Men” and 10% reported “Some to Only Women” sexual orientation. Sexual concerns varied by sexual orientation, while interest and experience in discussing sexual concerns and desire for physicians to initiate the topic differed minimally. Women with “Some to Only Women” sexual orientation have both similar and differing sexual concerns compared to “male-only” oriented women. Larger primary care patient-based studies of sexual health care needs of sexual minorities are needed.     

The Inquisitorial Trial of a Cross-Dressing Lesbian: Reactions and Responses to Female Homosexuality in 18th-Century Portugal

This article analyzes the inquisitorial trial of Maria Duran, a Catalan novice in the Dominican convent of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso in Portugal. Maria Duran was arrested by the Inquisition in 1741 and, after a lengthy trial, condemned in 1744 to a public lashing and exile. She was suspected of having made a pact with the Devil and was accused by many female witnesses of possessing a “secret penis” that she had allegedly used in her amorous relations with fellow nuns and novices. Her voluminous trial dossier offers a rare and fascinating documentary insight into the often extreme reactions that female homosexuality provoked from both men and women in early modern Portugal. Using the evidence offered by the 18th-century trial of Maria Duran, this article highlights female bewilderment when faced with female-on-female sexual violence and the difficulty that men (in this case, churchmen) had coming to terms with the existence of female homosexuality. It also discusses the case in light of the acts/identity debate among historians of the history of sexuality.     

孤独的陌生人--试论陈染小说《私人生活》的个人化

<私人生活>使陈染成为一名以个人化写作为标志的女性作家.<私人生活>着重书写女性的精神之旅,体现了陈染的超性别意识,此外西方的文学、哲学对陈染有着深刻的影响.这些因素是陈染小说个人化的主要原因.     

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess: Reception of the Texts by a Sample of Lesbian Fans and Web Site Users

This qualitative study of television reception examined the ways in which a sample of lesbian fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess incorporated their experiences as viewers, fans, and Internet users with relation to their sexual identity as lesbians. Specifically, this study examined the ways in which participants used these television programs to inform their sexual identity development. Results indicated that participants used television and the Internet to normalize and affirm lesbian experience, to decrease negative feelings regarding their lesbian identities, and to decrease social isolation.     

Developing Lesbian Identity: A Sociohistorical Approach

The process of construction of lesbian identity in a group of eight Spanish women is analyzed from a historical–cultural perspective. For that purpose, we provide a characterization of discourses about homosexuality in Spain and the way in which these discourses are intertwined with autobiographical narratives of the participants. The participants' life stories were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. We focused on the relationship between self and lesbianism and emphasized the themes related to identity issues (development of lesbian identity and reflections about identity). As a conclusion, we stress the need to deconstruct stigmatizing discourses about homosexuality for the development of a positive personal identity.     

《父亲的微笑之光》的女性主义解读

美国黑人女性主义文学与批评是当代西方文学与批评领域的新思潮。黑人女性主义小说家和女性主义批评家用自己的亲身经历和实践经验进行文学创作,集批判种族、阶级与性别歧视于一身,建构了独具特色的文学与批评理论。在艾丽丝·沃克的新作《父亲的微笑之光》中,由于父亲假借爱的名义对女儿行使“所有权”,致使女儿终身落寞。经过一系列曲折的人生轨迹,父女终于实现了灵魂上的和解。本文就“一个令人震惊的祝福”为切入点,对作品进行女性主义解读。     

中国现代文学女性同性之爱的叙事与性别

20世纪20、30年代在中国诞生了一批表现女性同性之爱的作品,但长期以来被人们忽视和遗忘。对这一批作品进行集中的阅读和比较分析,其主旨就是重建当年的文化脉络,探讨中国现代女性同性之爱文学的独特形态和政治文化价值,勘察男女两性作家在同一题材上所呈现的结构差异以及这种差异形成的历史与现实文化成因。