Customer Reviews

To Believe in Women : What Lesbians Have Done for America-A History

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't ordinarily write reviews; rather, I read them. But I must take issue---and I very much disagree---with the two-star review (above) given Faderman's newest book `To Believe In Women'. Faderman's work, from the classic `Surpassing the Love of Men', through `Scotch Verdict', `Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers' (and the great, sprawling anthology `CHLOE plus OLIVIA' which she edited and for which she wrote the prologue to each section), stands far away and above the work of almost any other scholar of lesbian history; indeed, the great bulk of work by contemporary scholars in the field of lesbian history has not only been based upon, but legitimized by her efforts. She was *the* pioneer, and continues to be the foremost lesbian historian of our time. And while Faderman is a scholar of tremendous erudition, as a writer she manages to walk a line between the academic and the accessible with all the wit, grace, and agility of a cat. In `To Believe In Women', she is, as ever, at her best.

Taking on the task of interweaving the political, social, and educational impacts of American lesbians of past generations on American culture is no easy job; in `To Believe In Women', Faderman handles that job with style and finesse. She explores not only these womens' accomplishments, but their failures and setbacks, as well. She examines not only successful lesbian relationships, but those that fail or compromise (a form of failure in itself) because of social fear, financial insecurity, or simply a change of heart. But what is perhaps one of the most pleasing points of this book is that Faderman allows these long-gone (and sometimes heterosexually- married) women to speak for themselves and their lesbianism in private letters and personal diaries; papers in which, even when the writer was (occasionally) attempting to be `discreet', the lesbian subtext is far from sotto voce. Faderman makes her case for these women's lesbianism amply clear to anyone with the simple ability to *think* as they read.

In short, `To Believe In Women', is yet one more excellent addition to lesbian history; a book to be savored, enjoyed, and remembered.

"I shall go to Chicago and visit my new lover---dear Mrs. (Emily) Gross---en route to Kansas.So with new hope and new life..."

--Susan B. Anthony*

*as cited in `To Believe In Women', page 1

A heterosexual feminist ally, I picked up this book at the suggestion of a friend, and was entranced by the premise of the book and meticulously researched evidence.

Precisely because they were not bound by unintended pregnancy (which continued to be a problem until the early 70's)Lesbians were the vanguard of the women's movement on everything from equal employment to the vote and birth control, and had an obligation to work towards policies that would benefit all women regardless of sexuality.

Granted some readers of the reviews will decide that this book attempts to glorify lesbians at the expense of straight women, but I have read this book repeatedly and simply find the truth as it existed in historical context. Faderman simply points out the important role that Lesbians have played---a contribution that gets over shaddowed in many straight women's and gay men's focused history books.

Wow! I'm just amazed at how many important people and events have happened that I've never heard of. This book is fun to read,is inspiring and it is only just that people should know about lesbians contributions that benefitted all women. We all owe them a debt. And to who ever wrote the 2 star review...."frustrated"? didn't sound too frustrated to me, sounded like they were having a pretty good time, no evidence? come on, I mean, what straight women write letters like that in ANY era? Buy this book and read it. Its another of the pieces of the puzzle to the past that have been lost or ignored.

Fantastic book. Really a must read! Provides an accurate interpretation of the impact of lesbians in leading and creating social movements in the USA.

Lillian Faderman is, hands down, THE best researcher and writer of lesbian American history EVER. I own a copy of all her books; each gets better than the last. And this one continues the trend -- it is simply wonderful. A great read and an important historical document.

The author has presented a well-researched and fascinating view of important American women leaders who happened to have as commited life-partners other women. The information presented here in a most readable fashion will provide inspiration for women-identified-women of all ages. Lesbians young and old need to know there are role models worthy of emulation in our history.

I was very excited when I discovered this book. I looked forward to reading about the women who, without their struggles, I could not be where I am today. Believe proved to be a duanting task. It was what would be called "heavy reading", but if one pushes through the lenghthy and at times dry paragraphs, one discovers wonderful stories about the lives of women who helped define this country. I have read arguments that the women discussed in the book were not lesbians, but merely living livestyles, nonsexual lifestyles, prevalent to women of that era, and that Faderman did not present strong enough evidence to support her claims that these women were in fact lesbians. Faderman does take an assumptive aproach to the material, granted, and the title of the book alone, puts the reader in a frame of mind when reading the personal accounts. However, when all is said and done, one can not, in all honesty and while practicing any good judgement or common sense, believe that letters written between women which include, "I would give most anything to hold you right this second" or "We are a model for our married friends", are not of homosexual origin. More importantly though, are the contributions these women made to the fabric of this country, and the importance their services had in shaping America today; regardless of their sexual preferences.

This is one of the finest books written on lesbians I have ever read...and I have read them all. I recommend it to anyone interested in the stories of the past that will shape our future.

We need to hear these stories. We need to tell these stories to our daughters. In my opinion, the important thing is not the sexuality of the woman at the center of the story -- it's the life she led. I don't want to be remembered primarily as gay or straight (that's nobody else's business but mine), but as somebody who accomplished something I believed in. And I'd wager that these women felt the same way.

I picked up this book hoping to learn more about how lesbianism might have influenced the work of the sufferagists and was quite surprised to find that the author assumed lesbianism as a fact for several noted figures (eg. Anna Howard Shaw, Carrie Chapmen Catt) but provided essentially no evidence beyond the fact that these women had close relationships with other women. I'm not hostile to the possibility, but really, there are better explanations.

Women in the past did live with each other in situations where their relationship was not overtly sexual, American society in 1900 was not very developed in this area, that's particularly true of women's sexuality, the author assumes that the women she writes about were on the forefront of a social wave when the documents these women left behind suggest that they were tireless advocates for a cause whose private lives, in many instances, were rather sparse.

Even if one assumes the romantic connection, I was hoping for a book which would at least explore the complex relatonships between lesbianism and religious faith (Anna Howard Shaw was a minister) or bisexuality and marriage (Carrie Chapman Catt was married twice) in the context of late 19th and early 20th century American society. The author either finds these issues unimportant or assumes a sensibility for her subjects which is much more modern than evidence suggests.

Gave the book two stars because the figures she wrote about do deserve attention, and the author, admittedly, is proposing a thesis which, for some figures, is hard to prove or disprove given the evidence which exists. I think at least some attention should have been given to the argument, though, that many of these women, living in the society they did, lived frustrated or at least not fully developed sexual lives in the way we might define them. That was a common experience for those times and one which shows, in a real sense, how far we've come.