1. Invisibility of African-American Lesbian Women
Department of Anthropology
Jessany Maldonado
Introduction Conclusions &
Solutions
Methods
Findings
Acknowledgments
Contact
Jessany LaTrice Maldonado
This research compares Bianca Wilson’s 2009 Chicago
study and Mignon Moore’s 2006 New York City study of
African American lesbian communities. The original
research was developed as a comparison between
transnational lesbian cultures for the ANTH 482 Sexuality
in a Global Perspective course (Spring 2014).
Purdue University
School of Liberal Arts
Department of Anthropology
-There is a shroud of invisibility on the African
American lesbian community since they and the
larger, predominately white LGBT community
contribute to keeping Black lesbian culture hidden.
-Due to their exclusivity and rejection from
mainstream LGBT culture, there is not enough
research done on the community of Black lesbian
women.
-Black lesbians are confronted with a “triple
jeopardy” in which they face sexism, racism, and
heterosexism from their own families, ethnic group,
and wider LGBT community.
-This analysis captures the culture of African
American lesbians in order to explore how they
were influenced by the second-wave feminist
movement and were rejected from the wider
LGBT community and their own ethnic
community.
-Even though these gender roles were enforced and
members of one category typically did not date
within their respective category, there was fluidity
and movement among the categories due to
women adopting new presentations in new
neighborhoods, dressing/acting opposite of a
partner, or exiting the lesbian community to take
on a heterosexual life style.
- Sexual behavior was negotiated to be reciprocal if
necessary, which contradicted enforced roles
belonging to specific gender categories (i.e.
dominant gender=top/giver and submissive
gender=bottom/receiver).
- Moore and Wilson’s research suggests that Black
lesbian cultural scripts transcend the boundaries of
one city.
-Based on my analysis, I suggest that lesbian
women of color should make more of an effort to
either (1) integrate into the mainstream LGBT
community and revolutionize it or (2) emphasize
their independence from the larger LGBT
community and, thus, make themselves more
visible in both their ethnic and wider communities.
-Content analyses, archival analyses, and data
collection on two studies analyzing African American
lesbian women and culture.
-Collective analysis surveying the differences and
similarities between Mignon Moore’s and Bianca
Wilson’s samples.
maldona1@purdue.edu
Femme:
Apparel: Hyper-feminine dresses, skirts, high-heeled shoes,
accessories
Appearance: Makeup, long hair
Partners: Gender-blender, stud, or transgressive; polar
opposite of feminine or not too feminine looking
Transgressive/Stud:
Apparel: (Masculine attire) Pants, shirts, shoes, ties, chains
Appearance: Short, braided or dreadlocked hair
Partners: femmes
Gender-Blender:
Apparel: (Both masculine & feminine attire) Fitted T-shirts
with men’s pants or shoes
Appearance: (Androgynous) Touch of makeup
Partners: Gender-blender or femme
-Due to racism, a division exists between the Black lesbian community and the mainstream LGBT community.
-African American women refused second-wave feminists’ efforts to dilute gender categories and deconstruct the
heteronormative structure of lesbian relationships.
-Black lesbians face increased sexism from some Black men, who perceive women’s same-sex desires as a
rejection of men’s roles as providers and supporters, therefore suggesting that men are not needed.
-Lesbians of color may also face heterosexism from their ethnic communities because they choose non-gender
conforming norms and same-sex relationships – actions that are perceived as a betrayal of and failure to preserve
the ethnic group.
- Moore’s sample (2006) fell into three categories: femme,
gender-blender, and transgressive, whereas Wilson’s sample
(2009) resulted in two: stud and femme. Wilson’s categories were
similar to Moore’s and all are represented in Figure 1.
-The Black lesbian community did not enforce personality
characteristics within categories as much as correct gender
presentation and sexuality.
-In these categories, women utilized markers of gender
expression to define appearances and organize social
relationships.
-Representations of these categories, based on hair style and
clothing choice, are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1
References
Images via Google©
Moore, M. R. (2006). Lipstick or timberlands? Meanings of gender
presentation in black lesbian communities. Signs, 32(1), 113-139.
Wilson, B. D. (2009). Black lesbian gender and sexual culture:
Celebration and resistance. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 11(3), 297-313.
Stud & Femme
Femme & Stud /Transgressive
Femme & Femme
Femme/Gender-Blender & Femme
Femme & Femme
Femme & Femme or
Gender-Blender & Gender-
BlenderStud & Femme/Gender-Blender
Femme & Transgressive /Stud Femme/Gender-Blender & Stud
Figure 2