Description
Book SynopsisJed Samer explores how 1970s feminists took up the figure of the lesbian in broad attempts to reimagine gender and sexuality by studying feminist film, video, and science fiction literature.
Trade Review“Jed Samer reworks the genealogy of contemporary feminist, queer, and trans cultural politics in this fascinating foray into the futures envisioned by speculative lesbian literature and media half a century ago. It’s brilliant, generative, and timely.” -- Susan Stryker, Executive Editor, * TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly *
“Feminist documentary and science fiction: they nourish so many of our lives in tandem, but we so often study them separately. By merging the perspectives of the scholar, maker, and fan while traversing spaces from the archive to the convention hall and refining ideas as elegant as their gorgeous prose, Jed Samer is the perfect person to conduct this tour of the distinctive yet deeply overlapping legacies of these genres and the people who made them possible.” -- Nick Davis, author of * The Desiring-Image: Gilles Deleuze and Contemporary Queer Cinema *
“Samer’s excellent book . . . is relevant to contemporary 21C debates on who may and who may not claim to be a lesbian but, more significantly, the range of its scope, imagination, and ambition far exceeds the narrow and prescriptive terms in which such debates are framed by the British media."
-- Nick Hubble * Prospective Cultures *
"Samer’s work creates new ground for feminist sf scholarship, deeply contextualizing the importance of lesbian feminist fannish productions in the 1970s. . . . A valuable source for those interested in exploring feminist fan histories. It would also be suitable in courses exploring feminist sf, gender, and sexuality studies." -- Kathryn Heffner * Science Fiction Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction. Living in the Lesbian's Former Future: A Media Historiography of Imagination for When the Present Is Past 1
1. Feminist Media in Movement: The National Women's Film Circuit and International Videoletters 39
2. Producing Freedom: 1970s Feminist Documentary and Women's Prison Activism 90
3. Raising Fannish Consciousness: The Formation of Feminist Science Fiction Fandom 138
4. Tip/Alli: Cutting a Transfeminist Genealogy of Siblinghood 179
Epilogue. Potentiality Born in Flames 216
Notes 231
Bibliography 267
Index 281
