Turning the page : image and identity in U.S. lesbian magazines
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- "Turning the Page: Image and Identity in U.S. Lesbian Magazines" is the first scholarly consideration of the visual culture in lesbian magazines in the United States. The photographs, drawings, paintings, posters, prints, diagrams, and cartoons by leading and little-known lesbian artists, both contemporary and historical, helped create and define lesbian existence in social, political, racial, and sexual dimensions during the second half of the 20th century. Paying close attention to the images created for and circulated in lesbian magazines reveals how lesbian identities were formed and supported. These magazines encouraged collaboration and creative expression and functioned as exhibition spaces for lesbian art and artists. The magazines that comprise this dissertation's case studies—"The Ladder" (1956-1972), "Cowrie" (1973-1974) and "Dyke: A Quarterly" (1975-1978), "On Our Backs" (1984-2006), "Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter" (1982-1984) and "Aché" (1989-1993), and "LTTR" (2002-2007)—supported and showcased both historical and contemporary artists and warrant recognition as sites for the creation and distribution of lesbian images. As women, these artists put pressure on social constructions of gender and, as homosexuals, these artists questioned the institution of compulsory heterosexuality. Thus, analyzing the content of these mostly overlooked periodicals offers access to a broader history of lesbian culture and expands the conversation on feminist and queer art. Examining these publications and the contributions of these artists make clear that the visual content was vital in defining and supporting a lesbian identity. As culture changed over time, so too did the visual images—beginning with simple line drawings, moving to photographic representations, and then more sexually explicit representations, abstraction, and different media. This is not to assert a linear progression or evolution of lesbian art in these magazines but rather to argue that these images responded and added to the thinking of their times. The magazines were not simply a repository for images but rather sites of engagement and interaction. Artists could debut their work, and readers saw themselves reflected, often for the first time, in the pages of these magazines. Moving from one magazine to the next and turning from cover to cover offer an overview of lesbian life and its evolution as well as its successes and failures in supporting and reflecting a variety of lesbian identities through images.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2019; ©2019 |
| Publication date | 2019; 2019 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Johnson, Alexis Bard |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Meyer, Richard, 1966- |
| Thesis advisor | Meyer, Richard, 1966- |
| Thesis advisor | Freedman, Estelle B, 1947- |
| Thesis advisor | Lee, Pamela M |
| Thesis advisor | Nemerov, Alexander |
| Degree committee member | Freedman, Estelle B, 1947- |
| Degree committee member | Lee, Pamela M |
| Degree committee member | Nemerov, Alexander |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Art and Art History. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Alexis Bard Johnson. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Art and Art History. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2019. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2019 by Alexis Bard Johnson
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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