“there is no such thing as being biologically female because being female is about your interests and hobbies and feelings and personality” has to be the most conservative, sexist and backwards logic i’ve ever come across and yet it’s accepted and considered feminist.
As a gnc woman and lesbian, the near complete lack of people like myself in media can be really alienating and disheartening. Whereas normally its pretty easy to find recommendations for helpful/enjoyable/interesting books of certain types, i noticed tht i found it kinda difficult to get recommendations of books about being a gnc woman/ books with gnc lesbian protag/ lesbian fiction in general tht doesnt objectify Lesbian women etc, aside from constantly harassing friends for advice and scouring the corners of the internet/stalking people blogs.
Ive compiled a (somewhat short, but hopefully helpful!) list of books that deal with this subject matter, in hope that someone might find it helpful. Idk maybe this is stupid and nobody will even care but i know as a teenager i would have rly appreciated finding smth like this, so I’ve provided some recommendations for lesbian books, with an emphasis on butch/gnc representation, along with some notes n stuff. Enjoy! :D
DISCLAIMER i havent read all of these but ill take full responsibility for anything bad tht ive inadvertently mentioned here. If u think theres smth on here tht shouldnt be, pls msg me and hopefully ill get rid of it.
without further ado;
LESBIAN FICTION-
Stone Butch Blues -Leslie Feinberg. Amazing, beautiful book, and mandatory reading for any lesbian women who haven’t already experienced it (seriously it might change yr life). [pdf]
Crybaby Butch - Judith Frank
Far from Xanadu Julie Anne Peters
Persistent Desire Joan Nestle
Annie on my mind- Nancy Garden
Keeping you a secret- Julie Anne Peters
Leaving L.A.- Kate Christie
Me and you and daisies- Lily R. Mason
The world unseen- Shamim Sarif
Wildthorn- Jane England
Tipping the velvet- Sarah Waters
Dare truth or promise- Paula Boock
And Playing the role of herself- K.E. Lane
Hunter’s Way- Gerri Hill
Ash- Malinda Lo
The price of Salt- Patricia Highsmith
Patience & Sarah- Isabel Miller
The Gravity between us- Kristen Zimmer
Her name in the sky- Kelly Quindlen
Taking the long way- Lily R. Mason
Fingersmith- Sarah Waters
Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour
She’s My Ride Home - Jackie Bushore
NONFICTION-
Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book by Ginny Vida
Lesbian/Woman by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Family Values: Two Moms and Their Son by Phyllis Burke
Inseparable: Desire between Women in Literature by Emma Donoghue, (Knopf)
My Lesbian Husband: Landscape of a Marriage by Barrie Jean Borich
Butch is a Noun, by S. Bear Bergman.- a collection of essays written by the author exploring what it means to be butch
Dagger: On Butch Women, edited by Lily Burana and Roxxie Linea Due.
The Persistent Desire, A Femme-Butch Reader, edited by Joan Nestle.
Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme, edited by Ivan E. Coyote and Zena Sharman
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America, by Lillian Faderman
Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold- Elizabeth Kennedy & Madeline Davis
COOL WEBSITES:
Lesbian Herstory Archives - this is the coolest website ever for browsing stuff about lesbians in history
(and Here’s a link for the Lesbian Herstory Archives’ audio tapes collection, its really cool check it out! Great for finding interesting stuff if u dont know what to read/listen to and would like to kill some time :D !)
The Lesbrary - super cool blog dedicated to lesbian literature
Good Lesbian Books- cool website. Heres a link to their list of Free Stuff :)
Books to watch out for - lesbian book reviews and literary news
Lesbian Fiction Review
Lesbian Science Fiction
Sistahs on the Shelf - Cool site dedicated to Black Lesbian fiction. Reviews, News, Recommendations, Authors n more
Canadian Lesbian Book Blog
Biblioteca Feminista - Books/ book recommendations in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Italian
List of Lesbian Authors’ sites
Lesbian full-text works on the web - list of lesbian content available for free on the web. Mostly older works
LGBT books for teens
UK Lesbian Fiction
Women and Words - site devoted to bringing news, interviews, writing tips, giveaways and more
The Book Dyke blog
LGBT Romance Novels
Lesbian History Bibliography
Bella Books
reblog to save a life lol
plz by all means add to this if u have anything i didnt mention! hope this was helpful <3
Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language
We are always told to use body language in our writing. Sometimes, it’s easier said than written. I decided to create these cheat sheets to help you show a character’s state of mind. Obviously, a character may exhibit a number of these behaviours. For example, he may be shocked and angry, or shocked and happy. Use these combinations as needed.
by Amanda Patterson
Happy International Lesbian Day!
new genre concept: soft apocalypse
the world as we know it has ended and mother nature starts taking back what’s hers. there are no zombies or cannibals or murderous bandits. the most valued members of the community are those who know how to garden and farm, sew and weave, treat wounds, work wood or build with bricks, cook from scratch.
people bond together to begin rebuilding instead of killing each other. everyone teaches each other whatever they do know and works together to figure out the stuff none of them know. books become incredibly valued resources because they’re often the only way to learn critical information. if someone is elderly, disabled, or otherwise unable to work at the same level as most of the community, they’re taken care of by the others, not told any sort of “survival of the fittest” bs.
as the generations ware on, communities begin expanding into small cities. some of the settlements even find ways to repurpose solar or wind power on a small scale and have electricity in some of their buildings. storytellers wander the countryside telling tales of the old world in return for some hot stew or a place to rest for the night, and the mythos of the new world start to incorporate elements of the past. the only thing that remains constant is that humans survive, and they do it by working together.