you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

I've often gotten the impression that the definition of lesbian has gotten narrower over the years.

What did it mean in 1940?

1970?

2000?

By the modern definition Julie Binder is not a lesbian, despite being a very famous lesbian and very vocal about her identity.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

It’s sad but not shocking that natural, exclusive homosexual females have never represented ourselves or been allowed to have our own name separate from those who seek to co-opt our sexual orientation for their political, personal, or social ends.

“Lesbian” as she is defining it is inconsistent with the L in LGB and more consistent with the B. I can understand wanting a word that is female-leaning bisexual woman by nature and also wanting a word like FEBFem that represents the choice of female-only partners like Julie seems to have made. But to call herself L and then to say that L is a choice because I chose to be L is shitty.

She is vocal about her “identity” but as many of us are commenting, it’s not inherently an identity for us but a factual reality. Her “lesbian identity” is extremely foreign and unrelatable to me. And in the process she denies homosexuality and erases bisexuality as natural phenomena. Ultimately, she’a not merely asserting her identity, but denying our reality by conflating herself with us instead of respectfully recognizing the distinction.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Do you think the definition of lesbian has changed over time?

[–]kontreki 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

The definition of lesbian cant change and hasnt changed, no matter what the power dynamics for cultural appropriation are. It's no different then people trying to say the word "gay" has changed (when it really hasnt) because some straight or bi girl who colours her hair calls herself gay when gay just means a homosexual man. They didnt exactly contribute to creating the movement, or the word or anything and they sure as hell stayed away from it when it was associated with pedophilia until gay men were the ones to clear that up through incredible sacrifice.

Homosexual females needed a word just like homosexual males had one for themselves, so lesbian stuck. I highly doubt the word "gay" has changed or fluctuated simply because some people think it's up for grabs. The only thing that they've really managed to contribute is destroying the image of lesbians as man haters and women who are "sexually fluid" but hate men so it's more political...damaging the notion of homosexuality itself.

Lesbian, like gay, isnt getting narrower as if these people were allowed to identify as such in the first place. It's just that the word lesbian (especially the word gay) has such a gigantic, gargantuan and colossal weight to them that people like twisting and appropriating them because they have no foundations of their own to start since they dont want to lift a finger to do any hard work or sacrifice for themselves and other people that will come after them. Thats called a community. Thats the very essence of a community.

But im sure "people take the path of least resistance", so let gays and lesbians do all the hard work.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

What is that definition?

[–]kontreki 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

A homosexual female. Why does that confuse you? If someone asked you what "gay" meant, you'd know very well it meant homosexual male. You wouldnt say, "but there are some 15 year old girls who identify as gay because they dyed their hair purple"

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

What does homosexual mean?

[–]Athelhilda2 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Attracted to the same sex (males & males and females & females).

[–]MyLongestJourney 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sexually attracted to the sex that is the same as their own."Homo" in the term homosexual is from the Greek word "όμοιος" = the same.

[–]usehername 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Pat, you're on an LGB forum right now.