Abstract
What language do we use when we speak about, or for, marginalized groups like “lesbians”? Who has, or assumes, the authority to speak on their behalf? Drawing on queer scholarship, the chapter explores performative assertions of discursive authority by minority groups that can be seen as attempts to co-opt larger communities. Analysis focuses on recent debates in Italy and the UK, and investigates how the term “lesbian” is used in a problematically universalizing way by lesbian-identified women with normative agendas, who seize an unsanctioned authority to speak on behalf of all lesbians. It then explores responses by other lesbians who demand a queerer approach, and considers the way that these debates have been framed in the media. Overall, it suggests that mainstream media attention to more conservative conceptualizations of “lesbians,” compounded by a general lack of variegated lesbian representation, tends to privilege, and lend authority to, more normative messages.
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Notes
- 1.
Hall, “ Introduction.”
- 2.
See, for example: Arendt, “Authority in the Twentieth Century”; Whiteman , “The Death of Twentieth-Century Authority”; Haugaard , “What is Authority?.”
- 3.
Haugaard, “What is Authority?,” 25.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
Arendt, On Violence, 45.
- 6.
For a comparable discussion of how feminism has been “hijacked,” or “co-opted,” see Loke , Bachmann , Harp , “Co-opting Feminism.”
- 7.
See Combahee River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement.”
- 8.
Alcoff , “The Problem of Speaking for Others.”
- 9.
Ibid., 16–7.
- 10.
Ibid., 23.
- 11.
Haugaard, “What is Authority?,” 25.
- 12.
See, for example, Vicinus , “They Wonder to which Sex I Belong”; Meese , (Sem)Erotics.
- 13.
Butler, “Imitation and Gender Insubordination,” 308 and Undoing Gender, 36.
- 14.
Spivak, “Subaltern Studies”; see also Bernstein , “The Strategic Uses of Identity.”
- 15.
See Anderson , Imagined Communities, 6–7, and Rothenberg , “And she told two friends,” 171–2.
- 16.
On the Italian context see, for example, Milletti and Passerini , Fuori della norma; and Ross , Eccentricity and Sameness; on the UK see Castle , The Apparitional Lesbian.
- 17.
de Lauretis, The Practice of Love.
- 18.
This popular series was created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. It premiered in 2013 and the fifth and final season was released in 2017.
- 19.
Holley , “Perspectives on Contemporary Lesbian Relationships.”
- 20.
Umberson , Thomeer and Lodge, “Intimacy and Emotion Work.”
- 21.
Here I draw on the concept of new queer cinema, developed by B. Ruby Rich and others. See, for example, Hayward, “Queer Cinema.”
- 22.
Sedgwick , Touching, Feeling, 31.
- 23.
This table is based on “how the laws and policies of each country impact on the lives of LGBTI people” (ILGA, “Country Ranking”).
- 24.
In the UK, the Equality Act (2010) protects a series of characteristics, including being or becoming a transsexual person, being married or in a civil partnership and sexual orientation. In Italy, while article 3 of the Constitution seems to assert equality for all citizens, it has not historically been implemented in this way. The first law to mention sexual orientation, Legislative Decree 216/2003, regarding equality in the workplace, actually specifies that people can be discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality in certain professions, such as the armed forces (article 3). Article 527 of the Italian Penal Code punishes anyone who engages in “obscene” acts in public with a fine or imprisonment. For details of the male couple who were arrested, see La Repubblica, “Bacio gay al Colosseo.”
- 25.
See their website, http://www.arcilesbica.it/.
- 26.
For information on Stonewall, see https://www.stonewall.org.uk/. In the UK, for “older” lesbians, defined on some sites as women over forty, there is the “Older Lesbian Network.” This operates through local groups, similarly to Arcilesbica, but does not have a centralized committee, president or national conference. The London site can be found here: http://www.olderlesbiannetwork.btck.co.uk/. For details of the LRA , which their Facebook page states was founded in January 2018, see: https://lesbianalliance.org.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/LRalliance/. No detail is provided about the groups with which it collaborates.
- 27.
See their website, www.sentinelleinpiedi.it. For a detailed discussion of the Vatican view on homosexuality, the family and so-called anti-gender groups that claim that the heteronormative family is under attack from “gender theories,” see Garbagnoli and Prearo , La crociata anti–gender.
- 28.
See https://www.tpi.it/2016/09/28/50-donne-omosessuali-appello-utero-in-affitto/. The signatories were not included in the Repubblica article.
- 29.
In Italian, GPA stands for “gestazione per altri/e,” literally gestation for others.
- 30.
Custodero , “Appello di 50 lesbiche.”
- 31.
See Ross, “Visions of Visibility.” Here and elsewhere I use the shorter acronym (LGBT, not LGBTQIA+) to reflect the focus of the campaigns.
- 32.
Both newspapers are national, politically independent but broadly center-left dailies. The search was carried out on their websites (larepubblica.it; theguardian.com) for the period November 16, 2017, to November 16, 2018.
- 33.
Indeed, many high-profile women in relationships with other women reject the label “lesbian”; as I have argued elsewhere, this seems to be due to perceived stigmatization rather than through a desire to queer sexual categories. See Antosa and Ross , “Dirsi lesbica oggi?.”
- 34.
See, for example, Bonini et al. “Desires and Rights” and Danna , “Le madri lesbiche.” For a detailed and insightful discussion of the debate on surrogacy in Italy, see Cossutta , “Maternal Relations.”
- 35.
Custodero, “Appello di 50 lesbiche.”
- 36.
See the round table discussion on surrogacy, in which Zsuzsa Berend presents her research that reveals how surrogates may consider themselves “independent, smart, resourceful, generous women” (Bonini et al. “Desires and Rights,” 392). See also Cossutta, “Maternal Relations,” for a deconstruction of socio-cultural constructions of maternity, including reflections on surrogacy. For a philosophical view on the ethics of surrogacy, see, for example, Marway , “La gestation pour autrui commerciale.”
- 37.
See Danna, “Le madri lesbiche.” Universalizing rhetoric is exemplified by Paola Binetti who declared that no woman would give up her child after nine months of pregnancy unless she was in great difficulty (Custodero, “Appello di 50 lesbiche”).
- 38.
Guazzo et al., “La maternità, la GPA e una diversa emancipazione.”
- 39.
Lezpop , “Duro colpo ad Arcilesbica Nazionale.”
- 40.
Guazzo, “Impressioni di febbraio.” It is worth noting that these debates are unfolding alongside tensions between sexual difference feminists and queer activists and thinkers, including queer transfeminists. For a compelling overview of the situation, see Bazzoni , “A View on Queer and Feminism.”
- 41.
- 42.
FIEG , “Statistics on Sales of Daily Papers.”
- 43.
Duggan , The Incredible Shrinking Public, 179.
- 44.
For example, Arcigay supports the campaign for same-sex marriage, while the SomMovimento nazioAnale supports a queerer approach to valuing more diverse forms of kinship. See SomMovimento nazioAnale, “Sfamily Way.”
- 45.
Acquistapace et al., “Tempo di essere incivili,” 72.
- 46.
For more details, see https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reform-of-the-gender-recognition- act-2004. For discussion of how the gendering of spaces can effect a kind of “tyranny” on trans, non-binary but also cis-gendered people, see Doan , “The Tyranny of Gendered Spaces.”
- 47.
LRA, “Open Letter.”
- 48.
The ongoing exchanges between lesbian and trans activists have a complex history, and while Stonewall now supports trans people, this has not always been the case. See Brown, “Stonewall’s Complicated Relationship.”
- 49.
LRA, “Open Letter.”
- 50.
Gabbatiss, “London Pride.”
- 51.
A link is provided on the leaflet to their Facebook page (Mayday4Women2.0) which is no longer visible.
- 52.
For some examples see Gabbatiss, “London Pride.”
- 53.
See Gabbatiss, “London Pride,” and Necati , “The Anti-trans Protests.”
- 54.
LRA, “Open Letter.”
- 55.
Bannerman , “Trans Movement.”
- 56.
Lyell , “An Open Letter.”
- 57.
Bernard et al., “Feminist Solidarity.”
- 58.
Bernstein, “The Strategic Uses of Identity.”
- 59.
See Statista, “Circulation of Newspapers.” This figure relates to June 2018. No recent statistics are available for Diva, but monthly sales in 2010 were c.55,000. See Shields, “Thriving Diva.”
- 60.
Bernard, “Feminist Solidarity.”
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Ross, C. (2020). “Exemplary” Lesbians: The Struggle for Adequate Representation. In: Bardazzi, A., Bazzoni, A. (eds) Gender and Authority across Disciplines, Space and Time. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45160-8_6
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