Citation

Samek AA. Commun. Crit. Cult. Stud. 2016; 13(3): 232-249.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, National Communication Association, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14791420.2015.1127400

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This essay examines 1970s lesbian-feminist identity rhetorics to interrogate the exclusionary logics of visibility and gender normativity. Lesbian-feminists used such logics to exclude women living "in the closet," performing gender in nonnormative ways, or avowing a transgender identity. Those struggles form a dynamic context to situate and critically analyze Robin Morgan's keynote address at the 1973 West Coast Lesbian Conference, "Lesbianism and Feminism: Synonyms or Contradictions?" Though Morgan's address exemplifies rhetorical violence of identity politics and transphobia within lesbian-feminist communities, I explore its radically queer possibilities to shed fresh light on persistent struggles that shape contemporary queer politics.

Language: en