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Joanne Myers, HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF THE LESBIAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT: STILL THE RAGE. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2003. 309p. bibl. $75.00, ISBN 0-8108-4506-7.
"What is a lesbian? A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion." So began the oftcited(1) 1970 manifesto "Woman Identified Woman," by the Radicalesbians group, to which Joanne Myers pays homage in her subtitle. Her usage also clues readers in to the fact that the lesbian liberation movement is far from concluded. The book's purpose is to provide a starting point for understanding and researching both prongs of the movement -- political rights and the liberation of lesbian sexual practices from stigmatization. It further explores the intersections and divergences with women's liberation, gay liberation, and queer theory. The Dictionary does not purport to cover all aspects of lesbian liberation, and in particular it does not cover lesbian artists or literary figures unless they "made a contribution to the movement or were so referential that omitting them would be heretical" (Preface).
The Dictionary is an excellent reference work. First, there's the clear notion of the meaning...