description: Age. Race. Money. Class. Ability. Politics. Health. Religion. Appearance. Just some of the factors which distinguish women from one another; factors which in turn have an impact on lesbian relationships.Within feminist thought lesbian relationships have often functioned as a counterpoint to hegemonic and oppressive heterosexuality. They have been idealized and romanticized and therefore little discussed. Lesbian Power Difference takes as its starting point the assumption that a shared gender identity alone is no guarantee of equality and mutuality in relationships. Lesbians do not provide the world with utopian examples of right-relationships. Rather, lesbian relationships, like all others, are sites of inequity and the power dynamics which result from it.A range of sources is drawn on to address the complexity of differences between women in lesbian relationships. How are structural power differences negotiated? How are temporary and shifting differences dealt with? What do lesbians work towards and hope for in our relationships? Through these explorations, the book addresses three important areas of contemporary lesbian The Nature of Lesbian is 'difference' a necessary ingredient, and is 'sameness' stifling?; The Ethics of Lesbian are lesbians seeking to eroticize equality or power differences? Can we eroticize both, or do they rule each other out? How can we develop an ethical vocabulary which avoids repression and judgementalism?; Lesbian do the lessons gleaned from dealing with inequality in lesbian relationships have wider political significance? Does a focus on diversity undercut or strengthen the notion of a 'lesbian community'?
language: English
title: Lesbian Power Difference: The Ethics of Equality
titlecomplete: Lesbian Power Difference: The Ethics of Equality
publisher: Cassell