Love & Politics: Radical Feminist & Lesbian Theories

by Carol Anne Douglas, Joan E. Biren (Illustrator)

Critical survey of radical and lesbian feminist ideas from the 1960s through the 1980s. Carol Anne Douglas examines diverse theories on the roots of male domination; love and sexuality; lesbianism and friendship between women; lesbian separatism; sadomasochism; strategy and tactics for women's liberation -- and more.

Douglas probes the divergent roots of radical feminist theory. She then glides her analytic lens to examine diverse currents in radical feminist practice. While some radical feminists emphasize confronting the enemy (patriarchy and/or capitalism), others emphasize building alternative women's communities to achieve radical feminist goals in the here and now. "In the early and mid 1970s," Douglas observes, "there was a turn by radical and lesbian feminists not only from working for legislated reforms but also from any sort of demonstrations or direct confrontation with the male power structure... Creating independent projects -- whether these were publications, bookstores, restaurants, record companies, credit unions or rape crisis centers -- was seen by many as a more productive way of opposing the system. Creating an alternative system was seen as more radical than directly confronting the power structure. The alternative strategy is derived from the 1960s counterculture, but also ultimately from anarchist and utopian socialist principles.

"Some radical feminists saw the turn to establishing alternatives as a diversion from radicalism and as triumph for liberals. However, even these feminists saw the need for an alternative press..." Douglas draws on her vast knowledge of radical feminist writings and practical experience in women's movements to bring clarity to the radical feminist currents and cross-currents since the 1970s.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Lesbian, Feminist Theory, Queer, LGBT, Theory

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Carol Anne Douglas is a writer of novels and plays. In her lalest novel, Choosing Yellowstone, she looks at a long-term couple who make different choices and have to live with the consequences. In her novel Sister Matthew and Sister Rose: Novices in Love, Douglas revists her Catholic girlhood. She also passionately loves the Arthurian legends and the works of Shakespeare, and has used them as the basis of her own fiction. Her Arthurian books are Lancelot Her Story and Lancelot and Guinevere, in which Lancelot is a woman in disguise. Her young adult novels, Merlin's Shakespeare and The Mercutio Problem, are about a teen-age girl's time travels to Shakespeare's world.

She worked on a feminist news journal for many years and published many essays. She has taught women's studies classes at George Washington University. She is now focusing on her novels and plays. Several of her short plays was read at the Kennedy Center, and at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Md.

Reviews

[Sadh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnífica introducción crítica y con grandes aportes teóricos al feminismo radical y lésbico.

La experiencia feminista y la capacidad reflexiva y de síntesis de la autora hacen que le libro brote vida e impulso político. Sin duda un punto de partida imprescindible para quienes comienzan las grandes lecturas del feminismo radical y buscan darles contexto y sistematicidad.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

good discussion about a wide range of radical feminist thought and action, i mean anything with Dworkin, Mackinnon and Lorde mentioned is right up my street. however it did get a bit “all women are secretly lesbians” at times….