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Essential Books for Women
Brown Eyes:
While I'm at it... I'm going to post two more. These books have already been mentioned in a thread that Milli and I started together over in Culture Tent about lesbian literature and writing. But, I think, in many ways they could be of general interest to gay, straight and bi- women because of their interesting take on women's history and literature. Both are by, or edited by Lillian Faderman.
One is called, Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present (1994)
The title comes from a famous passage in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, 1929. (A Room... was first written/delivered as a lecture)- " I turned the page and read... I am so sorry to break off so abruptly. Are there no men present? Do you promise me that behind that curtain over there the figure of Sir Chartres Biron is not concealed? We are all women, you assure me? Then I may tell you that the very next words I read were these - 'Chloe liked Olivia'... Do not start. Do not blush. Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women."
And, this is the blurb from the back of the book:
"Chloe Plus Olivia is an anthology of four centuries of lesbian literature, with each piece set in historical and literary context. The most complete compilation of its kind, it offers an enlightening review of the shifting concept of lesbian literature itself, followed by examples of six different genres: Romantic Friendship, Sexual Inversion, Exotic and Evil Lesbians, Lesbian Encoding, Lesbian Feminism and Post-Lesbian Feminism. Authors included range from Katherine Philips in the seventeenth century and Emily Dickinson in the nineteenth century to Audre Lorde and Dorothy Allison in the twentieth century. With a historical scope enhanced by Faderman's personal search for a definition of lesbian literature, Chloe Plus Olivia is certain to become the reference point from which all subsequent studies of lesbian writing will begin."
The second book is called: To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done for America - A History (1999)
The cover photo depicts Carrie Chapman Catt who was the president of NAWSA (the National American Woman Suffrage Association- the country's biggest and most historic suffrage association) at the time that the 19th Amendment finally passed in 1920. The book talks about a range of suffragists. It also talks about two major figures from my two alma maters. Mary Woolley who was president of Mount Holyoke College in the early 20th century and M.Carey Thomas who was president of Bryn Mawr College from the late 19th c. into the early 20th c.... both of whom were pretty open lesbians. The book also talks about well-known figures such as Jane Addams.
Here's the blurb from the back of the book:
"This landmark work of lesbian history focuses on how certain late-nineteenth century and twentieth-century women whose lives can be described as lesbian were in the forefront of the battle to secure the rights and privileges that large numbers of Americans enjoy today. Lillian Faderman persuasively argues that their lesbianism may in fact have facilitated their accomplishments. A book of imeccable research and compelling reading, To Believe in Women will be a source of enlightenment for all, and for many a singular source of pride."
Front-Ranger:
Goodbye to Marilyn French, author of the bestselling 1977 book The Women's Room. She died of heart failure today.
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