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A Woman's CoffeeHouse

Notability

A Women’s Coffeehouse was a Minneapolis-based coffeehouse founded in 1975, with the primary function of supporting the Twin Cities lesbian community (Enke). The coffeehouse served to promote the growth of women-run groups in the Twin Cities. Local music groups, women’s unions, and athletic leagues were all known to frequent the space during its 14-year run as a primary meeting place (Enke). Due to the widespread use of this space by the lesbian and feminist communities, and because it was one of the first of it’s kind, the coffeehouse is one of the “most celebrated and notorious of feminist institutions in Minneapolis” (Butler). The coffeehouse was operated by the Coffeehouse Collective until its closure in September of 1989.

Contents:


 * History


 * Demography

History

The coffee house was founded in the basement of the Plymouth Congregational Church in 1975 by a local feminist group (Butler). Originally just a fundraiser for the Lesbian Resource Center, it became a hub for grassroots feminist/lesbian groups. These groups would gather weekly to protest in a safe environment (UMN archive). Their meetings were a direct result of the growing “sex negative” anti-pornography movement in the Twin Cities and the rest of the United states (Butler). While their actions were being described as “sex-negativity” at the time, the Coffeehouse actually was a place for women to congregate and lead all-women activities. It was also a space for women to discuss core issues of the feminist movement including reproductive control and homophobia (Butler).

Demography

The Coffeehouse’s clientele featured a variety of women from children to the elderly, but the majority of members were lesbians and women who identified as feminist between the ages of 22- 35 (Butler). Though A Women’s Coffeehouse was a prominent space for the Twin Cities lesbian and feminist communities, inequality was present within the space. The majority of attendees were white and middle-to-upper class (Enke). These women were private about their sexuality, despite the potential open and accepting environment. Though the Coffeehouse prided itself on acceptance, racial and socioeconomic disparities were present; it was run by a white women’s coalition (Butler).

1)Enke, Anne. “Smuggling Sex Through the Gates: Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of Space in Second Wave Feminism.” American Quarterly, Johns Hopkins University Press, 11 Dec. 2003, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/49765.

2)Butler, Pamela. “Sex and the Cities: Reevaluating 1980s Feminist Politics in Minneapolis and St. Paul.” Queer Twin Cities, University Of Minnesota Press, 2010, pp. 203–239. https://www.academia.edu/37595102/Sex_and_the_Cities_Reevaluating_1980s_Feminist_Politics_in_Minneapolis_and_St._Paul

3)A Woman’s Coffeehouse Collective records, 1976-1985, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis. https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/2011 Accessed December 05, 2019.