this was really nice!
- interesting insight into how lesbian communities existed and evolved throughout the 1940s and 50s which is actually a fairly long period.
- also interesting to see how authors discuss feminism and gay lib in their own context of the 1990s. they seem keen to refute certain ideas that were popular at the time, especially about butch/femme dynamics being inherently restrictive. they would often refer to 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' life, with some awareness of bisexuality but not very nuanced at all and only some regard for comphet (usually referenced as societal pressures driving women to marry men before or after being active in the gay community). which is more of an observation than a real criticism but it makes me glad that community building and discussion have continued.
- more historically grounded sections (how and where they gathered, how different dynamics emerged in different groups etc) were very revealing and the anecdotes helped here but sections about individuals personal lives and relationships felt gossip-y at times and i didn't fully buy into the authors' conclusions
- lesbians are great. so neat