Sappho Was a Right-On Woman: A Liberated View of Lesbianism

by Sidney Abbott, Barbara Love

The book you are holding is making history.

A radical change in a little-understood part of society has made this book possible. It is a change that is forcing people to reevaluate their attitudes and see the Lesbian in a new light.

Very little has been written about Lesbianism. What has appeared in book for has been written by men. This is the first account written by women--by Lesbians--about themselves and their struggle.

For Lesbians, as for most women today, the present is experience as a collision between the past and future. The first part of Sappho Was a Right-on Woman, "What It Was Like," deals with the past: the guilt, the shame, the duplicity, that are part of living in a society that condemns Lesbians--when it cannot ignore them. Temporary sanctuaries (bars, gay ghettos, vacation spots) and "bizarre" behavior are part of the past for some Lesbians, and still very much part of the present for many.

The second part of the book, "Living the Future," reflects profound change taking place within society, the women's movement, and most important, within Lesbians themselves--change that make it possible for them to stop making unnecessary apologies and start function as whole people. Defying the present is still not easy, the authors say, but it is infinitely preferable to the self-degradation society has gone to such pains to teach the Lesbian.

Sappho Was a Right-on Woman speaks clearly, honestly, openly, to those women and men, homosexual and heterosexual, oppressing and oppressed, who are still living in the past. It invites them to "come out"--out of their closets, out of their unexamined prejudice and unresolved confusion--and live into the future with "an appreciation of both the differences and the common humanity" necessary for constructive change.

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

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I loved reading about the major role lesbians played in the feminist movement. It was funny to read in the introduction that they thought the second part of the book might be too optimistic and lighthearted compared to the first describing the history, because I think they would be amazed by the strides feminism and gay rights have taken! (I wrote that sentence before the Nov 8 election, but I still think the general statement holds true.)

My only complaint was that I hated reading so many stupid references to Freud. I get that it was published in the 80's, but I'm really amazed any women who felt so strongly about feminism were willing to get behind a man who thought "penis envy" was a plausible affliction.

I tore through Part One in one night and Part Two in another. I wanted to give a copy to every woman and man in my life. I felt like so many aspects of my own life were contextualized and brought into focus through learning about history, which is not something I often get to feel as a woman! I wish these things were taught in schools and that girls everywhere could grow up knowing how much of what they have, had to be fought for and how much there is still to gain. It was a truly awesome read and I recommend it to all feminists and allies!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsurprisingly, parts of the book were outdated and, at times, offensive, but overall this was still a really interesting, and really hopeful look at Lesbian life and liberation in the early 70s. However, it’s sad to see that many of the issues that the women were struggling with in the book (both intra-community and with the world at large) are still issues today.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I have this weird obsession with reading second wave feminist texts, I guess I just find them kind of funny. But anyway, this wasn't as atrociously outdated as I was expecting! I really enjoyed the first few chapters but it did get a bit old. It does get bonus points for some really YIKES moments (e.g. the insinuation that women are incapable of rape) but hey, what did I expect.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

ihan läppä

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little volume by Abbott and Love is a great manifesto and history lesson -- the first half is devoted to the recent history of Lesbians (as the book capitalizes them) and their struggle, while the second looks more towards the future. Particularly interesting as an analysis of the intersection of Women's Lib and Gay Lib. Not a light, fun read, but if nothing else it can make you thank your lucky stars to be living now in these relatively more liberated times.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

From 1972! Interesting to compare this to more modern literature.

[sedge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so damn groovy. A must read.

[l · Rating 2 out of 5]

....white people in the 70s...

[River · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody would deny that the most common reason for going to a bar is to find a love partner. Some are looking for love and "marriage"- a carbon copy of the heterosexual relationship- but a number of the women are contemptuous of the idea of finding a suitable long-term partner in such a place. They seek a lover for the night.

First: I found this book in the trash.
Second: Queer history often seems like something ephemeral. It becomes the ever-shifting subject of the lens of the interpreter, filtered through the theater gels of breathless coverage in blog posts or shorts. Voices from our elders (this book was published in 1972) are not always easy to find unfiltered, battered as they often are through the third-party curation of cisgender heterosexuals. While this is the case with much history, the impact of heterosexual editorial choice on LGBTQ folks' lives is comparable to the impacts of victorian medievalists on medieval history. Who knows how much has been destroyed, adulterated, or obscured by the well-meaning hands in power? Now we see the same problem online (democracy win?) from our own post-ACT UP era 'youth,' where the search for our origins leads to distortion, idealization, and apocrypha.

We are fortunate that we have the ability to give our history its authentic voice back. Wrong or right, reading Abbott and Love's history is both unsurprising- how little has changed! (Fire Island, "now nearly a legend," lives on!)- and surprising (my choice of quote above.) It jumps out to me that Abbott's description of lesbian bars as seedy, hypersexual places is a refrain of the criticism of MLM spaces today, a criticism that most Sapphic women I know deem themselves no party to. (That idea has now been overtaken by the chaste and clueless lesbian "are we or aren't we" romance, at least on social media.) That stereotype is not absent in this book, but it is amusing (and true) to see the way the authors mention how "every friend tends to become a lover."

This is, no doubt, subject to some sampling bias but the authors appear nonetheless faithful and honest in their (and their peers') perceptions... perceptions that are sometimes objectively incorrect. This is not a question of different cultural mores: we are informed:

It is necessary, too, that a woman indicate some response to a Lesbian's attention. In real life there is no such thing as Lesbian rape. Nor is there the conniving and trickery that characterize the baser forms of heterosexual seduction.

Well, were the Lesbians of yesteryear simply of a higher moral caliber than any other set of humans on the planet? Other historical attestations imply not. This is idealism pure and simple- perhaps, indeed, penned with the knowledge that heterosexuals would be reading it.

Still, they write scathingly honest critiques of historical Feminist exclusion of Lesbians, mentioning Betty Freidan's infamous 'lavender menace' comment & Rita Mae Brown's response & Susan Brownmiller's haughty proclamation that while she, a notably gender-conforming heterosexual, was 'leaving sex roles behind,' Lesbians were 'oppressive in their maleness.' (By the way- this is the same Brownmiller who victim-blamed Emmett Till.) Still, despite repeatedly acknowledging the way gender-non conforming lesbians bore a unique burden of stigma, it doesn't quite seem to sink in in the same way it is elucidated in (for instance) Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold. That's another ding to the book, unfortunately, and it persists throughout- because these were observations the authors had every incentive to observe, and it seemed to breeze right by them.

The bravery of the women unafraid to cast aside their gay sisters in the women's rights movement should not, and really cannot, be overstated. I think this is a good book to read in this moment, especially if you (like me) are Queer, fighting the fight and causing good trouble even as mass media casts the same old aspersions about our cultures and communities. What is lacking in this book is notable, but it is a great old book anyway. this review will be edited as I finish the book.

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sappho was a right-on woman; a liberated view of lesbianism is about liberated women and lesbians. Who could ask for anything more? To the younger generation this book may be dated. To me, it’s right on!

[Sam Skipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super interesting snapshot of 1970s feminist and lesbian activism! That is exactly up my alley and I enjoyed reading this tremendously.

Obviously when reading things like this it’s important to exercise your historical empathy. That being said, be warned there are consistent snide remarks in regard to butch-femme dynamics that made me go ohhhhh BROTHER. I understand the point of view the writers are coming from given the time period, so I guess it kind of makes me laugh a bit. I have faith they’d have… um… better opinions today.

I detected virtually no transphobia which I enjoyed and frankly was not expecting. I found the writing to be a little… cyclical? At some points. I just struggled to feel direction in some of the chapters which made me feel burnt out reading this sometimes.

The final chapter was beautiful, poignant, and shockingly relevant. “She knows she only has two ways to go—forward with courage or back to fear.”

My life as a lesbian is very beautiful and I feel very lucky. I think it’s our duty as queer people to remember the work our ancestors put in and keep that energy going. Sounds like a basic point to put forward but it’s important nonetheless. I’m grateful I get to read things like this that remind me of the work they did!

[Whoof]

really cool as a historical document; things were rough for queers in the 70s. The parts on the battles within the Women's Liberation movement were especially enlightening.

Social and psychological descriptions make for interesting comparisons to today's sexual climate -- in so many ways an improvement but still with many of the same problems concerning identity/expectations/social pressure/stigma and how these complexities are reflected in both individual and collective experience

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading, from a historical perspective.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

interesting from a historical perspective but pretty dull

[grace ⧗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s so interesting to read how the lesbian rights movement has evolved in the past 50 or so years. so cool to read a book like this!