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Success of Lesbian
Novels
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The first novels that contain a lesbian theme were published in 1928 in Britain. However, the courts in that country saw that novel to be obscene because it strongly depicts what it considered to be "unnatural practice" between two women. The British government banned the book for decades. With the advent of pulp fiction novels the lesbian novels had a big explosion of reader interest. Within this time frame there was a boom in lesbian books. There were a handful of writers for this kind of novel were men that used either a female or male pen name. Acceptance of lesbian books was only seen in the later part of 1960’s and the early part of 1970’s feminist movement.
Literature in lesbianism contains the works of lesbian writers, although some heterosexual writers who themed their novels in a lesbian form. Lesbian writers that do not include lesbian themes in their works are also considered to be a lesbian literature. However the books of heterosexual writers who included minor lesbian themes in their work were not considered to be lesbian novels.
Lesbian literature basically starts with the poetry of Sappho from Lesbos. Sappho focused only on women’s beauty and she stated her love for the female gender. In the past, lesbian novels were difficult to find at times due to shortage of lesbian presses. Large, mainstream publishers generally didn’t promote lesbian books. Aside from that, small publishers often lacked the funds to broadcast such works.
Well known young adult genres of lesbian romance novels like Ruby fruit Jungle and Happy Endings Are Alike for example were published in 1970’s. These kinds of lesbian romance novels depict the story of a woman who falls in love with another woman. It was only in 1990’s when the publication of lesbian romance novels rose to a significant number. The creation of lesbian themed novels for young adults gave way to the success of these kind of novels. In 1998 there was certain lesbian fiction which was intended for adult readers but became popular for teen aged readers.
The decade of the 1990’s was a turning point in exploring issues in lesbianism, and the early part of the 21st century is said to be when such novels came into widespread publication. Lesbian fiction flooded the market due to acceptance of the public readers towards lesbian themed works of literature. However there are certainly fewer of such books produced which depict lesbianism than their gay counterpart. Also, even though there is a significant increase in the availability of lesbian themed books, finding a book that has a non white protagonist is difficult.
Throughout recent history, the emergence of lesbian writers did just not come out of nowhere but clearly arose as people began to realize it is an extension of mainstream culture, seeking to define lesbianism as a normal variation of womanhood. Lesbian writers and their books strive to rise above discrimination and thrive despite the dominant culture.
