Lesbian Nation
 | |
| Author | Jill Johnston |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 283 |
| ISBN | 0-671-21433-0 |
| OCLC | 627573 |
Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution is a 1973 book by the radical lesbian feminist author and cultural critic Jill Johnston. Originally, Johnston published the work as a series of essays in The Village Voice from 1969 to 1972.[1] In 1973, Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution was released as a book, and is considered the manifesto of the lesbian separatist movement.[2]
Thesis
[edit]In the book Johnston outlines her vision of radical lesbian feminism. She argues in favor of lesbian separatism, since she believes lesbianism is the only true position for radical feminism.[3] Johnston writes that women should make a total break from men and male-dominated capitalist institutions.[4] In an interview with The Lesbian Tide, she said that lesbians are already forming the society from Lesbian Nation, they just don’t realize it because they are living it.[5] Johnston also wrote that female heterosexuality was a form of collaboration with patriarchy. In fact, Johnston herself has said that a key message of the book is all women are lesbians.[6] Writing in the Gay & Lesbian Review in 2007, Johnston summarized her views:
Once I understood the feminist doctrines, a lesbian separatist position seemed the commonsensical position, especially since, conveniently, I was an L-person. Women wanted to remove their support from men, the "enemy" in a movement for reform, power and self-determination.[7]
Reception
[edit]The book inspired other lesbian feminist groups. For example, a group of lesbian feminists in Amsterdam named themselves Lesbian Nation in 1976. They chose this name as a nod to Johnston’s book.[8] But not all lesbians liked Johnston’s work. Writing in The Chicago Tribune, Jane Howard reviewed Lesbian Nation. She wished that Johnston would’ve taken a more analytical approach than her typical avant-garde one. That way, there would be more concrete answers in the book than just the theorizing Johnston published.[9] Scholars have explained that a commitment to separatism means there is a lack of intersectional analysis, which leads to a focus on the concerns of white women alone.[10] Even with the debates over Lesbian Nation, readers can understand that the criteria for such a society was contested throughout the 70s. Some lesbians would not like Johnston’s criteria whereas others would.[11] For instance, in Lavender Woman, Susan Edwards reviewed the book and explained that she felt a "deep seated identification with Jill Johnston."[12]
22 years after Lesbian Nation’s publishing, Becki L. Ross wrote the book The House That Jill Built: A Lesbian Nation in Formation, which analyzes the history of the lesbian feminist movement.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Grimes, William (September 21, 2010). "Jill Johnston, Critic Who Wrote 'Lesbian Nation,' Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- ^ "Was Lesbian Separatism Inevitable". The Gay & Lesbian Review. March 1, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
- ^ "Lesbian nation / Jill Johnston | Pacifica Radio Archives". www.pacificaradioarchives.org. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
- ^ Grimes, William (September 21, 2010). "Jill Johnston, Critic Who Wrote 'Lesbian Nation,' Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
- ^ "Jill Johnston" (PDF). The Lesbian Tide. July 1973. pp. 5–7, 24. Retrieved November 17, 2024. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- ^ "Jill Johnston" (PDF). The Lesbian Tide. July 1973. pp. 5–7, 24. Retrieved November 17, 2024. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- ^ "Was Lesbian Separatism Inevitable?". The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
- ^ Littel, Noah (2022-01-02). "Playing the game of lesbian imagination: radical lesbian feminist organising in the Dutch Lesbian Nation". Women's History Review. 31 (1): 68–87. doi:10.1080/09612025.2021.1954335. ISSN 0961-2025.
- ^ Howard, Jane (April 1, 1973). "The case for dykedom: provocative, but not always logical". The Chicago Tribune. pp. G2. Retrieved November 17, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- ^ Jennings, Rebecca; Millward, Liz (January 2, 2022). "Introducing Lesbian Nation". Women's History Review. 31 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1080/09612025.2021.1954331. ISSN 0961-2025.
- ^ "From lesbian nation to queer nation - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
- ^ Edwards, Susan (May 1973). "Lesbian Nation". Lavender Woman. 2 (3): 9 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Ross, Beck L. (1995). The House That Jill Built: A Lesbian Nation in Formation. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-671-21433-0.
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