Summary
Contents
Subject index
The new edition of Key Concepts in Gender Studies is a lively and engaging introduction to this dynamic field. Thoroughly revised throughout, the second edition benefits from the addition of nine new concepts including Gender Social Movements, Intersectionality and Mainstreaming. Each of the entries: • begins with a concise definition • outlines the history of each term and the debates surrounding it • includes illustrations of how the concept has been applied within the field • offers examples which allow a critical re-evaluation of the concept • is cross-referenced with the other key concepts • ends with guidance on further reading. A must-buy for undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of social science and humanities disciplines.
Lesbian Continuum/Lesbian Feminism
Lesbian Continuum/Lesbian Feminism
‘Lesbian continuum’ was a phrase coined by Adrienne Rich in her pathfinding essay ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ (1986b). Rich’s notion of ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ extends the definition of lesbian beyond that of sexual identity to encompass the homosocial bonds between women. In order to counter the numerous ways in which lesbian experiences and existence have been made invisible, and because of the difficulty of unearthing distinctly ‘lesbian’ experiences and events from the past in the wake of ‘heteroreality’, Rich proposes that a lesbian continuum could include all women-identified experiences that women encounter in their lives.
This notion became an important one in lesbian feminism, even as it was highly controversial: it provides a way of envisaging a lesbian history without putting ...
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