Talk:Lesbian literature

Lesbian literature section improvements
While this article contains some good information, the overview section on lesbian literature does not contain enough sources to back up what the writer is saying. At least for the paragraph about the limited availability of lesbian lit outside of tiny lesbian publishers, I found an article that can back up the statements. Here's the citation if anyone is interested in checking the article out before I add it to the article: [1]. If any other editors have another thoughts on this, please let me know.

Tisamerefleshwound (talk) 23:42, 11 September 2016 (UTC)tisamerefleshwound

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070707032318/http://www.brenthartinger.com/pi.html to http://www.brenthartinger.com/pi.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101118083427/http://www.ncac.org:80/literature/related/19960501~USA~Books_in_Trouble_2.cfm to http://www.ncac.org/literature/related/19960501~USA~Books_in_Trouble_2.cfm

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Expansion and improvement
I've expanded the article a bit. It could still use some work on discussing writers outside Europe and the U.S., as well as more info on any changes brought by third wave feminism and the 21st century. I'll probably keep chipping away at it, but feel free to add any additional input or contributions! ABF99 (talk) 17:16, 13 January 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 4 external links on Lesbian literature. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Diana_Frederics%3A_Diana%2C_A_Strange_Autobiography%2C_1939
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA300723
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.ncac.org/literature/related/19960501~USA~Books_in_Trouble_2.cfm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071023174338/http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleId=CA153035 to http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleId=CA153035

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Why is Elizabeth Bishop not mentioned
Why is Elizabeth Bishop not mentioned. 77.241.136.50 (talk) 15:01, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Why don't you do it? If you can edit the talk page you can add material to the article -- all you have to do is also include reliable sources that support the content. Pyxis Solitary   (yak) . L not Q. 08:47, 11 September 2022 (UTC)

Why aren't writings by men considered lesbian literature?
I assume men's works typically do not fall under the category of lesbian literature due to differing perspectives and experiences. But then, why use the painting by John William Godward titled 'Reverie (or In the Days of Sappho)'? Godward was a man.

Secondly, there is a general consensus that KamalKumar Majumdar’s 'Mallika Bahar,' published in the Bengali periodical 'Chaturanga' in 1951, is one of the *first* Bengali short stories specifically dealing with lesbianism. Perhaps its so-called explicitness, which now seems surprisingly tame by contemporary standards, contributes to this recognition. Arxms (talk) 08:55, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

Secondly, the prominent authors mentioned in the article are: Sappho of Lesbos, Beguines, Hildegarde of Bingen, Hadewijch, Margery Kempe, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, Wu Tsao, Vernon Lee, Amy Levy, Anne Lister, Susan Koppelman, Constance Fenimore Woolson, Octave Thanet, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Kate Chopin, Sarah Orne Jewett, Christina Rossetti, Charlotte Brontë, Vita Sackville-West, Emily Dickinson, Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper (pen name: Michael Field), Radclyffe Hall, Elsa Gidlow, Nathalie Barney, Gertrude Stein, Djuna Barnes, Renee Vivien, Nobuko Yoshiya, Virginia Woolf, Selli Engler, Maximiliane Ackers, Ruth Margarete Roellig, Anna Elisabet Weirauch, Amy Lowell, Ruth Fuller Field, Frances V. Rummell, Jane Bowles, Tereska Torrès, Ann Bannon, Patricia Highsmith, Violette Leduc, Jane Rule, May Sarton, Maureen Duffy, Rita Mae Brown, Jill Johnston, Audre Lorde, Jewelle Gomez, Paula Gunn Allen, Cherrie Moraga,  Gloria Anzaldua, Ann Allen Shockley, Joanna Russ, Adrienne Rich, Judy Grahn, Alma Routsong, Anita Cornwell, Nancy Cardenas, Magaly Alabau, Mercedes Roffe, Alejandra Pizarnik, Cristina Peri Rossi, Johanna Moosdorf, Marlene Stenten, Christa Reinig, Verena Stefans, Luise F. Pusch, Eleanor Wong, Qiu Miaojin, Lin Bai, Chen Ran, Aska Mochizuki, Natsuo Kirino, Abha Dawesar, Elham Mansour, Frieda Ekotto, Ama Ata Aidoo, Alice Walker, Dorothy Allison, Sarah Waters, Carolyn Parkhurst, Jeanette Winterson, Rosa Guy, Sandra Scoppettone, Judy Blume, Nancy Garden, M.E. Kerr, Nina Revoyr, Jacqueline Woodson, Ellen Wittlinger, Paula Boock, Emily M. Danforth -- all of them females. I did notice upon close inspection that there are a handful of male authors mentioned. If they are to be included, there should be a separate section specifically for them. As for using the painting of Sappho by John William Godward -- it's probably because at the time it was added to the article Wikimedia Commons may not have had a notable painting of Sappho by a female artist. I would have no issue in substituting Godward's with File:Amanda Brewster Sewell, Sappho, 1891.jpg by Amanda Brewster Sewell, or File:Maria Hadfield Cosway - Sappho - Google Art Project.jpg, or File:Brygos Painter ARV 385 228 Alkaios and Sappho - Dionysos and maenad (08).jpg. Pyxis Solitary  (yak yak). Ol' homo. 08:43, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
 * First off, the article states: "" I haven't read the short story Mallika Bahar by Bengali author Kamalkumar Majumdar, and don't how it presents lesbianism and if it is (or not) written with a male gaze.
 * I would support an image change. The Sewell one is good. I would hold off on the vase image, which I nominated for deletion at Commons (all are welcome to contribute at the discussion there, I'm not 100% sure I'm right). Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 15:15, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I was wrong about the vase image. Good to use it if we want. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 04:05, 2 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Do sources refer to Majumdar's work as lesbian literature? I think that's the bar here. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 15:15, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, at least three sources support this claim.
 * Farid Ahmed from ' sylhettoday24' writes that (I'm translating):
 *  "...a man going to multiple women or vice versa is not unprecedented or rare in Bengali literature. There have been many literary works on this. But, Mallika Bahar went beyond these and brought out the forbidden relationship of one woman with another woman in Bengali literature. No one else seems to have had the courage, desire, or imagination to write on this subject before." 
 * Chinmay Guho from Anandabazar Patrika writes that (translating, again):
 * "I don't know how he managed to write a flamboyant female homosexual story like ' Mallika Bahar ' in the early fifties..."
 * Lastly, Somesh Roy briefly discuss this topic on his PhD thesis (page 98 - 110). [ Somesh, R. (2019). Flawed Bodies: A Study of Gender Performances, Subversions, and Formation of Sexual Identities. (Accession No: 304926) [PhD Thesis]. University of North Bengal. http://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/3965 ]
 * I believe  'Mallika Bahar' significantly focus on lesbian themes rather than just touching it briefly or portraying the women merely as sexual objects for the enjoyment of heterosexual male readers.
 * Plus, I agree with @Pyxis Solitary 's idea of having a dedicated section for literature on lesbian themes written by men.Arxms (talk) 14:37, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I also think a section on literature on lesbian themes written by men would resolve the issue. ABF992 (talk) 15:53, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Only the second source is really usable here. Not sure it's enough. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 04:05, 2 February 2024 (UTC)

Fannie Flagg is a great example of a lesbian author
One of her iconic works of lesbian literature is Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Shop Cafe. 24.105.221.234 (talk) 19:54, 18 February 2024 (UTC)