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Not a Passing Phase: Reclaiming Lesbians in History 1840-1985
Everything you've always wanted to know about women's history but were afraid to ask, illuminated in this lively and contentious collection of essays.
Have lesbians been expunged from history by academics and biographers who wish to deny their existence? The authors of Not a Passing Phase certainly believe so. Here they redress the balance.
Re-examining the passionate friendships of writers such as Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Edith Simcox, Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby; uncovering invisible networks between women; and exploring the fate of lesbians within the professions, they offer new insights into a range of literary and historical movements, and present a new and political approach to historical research.
The Lesbian History Group has provided a forum for feminist scholars since 1984. Contributors to this volume include Rosemary Auchmuty, author of A World of Girls (1992), Alison Oram, and Sheila Jeffreys, writer of The Spinster and Her Enemies (1985), Anticlimax (1990) and The Lesbian Heresy (1994).
Have lesbians been expunged from history by academics and biographers who wish to deny their existence? The authors of Not a Passing Phase certainly believe so. Here they redress the balance.
Re-examining the passionate friendships of writers such as Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Edith Simcox, Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby; uncovering invisible networks between women; and exploring the fate of lesbians within the professions, they offer new insights into a range of literary and historical movements, and present a new and political approach to historical research.
The Lesbian History Group has provided a forum for feminist scholars since 1984. Contributors to this volume include Rosemary Auchmuty, author of A World of Girls (1992), Alison Oram, and Sheila Jeffreys, writer of The Spinster and Her Enemies (1985), Anticlimax (1990) and The Lesbian Heresy (1994).
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2020
loved bits of it but the last essay on butch/femme roles felt really reductive. very cisnormative and seemed so intent on feminist analysis criticising internalised misogyny and patriarchy it missed a lot of nuance. overall enjoyed the book though!
January 31, 2021
I found the first chapter of the book really informative and an easy, though somewhat sour introduction into lesbian history in that there isn’t a great deal that isn’t based on inferences and is heavily contested or actively dismissed.
I found the discourse on the definition of lesbianism highly enjoyable and thought provoking as with the second chapter on Charlotte bronte. Very surprising and also frustrating that so much of our history has been erased, moulded and manipulated to fit a heteronormative narrative.
I found the rest of the book informative yet slightly laborious to read and a lot less focus on lesbians and more on women and their friends with some allusion to lesbianism, though I perhaps this is due to my preconceived ideas of the modern freedom and somewhat acceptance of lesbianism and our own definition of such. However since some out lesbians were referred to but not focused on I found the chapters somewhat boring at times and without real focus.
The final chapter is more along the lines of what I was hoping for an expected from the book. There was serious lesbian feminist discussion and debate and although some of the content was slightly dated it was a highly informative and thought provoking read, especially in terms of sex and the misstep in the hyper-sexualisation and focus on SM and dom sub relationships that lesbian culture has reared into rather than the more positive and self affirming mutual connection to make love without the heteronormative dom sub roles.
My favourite part of the book is the inclusion of a lengthy list of lesbian literature broken down into sub categories and complete with a description of the title, something I’m definitely going to make good use of!
Overall it’s a book not without faults but with such a blatant lack of lesbian history and collection of such not without obvious merit either. The book also allows an interesting insight into the lesbian feminist mindset of the time of writing and also interestingly focuses on the differing viewpoints and ideals within the lesbian and feminist community.
I found the discourse on the definition of lesbianism highly enjoyable and thought provoking as with the second chapter on Charlotte bronte. Very surprising and also frustrating that so much of our history has been erased, moulded and manipulated to fit a heteronormative narrative.
I found the rest of the book informative yet slightly laborious to read and a lot less focus on lesbians and more on women and their friends with some allusion to lesbianism, though I perhaps this is due to my preconceived ideas of the modern freedom and somewhat acceptance of lesbianism and our own definition of such. However since some out lesbians were referred to but not focused on I found the chapters somewhat boring at times and without real focus.
The final chapter is more along the lines of what I was hoping for an expected from the book. There was serious lesbian feminist discussion and debate and although some of the content was slightly dated it was a highly informative and thought provoking read, especially in terms of sex and the misstep in the hyper-sexualisation and focus on SM and dom sub relationships that lesbian culture has reared into rather than the more positive and self affirming mutual connection to make love without the heteronormative dom sub roles.
My favourite part of the book is the inclusion of a lengthy list of lesbian literature broken down into sub categories and complete with a description of the title, something I’m definitely going to make good use of!
Overall it’s a book not without faults but with such a blatant lack of lesbian history and collection of such not without obvious merit either. The book also allows an interesting insight into the lesbian feminist mindset of the time of writing and also interestingly focuses on the differing viewpoints and ideals within the lesbian and feminist community.
July 13, 2025
Buena antología y buen insight sobre la labor de les historiadores de teoría lésbica si obviamos que la mayoría de personas que forman este colectivo son terf.
October 6, 2019
Probably the first anthology that entirely focus on lesbian herstory. Basically all the members of the Lesbian History Group analizes their subjects from the perspective fully developed by Lillian Faderman in her famous "Surpassing the Love of Men" (an obligatory reading before start this book) that is, romantic friendships are an important extention of female-to-female eroticism, and for that reason, one way to approach lesbian history records (mainly by letter, personal diaries and books).
All the essays are very well written and gave the reader a very interesting way to analize the forms that heterosexual-bias shape the construction of narratives and biographies.
All of the essays have this tendency, they look for the intense and passional friendships between 1st wave feminist (mainly spinsters). Sheila Jeffrey's first essay on the politics of the definition of "lesbian" in historical records is very useful for anyone interested in analyze women's lives from a lesbian-feminist perspective, but I enjoy more the first collective essay (the introduction) about the importance and politics of lesbian history, this brief introductory piece is an obligatory reading for any discussion abour lesbian herstory and culture.
All the essays are very well written and gave the reader a very interesting way to analize the forms that heterosexual-bias shape the construction of narratives and biographies.
All of the essays have this tendency, they look for the intense and passional friendships between 1st wave feminist (mainly spinsters). Sheila Jeffrey's first essay on the politics of the definition of "lesbian" in historical records is very useful for anyone interested in analyze women's lives from a lesbian-feminist perspective, but I enjoy more the first collective essay (the introduction) about the importance and politics of lesbian history, this brief introductory piece is an obligatory reading for any discussion abour lesbian herstory and culture.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews