Abstract
The lesbian is a figure of broad dimensions: both private and public, both intensely personal and intensely political, both secreted away within the confines of the most internal forces of desire and constructed within the most external boundaries of culture. This essay investigates these multiple, sometimes conflicting aspects of the mysterious entity called “the lesbian” within both the interlocked “private” realm of identity and the “public” spheres of politics/social movements. Specifically, I wish to explore the issue of gendered sexual identity in terms of both cultural constructions of identity and social movement theory. My own particular framework guides this exploration. That is, as an academic schooled in the humanities but also connected to cultural studies, and as a scholar accustomed to the most abstract theory, yet deeply concerned with feminist politics and activism in the world.1
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© 1999 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
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Armstrong, M. (1999). The Lesbian as Political Subject: Gender, Sexual Identity, and Political Action. In: Bauhardt, C., von Wahl, A. (eds) Gender and Politics. Politik und Geschlecht, vol 1. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-10133-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-10133-8_6
Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden
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