This chapter examines discussions about lesbian/queer sexuality within the feminist movements of the 1980s and 1990s in German-speaking countries and analyses how discourses of sexualities functioned as sites of negotiation for lesbian/queer conceptions of identity and gender. It illustrates how contestations about gendered bodies, sexual practices, and the entanglements of gender and desire were reflected in lesbian/queer magazines. To do so, it investigates debates about the so-called Feminist Sex Wars, a controversy surrounding the representation of sexual practices and (BD)SM in the East German lesbian magazine frau anders—Ein Info-Blatt für Lesben (1989–1993). It demonstrates how a clandestine magazine became a fertile ground for lesbian/queer history and the history of sexualities. In this chapter, selected passages from the magazine show how these kinds of sources are best analysed under the lenses of queer theory and queer methodologies. Underlining the significance of the magazines and informational pamphlets for the writing of queer history and for understanding historical categories of analysis, the chapter highlights frau anders’ refusal of unambiguous definitions or classifications and its role as an intermediary publication at the margin, between political pamphlets and mainstream magazines.

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Feminist Sex Wars in the East German Lesbian Movement? SM Discussions in the Magazine frau anders in the Early 1990s

  • Lorenz Weinberg

摘要

This chapter examines discussions about lesbian/queer sexuality within the feminist movements of the 1980s and 1990s in German-speaking countries and analyses how discourses of sexualities functioned as sites of negotiation for lesbian/queer conceptions of identity and gender. It illustrates how contestations about gendered bodies, sexual practices, and the entanglements of gender and desire were reflected in lesbian/queer magazines. To do so, it investigates debates about the so-called Feminist Sex Wars, a controversy surrounding the representation of sexual practices and (BD)SM in the East German lesbian magazine frau anders—Ein Info-Blatt für Lesben (1989–1993). It demonstrates how a clandestine magazine became a fertile ground for lesbian/queer history and the history of sexualities. In this chapter, selected passages from the magazine show how these kinds of sources are best analysed under the lenses of queer theory and queer methodologies. Underlining the significance of the magazines and informational pamphlets for the writing of queer history and for understanding historical categories of analysis, the chapter highlights frau anders’ refusal of unambiguous definitions or classifications and its role as an intermediary publication at the margin, between political pamphlets and mainstream magazines.