'Here and wet for you!': Sadomasochist lesbian feminism in Britain, 1980-2000

“在这里，为你而湿！”：1980-2000 年英国的施虐受虐女同性恋女权主义

• 批准号: 2875419
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2875419
• 关键词: Here; wet; Sadomasochist; lesbian; feminism

This project considers the relationship between kink and feminism in 1980s and 1990s Britain. Focusing on self-identified sadomasochist (SM) lesbian feminists, it engages with the lived experience of SM lesbian women and the political conflicts around these intersecting identities. In doing so, the project nuances historiographical discussions of feminist and lesbian politics and experience. As a social and political history, it is underpinned by a commitment to providing a platform for the voices of marginalised queer women. The title, 'Here and wet for you!' centres this desire.The project addresses a gap in the interdisciplinary scholarship on feminist politics and the 'sex wars' in Britain, which debated the place of pornography and SM within feminism (Healey, 1996; Green, 1997). An anti-SM rhetoric, which presents SM as fetishising heteropatriarchal power dynamics (Rees, 2010; Jeffreys, 2018) is historiographically dominant. The reality is more complicated - criticism of SM risks a restriction of female sexuality, but its support ignores external influence on sexual preferences. This is the core issue my project will explore.The project focuses on communities of SM lesbian women, including the Rebel Dykes, a politically active group of punk lesbians in 1980s London, and parallel groups in Brighton and Manchester. Building on a new momentum in 'kink history' (Cofield, Mechen, Worley, 2022; Sigel, 2012; Pine, 2013), it provides the first systematic study of SM lesbian feminists in contemporary Britain. Beyond this, the project's focus on 1980s and 1990s Britain underpins a critical assessment of the tension between politics and activism that considers both the reactionary sexual politics of the Conservative government and the limits of New Labour's reform agenda (Herman, 2007; Rodgerson and Semple, 1990). This will challenge established historical understandings of the sexual politics and sexual subcultures of contemporary Britain.The project addresses three research questions:How did sadomasochism influence SM lesbians' feminism?How did the political landscape of Britain affect the emergence of this particular feminism and identity?Why did queer people find a community within SM spaces, and vice versa?To answer these questions, the research will take place over two stages. First: archival research, examining print material to explore the more political and theoretical aspects of SM lesbian feminism. The Bishopsgate Institute, with its holdings of the Rebel Dykes and Leather and Fetish archive, and the Lesbian Archive will be of the greatest use in this, given their holdings of lesbian zines and artwork.Second: a series of interviews with self-identified SM lesbian feminists, with the aim of around 20 participants. These will be found by advertising on social media and through historical networks such as the Women's History Network and the OHS LGBTQ+ special interest group. Oral history's rich methodological potential to explore the development of subjectivity (Portelli, 1981; Roper, 2005) will underpin my exploration of the social position of SM lesbian feminism. I plan to undertake interviews at meaningful locations such as Greenham Common, as the concept of place is of great importance to queer identity (Cook and Oram, 2022; Cresswell, 2015).

这个项目考虑了20世纪80年代和90年代英国扭结和女权主义之间的关系。它聚焦于自我认同的施虐受虐狂(SM)女同性恋女权主义者，涉及SM女同性恋女性的生活经历和围绕这些交叉身份的政治冲突。在这样做的过程中，该项目对女权主义者和女同性恋者的政治和经历进行了细微的史学讨论。作为一部社会和政治史，它的基础是致力于为被边缘化的同性恋女性提供一个发声的平台。标题是《为你准备好了！》该项目解决了关于女权主义政治和英国性别战争的跨学科学术空白，这场战争辩论了色情和性侵犯在女权主义中的地位(Healey，1996；Green，1997)。一种反SM的修辞，将SM描述为迷恋异族宗主制的权力动态(Rees，2010；Jeffreys，2018)在历史学上占据主导地位。现实要复杂得多--对SM的批评冒着限制女性性行为的风险，但它的支持忽视了对性偏好的外部影响。这是我的项目将探讨的核心问题。该项目关注SM女同性恋者的社区，包括20世纪80年代伦敦的一个政治活跃的朋克女同性恋团体Rebel Dykes，以及布莱顿和曼彻斯特的平行团体。它建立在“扭曲的历史”(Cofield，Mechen，Worley，2022；Sigel，2012；Pine，2013)的新势头的基础上，提供了对当代英国SM女同性恋女权主义者的第一个系统研究。除此之外，该项目对20世纪80年代和90年代英国的关注支持了对政治和激进主义之间的紧张关系的批判性评估，该评估既考虑了保守党政府的反动性政治，也考虑了新工党改革议程的局限性(Herman，2007；Rodgerson和Semple，1990)。这将挑战对当代英国性别政治和性亚文化的历史理解。该项目解决了三个研究问题：施虐受虐狂如何影响SM女同性恋者的女权主义？英国的政治格局如何影响这种特殊女权主义和身份的出现？为什么同性恋者在SM空间找到一个社区，反之亦然？为了回答这些问题，研究将分两个阶段进行。首先：档案研究，检视印刷材料，探讨SM女同性恋女权主义更多的政治和理论方面。比肖普斯盖特研究所和女同性恋档案馆将在这方面发挥最大的作用，因为他们拥有女同性恋杂志和艺术品。第二：对自我认同的SM女同性恋女权主义者的一系列采访，目标是大约20名参与者。这些将通过在社交媒体上做广告以及通过妇女历史网络和OHS LGBTQ+特殊兴趣小组等历史网络来找到。口述历史在探索主体性发展方面的丰富方法论潜力(Portali，1981；Rper，2005)将为我探索SM女同性恋女权主义的社会地位奠定基础。我计划在像Greenham Common这样有意义的地方进行采访，因为地点的概念对同性恋身份非常重要(Cook and Oram，2022；Cresswell，2015)。