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Lavender, Menaced Lesbianism, Obscenity Law, and the Feminist Antipornography Movement

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Lavender, Menaced Lesbianism, Obscenity Law, and the Feminist Antipornography Movement Lavender, Menaced Lesbianism, Obscenity Law, and the Feminist Antipornography Movement Whitney Strub Journal of Women's History, Volume 22, Number 2, Summer 2010, pp. 83-107 (Article) Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: 10.1353/jowh.0.0143 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jowh/summary/v022/22.2.strub.html Access Provided by Rutgers University at 01/28/11 6:17PM GMT 2010 Lavender, Menaced Lesbianism, Obscenity Law, and the Feminist Antipornogra- phy Movement Whitney Strub This article examines the means by which obscenity law, as an instru- ment of heteronormativity, operated against depictions of lesbianism in the post-World War II United States. As persistent obscenity charges VHUYHGWRUHLI\WKHFRQÁDWLRQRIOHVELDQLVPDQGREVFHQLW\EROVWHULQJDQ DOUHDG\RSHUDWLYHDQWLJD\IUDPHZRUNMXGLFLDOUXOLQJVUHSHDWHGO\UDWLÀHG this equation, holding depictions of lesbianism to arbitrary and anoma- lous legal standards that insured its continued stigmatization. After an analysis of case law and the legal targeting of lesbian imagery, the article goes on to argue that this hitherto unexamined story provides a crucial backdrop for understanding lesbian responses to the feminist antipor- nography movement that emerged in the 1970s, as lesbians often proved resistant to a movement whose discourse frequently resonated with earlier legal language utilized in the suppression of lesbian imagery. 7KHKDQGVPRYHGDORQJKHUVLGHVÀQJHUVWUDLOLQJOLJKWO\DQG WKHQWKHPRLVWSDUWHGOLSVZHUHRQKHUOHIWEUHDVW6KHJDVSHG DVKHUHUHFWQLSSOHZDVGUDZQLQWRWKHKRWPRXQGWKHKRW WRQJXHGDQFHGLQFUD]\OLWWOHFLUFOHVDURXQGDQGDURXQG7KHQ %HWW\ZDVGRLQJWKHVDPHWKLQJRQWKHULJKWEUHDVW ´,·PRQÀUHµ-LOOZKLVSHUHG %HWW\UDLVHGKHUKHDG´,·OOSXWWKHÀUHRXWKRQH\µ 1 RWKSXUSOHDQGODYHQGHUDQGFOLPDFWLFLQPRUHVHQVHWKDQRQHWKLVSDV- BVDJHIURPWKHSXOSQRYHOLesbian RoommateKHOSHGHDUQDREVFHQLW\ FRQYLFWLRQIRUDVHOOHURIWKHERRNLQ3RUWODQG2UHJRQDUXOLQJXSKHOGE\WKH VWDWH·V6XSUHPH&RXUW7KHTXRWHGSDVVDJHUHSUHVHQWVWKHQRYHODWLWVPRVW 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