Hi all, I had a lovely experience of coming out to my mum a fee days ago, and it honestly could not have gone better. She brought it up today and said she feels very ignorant about it all and could I recommend a good historical/ non-fiction book that she could read to get more comfortable with it. (I know this sounds strange but my family actually deals with a lot through reading, I guess we're somewhat introverted!) But that includes me and that is why I'm shocked I couldn't recommend anything to her! Does anyone know of any good lesbian history books? I generally only read fiction so I'm a bit stumped. And obviously my mum is going to be consciously forming her opinion on lesbians using this book, so it needs to be positive!!! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!!
Lesbian history books? I have no idea! But I'd love to hear other people's recommendations. Bump. :newcolor:
Not a book, but there is a documentary on Netflix about lesbian history - I would check it out yourself first to be sure you like the image it portrays, then watch it with her. Sorry, I can't remember the name, but it should be easy to find or maybe someone else here knows it. The only books I know are focused on the Feminist movement specifically and are very academic (like footnotes for days), so not a good all-encompassing history or an engaging read. Maybe check out books on Amazon and organize them by highest customer rating, and read through the reviews for something that suits you.
Firstly congratulations on coming out and for it going so well! About books, I did the same thing when I was first coming out, trying to read as much as I could. I've not seen many around that solely concentrate on lesbian history to be honest but here's a couple that might be of interest. I don't know whether you're British but there's this one: A Lesbian History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Women Since 1500: Amazon.co.uk: Rebecca Jennings: Books I've not read it but the accompanying one about gay men was very good, but quite academic. This one I have read and thought it was extremely interesting, but it covers gay men and women. It mainly concentrates on men, as the author says there's fewer sources about women in history. Not for nothing is it called 'history': Born to Be Gay: A History of Homosexuality Revealing History: Amazon.co.uk: William G. Naphy: Books
Ahh thank you! Yes, I am from Britain, Ive just ordered both of those, I'll give them a read and decide which to pass over to my mum! They both look quite good! It's always the case that there's more about men, such is life! I hang round with lots of gay men anyway so it won't hurt knowing more about that element of history too! I'm actually looking forward to reading these myself, I know elements of LGBT history through chatting to more scholarly people at my bookclub, so it'll be nice to find out more! I couldn't find the netflix one, I don't know if its a country difference? Thanks all the same though, I'll look into it!
