arieltf's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a piece of living history, representative of the current state of lesbian culture. It quotes Autostraddle, the Advocate, and a host of other blogs, indie publications, and mainstream LGBT news sites. Bonnie Morris does not paint a very hopeful picture of the future of lesbian spaces, and I can't say I disagree with her. Any attempt to make a space for lesbians, be it a blog, Facebook group, or social gathering, is viewed with extreme suspicion. I can look around and guess how we got here, but Morris outlines the rise and perceived fall of lesbian spaces and publications with comprehensive research and primary source experiences. She does not tiptoe around major controversies, and I wonder if she ever thought that publishing this would harm her academic reputation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the lesbian concerts and festivals of the 70s and 80s. It makes my heart ache for places I've never been, and I know other young lesbians feel the same way. I wish she would have extended some advice concerning where we might go from here. What can the young lesbian "torch bearers" do to help preserve our history and keep creating our own culture?
tmkutawrites's review against another edition
3.0
I struggled with this book and how to review it. Educationally, this book was a good read. It was filled with so much good first-hand information, and was fantastic for my research. I learned a lot about many many things I did not know before. It helped give me some insight into the generational divide that plagues the community. That being said, this book sometimes relies *too* much on first hand account; I would liked to have seem more sources cited throughout the text. It seems like the book struggled on whether or not it wanted to be a primary or secondary source.
While educationally, this book was great, some things rubbed me the wrong way personally. There was a lot of millennial blaming and questioning how the younger generation could not know things that a) they were not there to experience and b) do not have ready access to after the fact. Much of the discussion around trans women and their inclusion/exclusion came across as transphobic, and there was such an emphasis on genitalia that it actually made it's way into my notes at one point. The book also contradicts itself and the arguments Morris makes several times, which left me confused as to what the actual point was.
So TL;DR: As a lesbian from the ~younger generation~ I disagree with some of the points the author made, but believe it is valuable as a primary/secondary source hybrid. Read at your own discretion.
While educationally, this book was great, some things rubbed me the wrong way personally. There was a lot of millennial blaming and questioning how the younger generation could not know things that a) they were not there to experience and b) do not have ready access to after the fact. Much of the discussion around trans women and their inclusion/exclusion came across as transphobic, and there was such an emphasis on genitalia that it actually made it's way into my notes at one point. The book also contradicts itself and the arguments Morris makes several times, which left me confused as to what the actual point was.
So TL;DR: As a lesbian from the ~younger generation~ I disagree with some of the points the author made, but believe it is valuable as a primary/secondary source hybrid. Read at your own discretion.
rachelwilbury's review against another edition
2.0
I'm straight and knew basically nothing about any of the lesbian history covered in this book. I enjoyed the content of this book, but not the way it was written. In addition to its many typos, the book couldn't decide what it was trying to be. Some of it was memoir, some of it was scholarly. It felt like Morris grabbed a bunch of disparate topics that she cared about and this, the book lacked cohesion.
While I appreciated Morris' perspective, it felt like she made gratuitous digs at millennials. For example, the last paragraph of chapter 1 talks about how the women's music movement has attracted few scholars. The paragraphs ends, "More than a temporary high school musical, this was a high-fidelity broadcast of lesbian existence." The reference to High School Musical has nothing to do with the paragraph and does not even make sense.
While I appreciated Morris' perspective, it felt like she made gratuitous digs at millennials. For example, the last paragraph of chapter 1 talks about how the women's music movement has attracted few scholars. The paragraphs ends, "More than a temporary high school musical, this was a high-fidelity broadcast of lesbian existence." The reference to High School Musical has nothing to do with the paragraph and does not even make sense.
queerbillydeluxe's review against another edition
1.0
DNF--The introduction and its terfy language was too much for me. It's possible that she spent the rest of the book being non-terfy, but I honestly did not want to waste my time finding out.
yeahdeadslow's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book months ago, but didn’t get around to writing a review. Probably because I was concerned.
Reading it, I found myself coming up against the author’s attitude towards trans women. Trans women are women. But Bonnie Morris doesn't believe that. That is not the only problem I had with this book, but it was the issue the kept coming up again and again. It's incredibly irritating, because the overall topic of this book is one of interest to me. Particularly women’s music, the history of which I am no stranger to. Though I’m not of that generation, The Changer and the Changed was my first lesbian album! (A fact never mentioned in this book is that this Iconic Lesbian record that only had women listed in its credits was mixed by... Sandy Stone, a trans woman! And that she and Olivia Records were threatened by lesbians to the point where Sandy had to leave!)
So the reason I was concerned reading this book was... it was next up in a book club I was new to. I didn’t know how the members (mostly lesbians over 40 years of age) would react to author's view of trans women. The answer is.... Yikes. The day of the meeting, conversation turned to indignation at the author being called a TERF in reviews of this book. Okay, she might not be a TERF, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t exhibit a worrying amount of transmisogynist ideas. I couldn’t bear the conversation that arose at that, and I said my piece about trans women being, well, women. This was met with varying degrees of.... disagreement. But also some interest and, from a blessed few, SUPPORT.
That's why I wanted to write this review, because this story does have a happy ending. Me speaking out in book club (despite my great fear) is how I made my first local lesbian friend. Something I’ve wanted for ages. AND I LOVE HER.
Those who loved this book seem to think others are focusing too much on the author’s attitude towards trans women, but I don’t think so. Cis lesbian and bi women can’t keep excluding trans women. They’ve always been a part of our community, and we need to get over ourselves and get rid of many ingrained conceptions of what makes a woman.
Reading it, I found myself coming up against the author’s attitude towards trans women. Trans women are women. But Bonnie Morris doesn't believe that. That is not the only problem I had with this book, but it was the issue the kept coming up again and again. It's incredibly irritating, because the overall topic of this book is one of interest to me. Particularly women’s music, the history of which I am no stranger to. Though I’m not of that generation, The Changer and the Changed was my first lesbian album! (A fact never mentioned in this book is that this Iconic Lesbian record that only had women listed in its credits was mixed by... Sandy Stone, a trans woman! And that she and Olivia Records were threatened by lesbians to the point where Sandy had to leave!)
So the reason I was concerned reading this book was... it was next up in a book club I was new to. I didn’t know how the members (mostly lesbians over 40 years of age) would react to author's view of trans women. The answer is.... Yikes. The day of the meeting, conversation turned to indignation at the author being called a TERF in reviews of this book. Okay, she might not be a TERF, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t exhibit a worrying amount of transmisogynist ideas. I couldn’t bear the conversation that arose at that, and I said my piece about trans women being, well, women. This was met with varying degrees of.... disagreement. But also some interest and, from a blessed few, SUPPORT.
That's why I wanted to write this review, because this story does have a happy ending. Me speaking out in book club (despite my great fear) is how I made my first local lesbian friend. Something I’ve wanted for ages. AND I LOVE HER.
Those who loved this book seem to think others are focusing too much on the author’s attitude towards trans women, but I don’t think so. Cis lesbian and bi women can’t keep excluding trans women. They’ve always been a part of our community, and we need to get over ourselves and get rid of many ingrained conceptions of what makes a woman.
librarydino's review
1.0
DNF--The introduction and its terfy language was too much for me. It's possible that she spent the rest of the book being non-terfy, but I honestly did not want to waste my time finding out.
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