Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America

A relatively succinct, yet comprehensive history of lesbian women in America, which also touches on feminism, civil rights and relations between the gay and lesbian communities. As far as I am aware this is the most comprehensive work on lesbian history available. Faderman did extensive research and the book is rife with footnotes and comprised predominately of interviews conducted for this book.

Faderman is upfront about her biases, although her disbelief in "congenitalism" may make modern readers uncomfortable. She does seem to view the 80's as a terminal point in lesbian history, and it would be interesting to see her characterize the 90's and 00's.

On the one hand, this is a compulsively readable overview of lesbian history in America. Faderman has done a tremendous amount of research,and crafted her findings into an entertaining and enlightening narrative about the changing perception and practice of lesbian sexuality.

On the other, I have a great many problems with the assumptions and biases that color this book. I stopped reading once she reached the 60's, because she'd effectively told me everything I needed to know about her feelings on lesbian separatism and radical feminism already, and I was beginning to get irritated. Faderman acknowledges many of my larger complaints: this is, by and large, a history of white cisgender upper class women. She makes some effort, in some show more chapters, to include the experiences of African American lesbians, but only, it seems, when those experiences intersect with those of her primary subjects. Trans lesbians, at least as far as I read, don't exist. And I suspect that she has conflated the experiences of many straight trans men with those of cis lesbians, all but erasing them from history.

Just as problematic, in my mind, is her insistence that lesbianism is, above all things, driven by romantic friendship between women, and empowered by feminism. Not that those two elements aren't tremendously important, but she seems to have no interest (or even belief) in natural lesbian desire. She undercuts all references to sex and sexuality, instead making lesbianism out to be the rational choice made by a woman who wants to live independent of men. This is some old school radical feminism: lesbianism as the practice to feminism's theory. It doesn't account for a great deal, and it bothers me that it's touted here as the root of lesbian relationships.

This is still a book worth reading, but with a critical eye open at all times. show less

Lillian Faderman writes history exactly as I like to read it: full of amusing anecdotes and witty asides. The amount of research that went into this book is simply astounding, and I'm more than qualified to say so because I read the bibliography of every book I pick up. Lesbianism is a topic that everyone these days has an opinion on, and Faderman is refreshingly unbiased, even in her treatment of the homophobic psycologists of the 10s and 50s.

I zipped through Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman.

This was a good book if you’d like semi-decent coverage of a fairly large period of lesbian history. It introduced me to lesbians at different times in history and gave me an overarching idea of how immensely lesbian life and attitudes towards lesbians have shifted and changed during the last hundred-odd years in America.

I learned more about romantic friendships between women at the turn of the twentieth century—relationships that existed before anyone even knew the term “lesbian,” and which were accepted and encouraged by society.

I learned about the women—apparently mostly lesbians—who served in World show more War I. Although they were a great asset to the military, they were spied on and threatened with expulsion if their sexual orientation were discovered.

I also learned more about how lesbians fit into the second-wave feminist movement: creating lesbian communes and choosing a lesbian identity in defiance of the patriarchy.

Faderman did attempt to include the experiences of women of color in her book, although unfortunately, there is not as much information about them as I would have liked. If you want a good overview of lesbian history in America, though, this book is a good choice. show less

Longer review later. I bring tidbits from this book up all the time in discussion lately, and I'm hoping to get Sam to read it, too. Not perfect and I don't agree with everything she says, but very good, well-researched, and SO interesting.

No one chronicles the history and evolution of lesbianism as well, as precisely, or as accessibly as Lillian Faderman. If you want to know how love between women changed in the eyes of society from innocent to becoming known as "lesbianism," start with this book. Then, "Surpassing the Love of Men" is a great follow-up! -Monica

All the stars to this fabulous, easy to read, well researched, history of lesbians in 20th cent america.