Introduction

From Lesbianism and the Women's Movement, edited by Nancy Myron & Charlotte Bunch (Diana Press, 1975), pp. 9-13.

Four years have passed since New York Radicalesbians issued the "Woman-Identified-Woman" paper--probably the earliest statement of lesbian-feminist politics. It has been two or three years since most of these Furies articles were written. Yet, lesbian-feminist politics is still relatively unknown and often misunderstood among feminists. Even for lesbians, there is little collective sense of the history of our struggles from one city to another, from one year to another.

This collection of articles presents part of that history: A segment reflected through The Furies, a lesbian-feminist collective and newspaper in Washington DC. Written over a two-year period, the articles were authored by members of the collective and/or appeared in the newspaper. Each article discusses different questions raised by lesbian-feminist politics: heterosexual privilege, lesbian separatism, bisexuality, etc. The importance of these issues in the on-going debate over lesbianism and feminism makes this book much more than an historical relic. It is grist for the political mill.

The essence of lesbian-feminist politics is that lesbianism is political. Sounds simple. Yet, most feminists still view lesbianism as a personal decision or at best as a civil rights concern or a cultural phenomenon. Lesbianism is more than a question of civil rights and culture, although the daily discrimination against lesbians is real and its alleviation through civil libertarian reforms important. Similarly, although lesbianism is a primary force in the emergence of a dynamic women's culture, it is much more. Lesbian-feminist politics is a political critique of the institution and ideology of heterosexuality as a primary cornerstone of male supremacy. It is an extension of the analysis of sexual politics into an analysis of sex itself as an institution. it is a commitment to women as a political/economic strategy leading to power for women, not just an "alternative community."

We are often told that "the lesbian issue" has made much progress since 1970. True, it is now on the agenda at many feminist meetings, articles use the word, lesbians don't have to hid--all the time that is--and we have more visible communities. For these small blessings, we can give thanks. However in examining the content of most discussions and articles about lesbianism, there is a reason to pause in our prayers. Most positive discussions are personal, cultural, or civil rights oriented--all fine but an avoidance of the deeper political analysis. The other references to lesbianism usually boil down to an attack on our politics, whether in subtle or blatant form.

A recent experience forced me to realize that lesbian-feminism has not sunk deep roots in feminist soil. I was reading part of a thesis by a long-time feminist writer; her chapter on lesbianism ignored its political significance and focused on the personal conflicts between straights and gays. She admitted that she had not read lesbian-feminist political writings and didn't see the "lesbian issue" as political. I concluded that our politics had not spread far. I asked around. The result: many feminists, even lesbians (especially those not active during the straight-gay splits of 1970-71), had little idea what lesbian-feminist politics meant.

Filling the gap in information about lesbian-feminism is one purpose of this book. But there is also a more difficult task that it addresses: answering those feminists who attack lesbian-feminists for being 1) lesbian chauvinists, 2) into oppressive sex roles, or 3) divisive to the women's movement.

In our ardor and enthusiasm for what we have discovered, lesbians may be arrogant at times. However, most "lesbian chauvinism" is a survival reaction developed to get us through the roadblocks that straight feminists erect against our ideas and experiences. The politics of the lesbian issue are still not being discussed and the label "lesbian chauvinism" is used as one excuse for this dismissal. Others say that we guilt-trip women about their personal lives, but analyzing heterosexuality necessarily raises questions about women's lives. So too does analysis of almost any issue impacting women: motherhood, marriage, etc. Are we to abandon our insights into these institutions of male supremacy in order to avoid making each other uncomfortable? Political thought and change do not develop by avoiding conflict and refusing to question what we have been taught is "natural" or "personal." What is feminism about if it is not continually challenging and changing our lives?

Some feminists divert lesbian politics by criticizing lesbian role-playing (you know, butch-femme) as anti-feminist. Most role-playing either comes out of the past oppression of lesbians who had no other models (including the social necessity to pass for a straight couple) or is a result of women's efforts to get out of female passivity. The social necessity for strictly defined roles has decreased in recent years. Even so, lesbian role-playing doesn't compare to that of heterosexuals where most women are the "femme" and considered "natural," not anti-feminist, even by many feminists. As such, criticism of "butch" lesbians is a criticism of any woman who steps out of her role. Most importantly, lesbian-feminist politics is not primarily concerned with sex-roles but with sex power; it is not the roles themselves that men and women play, but the power behind those roles that is oppressive. As we work to destroy that male power and gain female self-determination, we will create new models that replace old roles and free us to live in new ways.

Some feminists say that lesbians are "divisive to the women's movement" by demanding that every woman be a lesbian. We are less concerned with whether each woman personally becomes a lesbian than with the destruction of heterosexuality as a crucial part of male supremacy. Lesbians have been the quickest to see the challenge to heterosexuality as necessary to feminists' survival. However straight feminists are not precluded from examining and fighting against heterosexuality as an ideology and institution that oppresses us all. The problem is that few have done so. This perpetuates lesbian fears that women remaining tied to men prevents them from seeing the function of heterosexuality and acting to end it. It is not lesbians (women's ties to women) but women's ties to men, and thus men themselves, who divide women politically and personally. This is the "divisiveness" of the lesbian issue to the women's movement.

We won't get beyond this division by demanding that lesbians retreat, politics in hand, back into the closet. We get beyond it by struggling over the institutional and ideological analysis of lesbian-feminism. We need to discover what lesbian consciousness means for any woman, just as we struggle to understand what class or race consciousness means for women of any race or class. And we must plan strategies that will destroy the political institutions that oppress us.

Most lesbian-feminists have difficulty imagining why a woman with lesbian consciousness would choose a man and cut herself off from the strength of women loving women. Nevertheless, we can make allies on the basis of political consciousness/action with all feminists who fight heterosexuality. Similarly straight feminists must stop hiding behind the excuses that lesbians are chauvinist or divisive and instead examine the political basis of lesbian-feminism. Doing so, we can more effectively fight heterosexuality as an institution that hinders the development of a strong women's community and female power.

Some new bonds are beginning to emerge between lesbians and single women. We share a common economic and psychological reality: we are solely responsible for our lives--all of our lifetime. We have rejected ownership by men and with it, economic support. We face survival issues without heterosexual cushions and come closer to the reality always faced by lower class women, whether lesbian or heterosexual. We must provide for ourselves, our children, and each other--economically, emotionally, and if we organize, politically. This economic and psychological reality develops more strength and spirit in individual women. Collectively, this strength can be transformed into the power and soul of a forceful feminist movement.