Word. (on lesbian literature)

[fallon_ash]

Quote of the Day:

Q: Do you think ‘lesbian fiction’ pigeonholes itself by identifying as such?
A: Maybe it does, but that isn’t necessarily a bad idea. I would hate to go into a mega-bookstore and have to find the lesbian offerings from among the thousands of mainstream titles, all grouped as romance, mystery or sci-fi. That said, I think the sub-

Comments

[warlordkittens]

it's like asking for warning on slash fiction.

the thing is, we're always happy to see books we've clearly marked in our minds as "gay" (like, wouldn't you get a nice feeling seeing a sarah waters book in a book store?) and, while it would be ideal to *have* a section of lgbt fiction (incl. mainstream titles, like annie peyroux in a gay section or michael cunningham in a lesbian section), it does put you in a literary ghetto. but i am really so sick of seeing the names radclyffe and karin kallmaker (i've read neither) when searching lesbian fiction.

i think the difference is in the marketing system. some authors and publishers want to tap into the gay market specifically, but some authors don't want that label (fanny flagg etc.). also, some books are loved by lesbians but aren't of a lesbian theme, such as ellen's book. would you still put it in such a section?

here in israel, i haven't seen such sections at all, but when i went to america i saw they have glbt sections. it was mostly self-help for parents and the guide to sleeping with straight women, as well as some gay art. it was incredibly boring. however, when i went to france, i saw an entire glbt themed virgin records, which was positively AWESOME!

so um, yes. the difference is probably the marketing system.