Lesbian pulp fiction

Lesbian pulp fiction refers to any mid-20th century pulp novel with overtly lesbian themes and content. Lesbian pulp fiction was published in the 1950s and 60s by many of the same publishing houses that other subgenres of pulp fiction including Westerns, Romances, and Detective Fiction. Because very little other literature was available for and about lesbians at this time, quite often these books were the only reference people (lesbian and otherwise) had for modeling what lesbians were. Stephanie Foote, from the University of Illinois commented on the importance of lesbian pulp novels to the lesbian identity prior to feminism: "Pulps have been understood as signs of a secret history of readers, and they have been valued because they have been read. The more they are read, the more they are valued, and the more they are read, the closer the relationship between the very act of circulation and reading and the construction of a lesbian community becomes...Characters use the reading of novels as a way to understand that they are not alone." [Foote, Stephanie. "Deviant Classics: Pulps and the Making of Lesbian Print Culture." "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society" 2005, vol. 31, no. 1.]

Writer Donna Allegra explained why she purchased them in saying, "No matter how embarrassed and ashamed I felt when I went to the cash register to buy these books, it was absolutely necessary for me to have them. I needed them the way I needed food and shelter for survival."In: Keller, Yvonne. "Was it Right to Love Her Brother's Wife So Passionately? Lesbian Pulp Novels and U.S. Lesbian Identity, 1950–1965." American Quarterly, 2005]

Pulp fiction novels got their name from the cheap wood pulp paper they were printed on (note: the pulp fiction novels of the 1950s and 60s evolved out of the pulp magazines of earlier decades). These books were sold at drugstores, magazine stands, bus terminals and other places where one might look to purchase cheap, consumable entertainment. The books were small enough to fit in a purse or back pocket and cheap enough to throw away when the reader was through with it.

Development of the genre

In the early to mid 20th century, only a handful of books were published that addressed lesbians as characters in relationships with women. However, after World War II, there appeared a subversive trend in publishing that allowed for books to be written, cheaply produced, and widely distributed that addressed "dirty" topics like drugs, gangs, white slavery, crime, murder, and homosexuality. Because the literature wasn't respected, it wasn't censored. In terms of lesbian fiction, these books were the only ones available to many people in many locations who had no prior access to information or stories that involved lesbian characters.

Hundreds of titles were published in this genre between 1955-1969, and millions of them were sold. This was part of no social agenda on the publishers' parts: they were making quite a bit of money.Hermes, Joke. "Sexuality in Lesbian Romance Fiction." "Feminist Review", 1992 p. 49-66.] However prevalent the books were, purchasing and reading them for many women was the equivalent to coming out to the cashier. Author Joan Nestle called them "survival books" and described purchasing them:

The act of taking one of these books off the drugstore rack and paying for it at the counter was a frightening and difficult move for most women. This was especially true during the atmosphere of the McCarthy trials...Although tame by today's standards...these volumes were so threatening then that women hid them, burnt them, and threw them out." [Nestle, Joan. "A Restricted Country." Cleis Press, 2003.]

"Women's Barracks"

The first pulp to address a lesbian relationship was published as early as 1950 with "Women's Barracks" by Tereska Torres, published by Gold Medal Books. The story was fictionalized account of Torres' experiences in the Free French Forces in London during World War II. "Women's Barracks" sold 4 million copies and was selected in 1952 to become an example of how paperback books were promoting moral degeneracy, by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials [ [http://www.frontlist.com/detail/155861494X Women's Barracks - Tereska Torres Judith Mayne ] ] .

"Spring Fire" and the establishment of a formula

Accounting for the success of "Women's Barracks", it is not a coincidence that Gold Medal Books published another paperback with lesbian themes, and in fact, eventually published some of the least homophobic books in the genre.

"Spring Fire" by Marijane Meaker writing as Vin Packer is generally considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel, since the plot focused on the relationship of the two main characters, as opposed to the various relationships examined in "Women's Barracks". "Spring Fire", which was published by Gold Medal Books in 1952 and sold more than 1.5 million copies, is about two college girls, Mitch and Leda, who fall in love and have an affair. The tragic endings of "Women's Barracks" and "Spring Fire" (suicide and insanity) are typical of lesbian pulp novels. Meaker was told by her editor that because the books traveled through the mail and anything sent through the U.S. Postal Service was subject to government censorship, publishers had to make sure that the books seemed in no way to proselytize homosexuality. [Packer, Vin. Spring Fire, Introduction. 2004, Cleis Press] No character was allowed to be both homosexual and happy at the book's end. A character had either to turn straight and end up coupled with a man or, if she remained homosexual, suffer death, insanity or some equally unappealing fate. Although originally published in hardback and technically not a pulp novel (it however quickly became available in paperback form), the first exception to this formula is the book "The Price of Salt" written by Patricia Highsmith under the pen name Claire Morgan. Throughout the genre, satisfactory endings for women who accepted their homosexuality were rare.

Content

Content and quality of the books varied widely. Authors of lesbian pulps were both male and female, and often used pseudonyms - the male authors frequently used female names. One retrospective summed up the genre as, "The vast majority of these lesbian novels were written by men, designed to fulfill straight men's fantasies...But perhaps 40 or 50 lesbian (pulp) novels were written by women, and were also good enough to becoming underground classics...The pulps also reached isolated, small-town lesbians who could read them and see that they were not the only lesbians in the world." [Yusba, Roberta, "Twilight Tales: Lesbian Pulps 1950-1960," "On Our Backs", 2.1 Summer, 1985: p. 30.]

Writer Yvonne Keller divides books within the lesbian pulp fiction genre into subclasses she labels "pro-lesbian" and "virile adventures". Pro-lesbian pulps were generally about and by women, featured a love story between women, had fairly well-developed characters, and tended not to feature gratuitous or graphic sexual encounters. Virile adventures were more male centered, perhaps with at least one male main character, and featured graphic depictions of sex. Author Paula Christian described her inspiration to write during this period: "Contemporary fiction showed such instability, violence, and sensationalism...I simply wanted to show the other side."

However, the majority of books in the lesbian pulp fiction genre promoted myths about lesbians and lesbianism. Women who are left without men can be seduced and violated by predatory lesbians (usually butch women). The depictions of lesbianism in prison, the military, and boarding schools was a well-used motif. Lesbianism was often linked to other topics that were seen as salacious or shocking at the time: witchcraft, Satanism, bondage and discipline, orgies, and voyeurism.Zimet, Jaye. "Strange Sisters: The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction 1949 - 1969". Penguin Group, 1999.]

Barbara Grier, who started Naiad Press called the years between 1955 - 1965 the Golden Age of Lesbian Pulp Fiction. Grier republished many of the books in this span in the 1980s under Naiad, and Cleis Press and Feminist Press have again reissued them. Several writers of this "Golden Age" stood out for their contributions to gay and lesbian literature and their formation of a lesbian identity prior to the advent of feminism:

Ann Bannon

Ann Bannon (Ann Weldy b. 1932) wrote six lesbian themed pulp novels from 1957 to 1962 that later became known as "The Beebo Brinker Chronciles". The popularity of the books as well as the continuity of characters gave them a remarkable longevity and earned her the title, "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction." Her books were re-released in 1983 and again in 2001.

Bannon wrote: "Odd Girl Out", 1957 Gold Medal Books; "I Am a Woman", 1959 Gold Medal Books; "Women in the Shadows", 1959 Gold Medal Books; "Journey to a Woman", 1960 Gold Medal Books; "The Marriage", 1960 Gold Medal Books; "Beebo Brinker", 1962 Gold Medal Books

Valerie Taylor

Valerie Taylor (Velma Nacella Young 1913-1997) wrote eight lesbian themed novels from 1957-1964, poetry that was published in "The Ladder", and several novels in the 1970s through Naiad Press. She became a gay activist, co-founding the Mattachine Society and the Lesbian Writers' Conference in Chicago in 1974.

Taylor wrote: "Whisper Their Love", 1957 Gold Medal Books; "The Girls in 3-B", 1959 Gold Medal Books; "Stranger on Lesbos", 1960 Gold Medal Books; "A World Without Men", 1963 Midwood-Tower; "Unlike Others", 1963 Midwood-Tower; "Journey to Fulfillment", 1964 Midwood-Tower

Marijane Meaker

Marijane Meaker (b. 1927) wrote not only under the pen name of Vin Packer but as Ann Aldrich. Packer's books were generally mystery novels, but usng her Ann Aldrich name she wrote nonfiction books about lesbians that were not overly sympathetic about lesbianism and earned Meaker the ire of the Daughters of Bilitis printed in "The Ladder". Barbara Grier once referred to her as "the evil genius." Meaker later wrote books for young adults under the names M.E. Kerr and Mary James.

Meaker wrote: "Spring Fire", 1952 Gold Medal Books; "We Walk Alone", 1955 Gold Medal Books; "We Too Must Love", 1958 Gold Medal Books; "Carol in a Thousand Cities", 1960 Gold Medal Books; "We Two Won't Last", 1963 Gold Medal Books; "Take a Lesbian to Lunch", 1972

Marion Zimmer Bradley

Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) wrote under various pen names, eventually becoming quite popular for her Avalon and Darkover series. For years Bradley refused to admit she authored these books.

Bradley wrote: "I am a Lesbian", 1962 as Lee Chapman; "No Adam for Eve", 1966 as John Dexter; "My Sister, My Love", 1963 as Miriam Gardner; "Twilight Lovers", 1964 as Miriam Gardner; "The Strange Women", 1967 as Miriam Gardner; "Spare Her Heaven", 1963 as Morgan Ives"Anything Goes", 1964 as Morgan Ives; "Knives of Desire", 1966 as Morgan Ives

Cover art

Lesbian pulp novels typically had lurid, titillating cover art. Although many women (lesbian and otherwise) bought and read these novels, book publishers marketed them to men as erotic fantasy. Covers might have a few provocative lines of text meant to draw attention to the sexy and scandalous nature of what was between the covers. Publishers inserted words such as "twilight", "odd", "strange", "shadows" and "queer" in the titles of these books.Walters, Suzanne. "Her Hand Crept Slowly Up Her Thigh." Social Text, 1989 p. 83-101] "Author Ann Bannon has stated that men would read the covers literally, attracted to the art of half-dressed women in a bedroom scene, and women would read the covers iconically: two women looking at each other, or one woman standing, another on a bed, with the trigger words of "strange" or "twilight" meant that the book had lesbian content in it.

Decline

In 1964, "Desert of the Heart" by Jane Rule and "Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing" by May Sarton in 1965 were published by mainstream publishers in hardback, both enjoying a fairly successful run. "Patience and Sarah" (originally self-published by author Alma Routsong in 1969) is considered the first novel to initiate a feminist publishing run. In 1973, Naiad Press was founded by Barbara Grier which concentrated mainly on lesbian themed books. The growth of the pornographic industry after a series of United States Supreme Court decisions disallowing the censorship of pornographic material, was evident in books that served to be more graphic in nature than focusing on the relationships of the women in the stories, which also led to the decline of lesbian pulp fiction. Authors March Hastings and Paula Christian both stated their publishers lost interest in their subject in the mid 1960s. As well, common plot points in the books involved women who were coming to terms with realizing their attraction to women in a world that did not allow it. With the rise of feminism, and the gay rights movement in 1969, these plot points were decreasingly relevant.

See also

Lesbian literature

External links

* [http://www.msvu.ca/english/pulp/covers.asp Lesbian pulp fiction covers]
* [http://www.cleispress.com/category_index.php?category=Paperback,Classics Lesbian pulp fiction published by Cleis Press]
* [http://www.strangesisters.com/ Large Collection of Lesbian Paperback Artwork]
* [http://www.glbtq.com/literature/romance_novels.html GLBTQ: The History of Gay and Lesbian Romance novels]
* [http://lesbianpulpfiction.pbwiki.com/ A wiki for Lesbian Pulp Fiction]
* [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/26/RVGIHD9S041.DTL "Stories of Forbidden Passion..They Dared to Read!" The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the resurgence of lesbian pulp fiction]
* [http://www.msvu.ca/library/collpollespulp.asp The collection policy for lesbian pulp fiction works at Mt. St. Vincent University]
* [http://www.ramaguirecoverart.com/ Artist Robert Maguire's pulp fiction covers]

References