Limitations Among Transgressions: The Evolution of Lesbian Activist Fashion, 1950–80

This presentation historically analyzes lesbian activist fashion in the United States between the years of 1950 and 1980, examining how activists used clothing to communicate their movement’s message. Fashion is undeniably important in queer history, but one often finds a gap in researching lesbian fashion history. This research project aims to fill that gap. I begin with an examination of lesbian butch-femme bar culture of the 1950s, a major moment of visible self-expression and community creation among lesbians. I then examine how politically involved lesbians of the 50s, 60s, and 70s used visibility and fashion to progress their movements, and how these fashion trends often excluded butch-femme presenting women. Guided by Michel Foucault’s spiral theory in “A Preface to Transgression,” I utilize photos, interviews, articles and illustrations from lesbian periodicals (primarily The Ladder), and stories from Joan Nestle’s The Persistent Desire, among other primary resources, to examine patterns in lesbian activist fashion. I utilize my interdisciplinary training in gender and queer theory to historically analyze how mentions, opinions, and images of clothing within the lesbian activist movement point to larger trends within the activist space.

From this source base, I conclude that each era of the lesbian activist movement from 1950-1980 imposed fashion trends that quickly became exclusionary and limiting. The dominant lesbian rights movement at any given time decided they knew the best way to fight for lesbian liberation. Anyone who did not fit into this image, therefore, was considered an enemy to the cause. More often than not, butch-femme women of the working-class bar scene found themselves excluded and even demonized. Michel Foucault claimed that transgression and limitation create a spiral. Every time a new lesbian fashion movement emerged, new limitations emerged with it. For true lesbian liberation, this spiral must be broken. We have to transgress the very idea that there should be limits on what a lesbian can look like. Only then can we ensure that everyone achieves liberation.