# Lipstick lesbian

Part of a series on :
Lesbian feminism :
Women's liberation movement :
People
Paula Gunn Allen
Dorothy Allison
Ti-Grace Atkinson
Alison Bechdel
Evelyn Torton Beck
Miriam Ben-Shalom
Julie Bindel
Ivy Bottini
Charlotte Bunch
Cheryl Clarke
Michelle Cliff
Kate Clinton
Jeanne Córdova
Mary Daly
Max Dashu
Stormé DeLarverie
Diane DiMassa
Alix Dobkin
Andrea Dworkin
Elana Dykewomon
Lillian Faderman
Ferron
Marilyn Frye
Michiyo Fukaya
Carolyn Gage
Donna Gottschalk
Sarah Hoagland
Karla Jay
Sheila Jeffreys
Jill Johnston
Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
Joan Larkin
Anna Livia
Audre Lorde
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Cherríe Moraga
Bonnie J. Morris
Ruth Mountaingrove
Jean O'Leary
Pat Parker
Julia Penelope
Janice Raymond
Adrienne Rich
Margaret Sloan-Hunter
Barbara Smith
Cris Williamson
Monique Wittig
Bonnie Zimmerman :
Groups
AMASONG
Amazon Bookstore Cooperative
Anjaree
Artemis Singers
Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance
Bi-National Lesbian Conference
Chicago Lesbian Liberation
Combahee River Collective
Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres
Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis (Australia)
The Feminists
First Black Lesbian Conference
The Furies Collective
Gay Women's Alternative
Gouines rouges
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives
Lavender Menace
Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group
Lesbian Art Project
Lesbian Avengers
Lesbian Feminist Liberation
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Lesbian Movement (Denmark)
Lesbian Organization of Toronto
Lesbians Against Pit Closures
Lincoln Legion of Lesbians
Mujeres Creando
Oregon Women's Land Trust
Salsa Soul Sisters
Sister Spit
Sisters for Homophile Equality
Van Dykes :
Key issues
Butch
Butch and femme
Compulsory heterosexuality
Corrective rape
Dyke
Feminist separatism
Femme
Gender-critical feminism
Lesbian bed death
Lesbian erasure
Lesbians in Francoist Spain
Lesbians in the Spanish Second Republic
Lesbophobia
Lipstick lesbian
Political lesbianism
Radical lesbianism
Separatist feminism
Soft butch
Stone butch
Stone femme
U-Haul lesbian
Womyn-born womyn
Womyn's land :
Media
Books
Les Guérillères (1969)
Le Corps Lesbien (1973)
Lesbian Nation (1973)
Lover (1976)
The Wanderground (1979)
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982)
Lesbian/Woman (1991)
The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992)
Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993)
Your Silence Will Not Protect You (2017)
Other
Die Freundin (1924–1933)
Vice Versa (1947–1948)
The Ladder (1956–1972)
Arena Three (1963-1972)
The Woman-Identified Woman (1970)
Off Our Backs (1970–2008)
Lavender Woman (1971–1976)
Lesbian Tide (1971–1980)
Dykes & Gorgons (1973–1976)
Lesbian Feminist Circle (1973–1986)
WomanSpirit (1974–1984)
Lesbian Connection (1974–present)
Conditions (1976–1990)
Sinister Wisdom (1976–present)
Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (1977–1983)
Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (1980–1996)
Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter (1982–1984)
Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui (1982–present)
Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008)
Hothead Paisan (1991–1998)
Diva (1994–present)
Journal of Lesbian Studies (1997–present)
Jane's World (1998–2018)
Curve (2000–present)
AfterEllen (2002–present)
Velvetpark (2007–present)
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2017) :
Actions and ideas
Cineffable
Dyke march
Lesbian bar
Lesbian flags
Lesbian literature
Lesbian pulp fiction
Maud's (bar)
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Motherpeace Tarot
Mountain Moving Coffeehouse
Olivia Records
Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival
Peg's Place (bar)
Some Prefer Cake
Women's music
Women's Week Provincetown :
Feminism portal :
vte :
"Lipstick lesbian" is slang for a lesbian who exhibits a great amount of feminine gender attributes, such as wearing make-up, dresses or skirts, and having other characteristics associated with feminine women. In popular usage, the term is also used to characterize the feminine gender expression of bisexual women, or the broader topic of female–female sexual activity among feminine women.
An alternate term for lipstick lesbian is doily dyke.

## Definitions and society

The term lipstick lesbian was used in San Francisco at least as early as the 1980s. In 1982, Priscilla Rhoades, a journalist with the gay newspaper Sentinel, wrote the feature story "Lesbians for Lipstick".
In 1990, the gay newspaper OutWeek covered the Lesbian Ladies Society, a Washington, D.C.–based social group of "feminine lesbians" that required women to wear a dress or skirt to its functions.
The term lipstick lesbian became popular when used by writer Deborah Bergman, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.
Some authors have commented that lipstick lesbian is commonly used broadly to refer to feminine bisexual women or to heterosexual women who temporarily show romantic or sexual interest in other women to impress men. For example, Jodie Brian, in Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Volume 1 (2009), states, "A common depiction of lipstick lesbianism includes conventionally attractive and sexually insatiable women who desire one another but only insofar as their desire is a performance for male onlookers or a precursor to sex with men." In Intersectionality, Sexuality and Psychological Therapies (2012), lipstick lesbian is defined as "a lesbian/bisexual woman who exhibits 'feminine' attributes such as wearing makeup, dresses and high heeled shoes"; the book adds that "more recent iterations of feminine forms of lesbianism such as 'femme' (e.g. wears dresses/skirts or form-fitting jeans, low cut tops, makeup, jewelry), or 'lipstick lesbian' [...], are an attempt to define as both lesbian and feminine."
Some lipstick lesbians say that they choose to perform femininity rather than be subjected to it, adding that they have made an active decision to be feminine, which subverts society's demand of forced femininity. They commonly modify a typical feminine style to make it less heteronormative; Inge Blackman and Kathryn Perry gave the example of "twinning short skirts with Doctor Martens (DMs) or lacy underwear with men's trousers".
Author M. Paz Galupo stated, "Young women exposed to mainstream media outlets are seeing expressions of the same-sex desire between women much more frequently than ever before. However, mainstream images of same-sex desire between women are very specific, meaning they are often of hyper-feminine women ('lipstick lesbians')." The prominence of lipstick lesbians in the media is echoed by Rosalind Gill, who stated, "The figure of the 'luscious lesbian' [lipstick lesbian] within advertising is notable for her extraordinarily attractive, conventionally feminine appearance." Although some authors have said that the existence of lipstick lesbians is a destabilization of heterosexual ideals, by breaking the assumption that a feminine person will always desire a masculine person, and vice versa, others have said that the lipstick lesbian emergence simply fails in this regard, as lipstick lesbians are still subject to the male gaze, and still found acceptable due to their femininity.

## In media

The term is thought to have reached wide usage in the 1990s. A 1997 episode of the television show Ellen widely publicized the phrase. In the show, Ellen DeGeneres's character, asked by her parents whether a certain woman is a "dipstick lesbian", explains that the term is lipstick lesbian, and comments, "I would be a ChapStick lesbian." In the 1999 film But I'm a Cheerleader, the character played by Julie Delpy is identified as "Lipstick Lesbian" in the film credits.

## Flag controversy

The lipstick lesbian flag was introduced by Natalie McCray in 2010 in the weblog This Lesbian Life. The design contains a red kiss in the left corner, superimposed on seven stripes consisting of six shades of red and pink colors and a white bar in the center. The flag has not been widely adopted due to some lesbians asserting that it is not inclusive of butch lesbians, while others have argued that McCray wrote biphobic, racist, and transphobic comments on her now-defunct blog.
The colors of the "pink" lesbian flag were copied from the lipstick lesbian flag (with the kiss mark excluded). The maker of the "pink" flag remains unknown. The pink flag attracted more use as a general lesbian pride flag.
* Lipstick lesbian flag created by Natalie McCray (2010). (This is a version with the kiss symbol modified.)
* Pink lesbian flag with colors derived from the lipstick lesbian flag. (Designer unknown.)