Experiences of Lesbian Erasure and Lesbian Invisibility

submitted by Skipdip from self.Lesbians

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]FlanJam 23 insightful - 3 fun23 insightful - 2 fun24 insightful - 3 fun -  (18 children)

The recent "bi lesbian" thing comes to mind. It still baffles me how anyone can believe in something so stupid. And those people are always claiming "lesbian" historically included bi women and so lesbian is actually an umbrella term... I don't think I need to explain everything wrong with that lol.

Another thing that really gets me is when people absolutely refuse to use the word lesbian. I've seen multiple articles that intentionally replaced the word "lesbian" with "queer". For example there was a website that interviewed a lesbian author about her new book, and every time she said lesbian they replaced it with queer. She rightfully was upset about it but I don't remember if they ever fixed it unfortunately.

[–][deleted] 24 insightful - 1 fun24 insightful - 0 fun25 insightful - 1 fun -  (15 children)

They did something similar to the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma. She commented about how whenever she used the word lesbian they tried to replace it with the word queer. I've noticed this trend in mainstream media too. It's always queer, queer, queer, and never lesbian. Sometimes I've seen people call one person LGBT+. Really? This one person is the whole acronym?

I hate the way language is being used to invisibilize lesbians and take away our culture.

[–]CJLez 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The most heartbreaking version of this was when the three gay men were murdered in Reading and Stonewall had the fucking gall to call them 'LGBT.'

[–]FlanJam 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Isn't it like a breach of journalistic integrity to change someone's words like that? Idk anything about that stuff, but I feel like it should be a big issue to change someone's words and pass it off as a quote they said.

I'm also reminded now of how a lot of lesbian artists call themselves queer of instead of lesbian. Tegan and Sara, King Princess, and Girl in Red come to mind. Now, labels are quite personal so I wouldn't dare say they need to call themselves lesbians. But its interesting how many women are averse to using "lesbian" as a label. Which is why I have a lot of respect for Hayley Kiyoko. She said she didn't like "lesbian" at first but now she wants to help normalize the word for others.

[–][deleted]  (6 children)

[deleted]

    [–]carrotcake 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

    I cannot understand when a lesbian always calls herself "queer". It doesn't say anything about your sexual orientation, it can even be a gender descriptor. It feels like a deliberate choice to hide the fact that you're only same-sex attracted. I get it when it's someone that is discovering her sexuality and isn't sure yet or when it's used sometimes, but I can't understand why it would be your go to answer when describing your sexual orientation. I personally wouldn't use in any of those cases, but some of them I understand.

    [–]FlanJam 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Part of the reason might be because of how people are pushing ~fluidity~ and bisexuality as the coolest and most progressive sexuality. Lesbian is looked down on as stogy and close-minded. I've even seen think pieces about how we don't need "lesbian" anymore smh.

    I find it both ironic and sad that so many lesbians are averse to calling themselves lesbians, meanwhile a bunch of bi women are trying to "reclaim" lesbian for themselves.

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

    if a lesbian calls herself "queer" then I know immediately that I have to avoid her at all costs, be it on a dating app or in real life. She's definitely an idiot and a coward. Pass.

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

    Yeah, I get what you mean. I don't "choose" the lesbian label, I don't "identify" as a lesbian, I just am a lesbian lol. I only use "label" because that's the language people tend to use.

    [–]spirette 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

    Interesting. Was it an English interview? Or a French interview? I'm assuming an interview in English since "queer" is not super commonly used in France (except in LGBTwtf circles). But it's growing unfortunately. I don't think most French speakers even know that "queer" means "odd". But I suppose if they knew, they wouldn't mind because deep down, that's what they (the kweerspecials ie the straights) think of us: that we are weird.

    And yeah I hate that "oh she is LGBTQ+" Like, no she isn't all these random letters put together, she is L.

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

    I remember the article with the interview being written in English but it's possible that it was translated from French. I'm almost one hundred percent certain it was originally in English though.

    [–]Innisfree 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    Here's the relevant bit .

    And here's the full interview .

    Thanks for mentioning it - was nice to revisit her thoughts.

    [–]spirette 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    thanks! :)

    [–]lovelyspearmint 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    Took a bit of digging, but this is what you're talking about?

    https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/love-dialogue-c%C3%A9line-sciamma-on-portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire

    Pretty much every review of the movie talks about how the movie is queer or is about queer love, as if lesbian is an insult.

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

    This is it! Thank you for the detective work.

    [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    Maybe it's because they're not Lesbians.

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

    King Princess is kinda hard to read, but I'm pretty darn confident the other three are lesbians. If not, I'll eat my hat lol