![\"Cover](\"http:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/files\/2020\/06\/TheLavenderWoman_vol2_no4-228x300.jpg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>(left) Figure 1. Cover page of Lavender Woman<\/em> (Vol 2. No. 4). Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives.
(right) Figure 2. “Dialectic”, a poem by Susan M (in Feminist Voice, <\/em>Vol.1, No.1). Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cI cannot be a\nsister to most of the straight women–I can be only a name\u2014Lesbian\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this piece, Shear\nwrote passionately about her frustrations with \u201cmuch of the Woman\u2019s Movement in\nChicago.\u201d Although her concerns with women were \u201cstrong on many levels\u201d and\npersonal struggles just as \u201cdraining\u201d as those of her heterosexual\ncounterparts, Shear pointed out that these had been largely overlooked and even\nsilenced in the Chicago Women\u2019s Liberation Union (CWLU), where the presence of\nlesbians had not even been acknowledged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/files\/2020\/06\/TheLavenderWoman_LindaShear-328x1024.jpg\")
Figure 3. Column by Linda Shear (in Feminist Voice<\/em>, Vol. 1, No. 3). Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n To illustrate her point, Shear pointed out that in the first issue of Womankind<\/em>, a paper by the CWLU that began publication in September 1971, the members of CWLU were still being defined \u201cin terms of her man \u2013 past, present, or future\u201d, silencing the existence of lesbians within the union. Nor had outreach been made to lesbian members of the CWLU. The series of questions that Shear raises are especially poignant, and I invite you to look at it again in detail: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/files\/2020\/06\/QuestionsFromLavenderWoman-300x153.jpg\")
Figure 4. Detail of column by Linda Shear (in Feminist Voice<\/em>, Vol. 1, No. 3). Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cGetting It\nTogether\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inclusion of\nanother piece, \u201cGetting It Together\u201d by Susan Moore, right next to Shear\u2019s\nindicates that the lesbian community was cognizant of the pressing need to\ncarve out a niche to make their voices heard. The questions that Moore raises\nin her article gave me an intimate glimpse into a community navigating\nquestions about their own identities and the actions they ought to take as\nmembers of that community. I was also struck by how the questions that Moore\nraised remain pertinent even today, 50 years after the Women\u2019s Movement in Chicago\ntook place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is lesbianism a\npolitical issue? Does racism exist in the lesbian community? How should we deal\nwith it? What particular problems do you experience as a lesbian? Do you\nconsider yourself a bisexual? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/files\/2020\/06\/GettingItTogether.jpg\")
Figure 5. “Getting It Together” by Susan M (in Feminist Voice<\/em>, Vol. 1, No. 3). Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Here, I am reminded of what Kimberl\u00e9 Williams\nCrenshaw calls \u201cintersectionality\u201d, the concept that aspects of one\u2019s social\nand political identities can aggregate to result in unique forms of\ndiscrimination. For instance, a lesbian, black woman of a high socio-economic\nclass would face different challenges in their lives as opposed to a\ntransgender, white man of a lower socio-economic class and so on and so forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applying that\nconcept in another way, I am also reminded of a point that perhaps appears\nsimplistic but one I feel is often overlooked \u2013 one\u2019s sexuality is not the sum\nof one\u2019s identity. Being a lesbian was just one aspect of Shear\u2019s identity. She\nwas also a singer-songwriter, a writer and a political advocate. Unfortunately,\nI feel that in much discussion about the LGBTQIA+ community, too much (if not\nall) of the focus falls solely on their sexuality instead of considering them\nas equal stakeholders in a larger community of people that we are all a part\nof. As engaged citizens, I think we can do better and the first step starts\nwith learning more about the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t ask you\nto learn for us. We just keep waiting for you to want to learn for\nyourselves.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, the\nWLA has several collections containing materials related to the LGBTQIA+ community\nsuch as the Women & Children First Bookstore Collection<\/a>, the Michelle Feuer\n(Fire) Papers<\/a> and the Connie Kiosse Collection<\/a>, which is where this Lavender Woman column was taken from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/wla\/files\/2020\/06\/The-Feminist-Voice_vol1_no1-1024x838.jpg\")
Figure 6. Content page of The Feminist Voice, Vol.1, No.1. Connie Kiosse Collection, Women and Leadership Archives. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Connie Kiosse was a founding member of The Feminist Voice<\/em>, one of Chicago\u2019s first feminist papers in the 1970s. She also started the Chicago Women\u2019s Reading Group (now in its 37th<\/sup> year) and currently tutors students in reading and substitute teaches. The collection contains issues of The Feminist Voice<\/em>, Lavender Woman <\/em>and other feminist collections. You can check out some of these publications even while the archives are closed by accessing the digital collection here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
May this June be a time of learning, about the world, for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n
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Regina is a Sesquicentennial Scholar at the WLA and in the first year of her M.A. in Digital Humanities at Loyola University Chicago. She graduated from Yale-NUS College, Singapore, with a degree in History and enjoys reading and cooking.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/hr>\nLoyola University Chicago’s Women and Leadership Archives Blog is designed to provide a positive environment for the Loyola community to discuss important issues and ideas. Differences of opinion are encouraged. We invite comments in response to posts and ask that you write in a civil and respectful manner. All comments will be screened for tone and content and must include the first and last name of the author and a valid email address. The appearance of comments on the blog does not imply the University’s endorsement or acceptance of views expressed.<\/em><\/span> \n
<\/hr>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When we decided to write a piece in honor of Pride Month, I will confess that I was rather apprehensive as I was not familiar with LGBTQIA+ history and did not want to mis-represent the community unintentionally. However, I also … Continue reading