Lesbianism has been made invisible for a variety of homophobic reasons. Heteropatriarchal society denied that female homosexuality was possible in history, which is the epitome of invisibility. But is today much different? Lesbians can’t even have Lesbian Visibility Week (LVW), beginning April 20, to themselves without including everyone who identifies as “queer,” or else we’re punished with isolation from our own “community.” Inclusion to the point of lesbian invisibility. Oh, the irony!
In the 1920s, British lawmakers deliberated whether to make lesbianism illegal. Laws against male homosexuality had already been in effect for 60 years, but lesbianism wasn’t given oxygen in the hopes that women wouldn’t be curious about it. By the ‘20s, notable lesbians like Natalie Clifford Barney and Radclyffe Hall began circulating among wealthy bohemians. Powerful men realised lesbianism was escaping containment. But, ultimately, they decided that making lesbianism illegal would only make it more visible.
Lesbianism is made invisible today by those who are supposed to be our allies, too. In multiple advertisements about an LVW event coming up from the West London Queer Project, the same definition is used: “This week is dedicated to increasing the visibility of lesbian, bisexual, queer women, and non-binary people within the LGBTQ+ community.”
Why should we care that others feel left out of our own week, to the point of inviting them to share it? Lesbianism isn’t a sandpit at daycare. I couldn’t imagine co-opting the Bisexual Awareness Week, held from September 16-23. There’s also a non-binary week in July. The trans one is in November. We already have Pride month in June, to celebrate together. Why do you want Lesbian Visibility Week, too? Lesbophobia.
Both “lesbian” and “bisexual” gained traction in medical literature by 1890. The idea that bisexuals never had a term to describe themselves and lesbian was a “catch-all” is a myth used to justify bisexual women colonising lesbianism. Freud essentially believed that everyone was bisexual and that preference was conditioned.
Bisexuality as the supposed innate sexual orientation for humankind and the rest being a choice or conditioning is a form of homophobia that continues to pervade “progressive” politics. There is a class of females who are only interested in other females, who are incapable of sexual desire towards males. Who have felt this way for as long as they remember. To deny us a word for that without appropriating it shows you believe in universal bisexuality, and we’re keeping something from you that you feel owed. Lesbians don’t “prefer” women; we’re incapable of sexual attraction towards males.
Lesbians are forced to deny who we really are because female homosexuality is witch-hunted as exclusionary and bigoted. It cannot be known that we have enough self-esteem not to dissolve ourselves into oblivion in order to include everyone else. To make everyone else happy.
The same people who think we should surrender our community for all LGBT+ people, to be “inclusive,” ironically exclude lesbians from themselves and their own vocabulary.
The same people who think we should surrender our community for all women, for feminism, ironically employ misogynistic expectations.
“I think it’s the sexed stereotype that we’re the ones taking on the role of mother for the whole alphabet,” H, 30, Australia, expresses to us.
“We’re expected to make sacrifices in the name of inclusivity during our own week while the narcissists steal our thunder and make it about them. [We’re] pushed to the sides.”
We must be nurturing towards the bratty toddler tantrums around us because lesbianism is the only sexual orientation that does not involve men at all. Not even internal, non-acted upon attraction to them. We must babysit.
The fact we experience both female oppression and homosexual oppression is taken advantage of by those with more power than us. Our socialisation is manipulated in a calculated way, to get what they want: our submission. Well prepare to be topped.
We can’t have our own space, like a baby’s mother can barely have a shower or take a shit on her own. Lesbians are not your mother. You are not a child. If you don’t like lesbians’ boundaries, seek therapy. Change your own nappy. Build your own communities. Get off our fucking backs. We aren’t here to piggyback you.
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