Confidently we can now say that lesbians have always existed, even before Ellen! And, that they existed all over the world, from the UK to China, New Zealand to Mexico.
We have proven – sometimes through poetry, sometimes through science – that lesbians are as exciting, sexy and randy as everybody else. I mean, one lesbian invented the plectrum so that she could have sex and play the guitar, probably not at the same time, although you never quite know. Likewise, dildos have been a lesbian’s best friend for… well… centuries.
It also comes as no surprise to see that so many highly educated and respected men in history were… how can I put this, a bit daft? Others were downright cruel in their wilful erasure of us.
My favourite discovery, by far, is that lesbians have always been really, really funny; a unique and dry wit that cannot be replicated anywhere else. It seems that some lesbian stereotypes are also indeed (and hilariously) true. We sure do have a lot of feelings.
We can also see that lesbian and trans communities share a valid history, despite what some people may think. And, while lesbians were and still are politically and culturally fucked, attacking other minority groups only redirects the attention away from the group that actually wants to undermine all others. You know… the patriarchy.
Sure, lesbianism as a ‘concept’ did not exist in the past, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t use it to refer to certain women. It’s not a slur, it’s not an insult, it’s a word that just offers happy visibility. We must also remember that gender theory is a modern tradition, and that applying it to a society that did not function as such is just, well… like those highly educated and respected men, a bit daft.
So, while lesbians are gaining bigger platforms (yay) there is still a long way to go in terms of true representation and integrating them into the history books (boo). As I hope this book has shown, lesbians have fought extremely hard for visibility and acceptance, so it would be unforgivable if we were to give up the fight now. Keep including lesbians, keep celebrating women’s love for other women, and keep calling your kids Ann, Anne and Barbara.
Right, I need to get laid.