The social construction of lesbianism: a reappraisal

The commentators in this reappraisal describe The Social Construction of Lesbianism (1987) as ‘classic’ (Coyle1), ‘exciting’ (Tiefer), ‘important’, (MacBride-Stewart), ‘fascinating’ (Snelling), a ‘remarkable achievement’ (Snelling), and an ‘engagingly written, political tour de force’ (Coyle). Like some of the commentators (Coyle, Snelling), one of us (VC) owns a well-read copy of The Social Construction of Lesbianism, highlighted in all the colours of the rainbow and covered in (now) rather cryptic notes. This was the copy that passed back and forth between us as we completed our PhDs in lesbian and gay psychology, both of which were supervised by Celia Kitzinger. As young lesbian feminists, we were drawn to Celia’s radicalism and uncompromising political commitment. She was an inspiring, challenging, passionate and energetic PhD supervisor, and we are honoured and privileged to edit this reappraisal of The Social Construction of Lesbianism, a book based on her PhD.

“Seismic cultural change?”: British media representations of same-sex ‘marriage’

The legal recognition of same-sex relationships is a contested terrain that has been hotly debated by feminists. This article provides a social constructionist analysis of the UK newspaper media coverage around the time of the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act (2004). In examining the 348 national newspaper coverage over a three month period (November 2005–January 2006) we highlight three prevalent, and conflicting, themes: ‘same-sex marriage becomes legal under the Civil Partnership Act’; ‘couples will not get full legal status’ and ‘marriage is a heterosexual business’. We discuss these media representations and argue that the heteronormativity of the coverage provided little space for more radical constructions of same-sex relationship recognition.

Androiden und (Anti)feminismus in The Stepford Wives

Since the early days of cinema the creation of artificial life with its various implications has been a popular topic on screen. Amongst the large number of films that deal with the theme of androids Bryan Forbes’ "The Stepford Wives" (1975) is noticeable for its focus on questions of gender and the relationship between the sexes. The film is set in a contemporary small suburban town where frustrated husbands have found a special way of dealing with their emancipated wives by replacing them with docile life-like robots. Mixing elements of the thriller and horror genres with farce and comedy "The Stepford Wives" was the first American mainstream film to deal explicitly with Women’s Lib. Unlike Ira Levin in his much more ambivalent novel that the film was based on, Forbes and his actors deliberately set out to make a feminist satire, and according to some critics succeeded in producing an important document of second wave feminism which soon acquired cult status. However, it also provoked a number of negative reactions from feminists who were very uncomfortable with a film in which men get away with murdering the female population of an entire town. A closer inspection reveals that the satirical element of the film is indeed not prominent and frequently counteracted, at times facilitating a misogynist rather than a feminist interpretation. This is mainly due to the ending of the film which implies the murderous elimination of the female protagonist. Unlike all other cinematic and literary works that feature androids "The Stepford Wives" shows the successful creation of artificial life which does not backfire. In addition, the film which clearly categorises itself as a thriller and horror movie, and specifically alludes to the tradition of threatened yet strong female characters in these genres, at the same time defies this convention in favour of a seemingly misogynist ending. Thus the way in which "The Stepford Wives" refuses to comply with the traditions of both the android theme and the horror genre, involuntarily serves to undermine its intention as a feminist social satire.