rose v. feelings

welcome!!!!!! this is long overdue. i’ve been promising myself i’d made this forever. so here it is - the ultimate masterpost of wlw (women loving women) books. not all characters are lesbians, some are bi or pan, though all books feature f/f relationships and/or themes. there are 150+ recommendations, so enjoy!

YOUNG ADULT CONTEMPORARY:

the miseducation of cameron post by emily m. danforth

keeping you a secret by julie anne peters

grl2grl by julie anne peters

lies my girlfriend told me by julie anne peters

far from xanadu by julie anne peters

rubyfruit jungle by rita mae brown

annie on my mind by nancy garden

kissing kate by lauren myracle

everything leads to you by nina lacour

dare truth or promise by paula boock

gravel queen by tea benduhn

her name in the sky by kelly quindlen

tell me again how a crush should feel by sara farizan

no one needs to know by amanda grace

my best friend, maybe by caela carter

dirty london by kelley york

ask the passengers by a.s. king

empress of the world by sara ryan

pages for you by sylvia brownrigg

waiting in the wings by melissa brayden

breathing underwater by lu vickers

hood by emma donoghue

between you & me by marisa calin

starting from here by lisa jenn bigelow

about a girl by sarah mccarry

the flywheel by erin gough

the necessary hunger by nina revoyr

the house you pass on the way by jacqueline woodson

about a girl by joanne horniman

gravity by leanne lieberman

another life altogether by elaine beale

great by sara benincasa

the gravity between us by kristen zimmer

taking flight by siera maley

the road to her by k.e. payne

the summer i wasn’t me by jessica verdi

unspeakabe by abbie rushton

beauty of the broken by tawni waters

read me like a book by liz kessler

starring kitty by keris stainton

holding back by mila kerr

cam girl by leah raeder

not otherwise specified by hannah moskowitz

an unstill life by kate larkindale

look both ways by alison cherry

a story of now by emily o’beirne

my summer of love by helen cross

marionette by t.b. markinson

the difference between you and me by madeleine george

the bermudez triangle by maureen johnson

girl walking backwards by bett williams

FANTASY/PARANORMAL/SCIENCE FICTION:

the dark wife by sarah diemer

twixt by sarah diemer

the witch sea by sarah diemer

sugar moon by sarah diemer

far by sarah diemer

carmilla by joseph sheridan le fanu

ash by malinda lo

huntress by malinda lo

adaption by malinda lo

the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson

karen memory by elizabeth bear

bleeding earth by kaitlin ward

lady knight by l.j. baker

the second sister by rae d. magdon

wild by meghan o’brien

santa olivia by jacqueline carey

everafter by nell stark

iron & velvet by alexis hall

silver kiss by naomi clark

with her body by nicola griffith

ammonite by nicole griffith

the windup girl by paolo bacigalupi

a harvest of ripe figs by shira glassman

seven by jennifer diemer

braided by elora bishop

crumbs by elora bishop

labyrinth by pearl north

the drowning girl by caitlin r. kiernan

the red tree by caitlin r. kiernan

the big lie by julie mayhew

the first twenty by jennifer lavoie

the girl in the road by monica byrne

every dark desire by fiona zedde

CRIME/MYSTERY/THRILLER:

black iris by leah raeder

dangerous girls by abigail haas

far from you by tess sharpe

slow river by nicola griffith

the blue place by nicola griffith

stay by nicola griffith

vanished by e.e. cooper

keepers of the cave by gerri hill

hunter’s way by gerri hill

child of doors by j.s. little

scars by cheryl rainfield

trust me, i’m trouble by mary elizabeth summer

out of order by casey lawrence

reconstructing amelia by kimberly mccreight

vicious little darlings by katherine easer

HISTORICAL:

the paying guests by sarah waters

tipping the velvet by sarah waters

affinity by sarah waters

the night watch by sarah waters

fingersmith by sarah waters

the price of salt by patricia highsmith (also known as carol)

wildthorn by jane eagland

silhouette of a sparrow by molly beth griffin

lies we tell ourselves by robin talley

patience & sarah by isabel miller

the hours by michael cunningham

the well of loneliness by radclyffe hall

mrs dalloway by virginia woolf

the world unseen by shamam sarif

map of ireland by stephanie grant

hild by nicole griffith

honey girl by lisa freeman

letters never sent by sandra moran

fall on your knees by ann-marie macdonald

the last nude by ellis avery

the teahouse fire by ellis avery

olivia by dorothy strachey

the friendly young ladies by mary renault

moon at nine by deborah ellis

the marriage recital by katharine grant

the crimson ribbon by katherine clements

the other typist by suzanne rindell

days of grace by catherine hall

desert of the heart by jane rule

ADULT FICTION:

sing you home by jodi picoult

and playing the role of herself by k.e. lane

i can’t think straight by shamim sarif

stone butch blues by leslie feinberg

curious wine by katherine v. forrest

the color purple by alice walker

jericho by ann mcman

oranges are not the only fruit by jeanette winterson

gut symmetries by jeanette winterson

why be happy when you could be normal? by jeanette winterson

written on the body by jeanette winterson

where we belong by catherine ryan hyde

at the water’s edge by harper bliss

behind the green curtain by riley lashea

96 hours by georgia beers

all that matters by susan x. meagher

give me a reason by lyn gardner

ice by lyn gardner

my last season with you by s.v.c. ricketts

taking the long way by lily r. mason

nightwood by djuna barnes

living at night by mariana romo-carmona

choices by nancy toder

cassandra at the wedding by dorothy baker

landing by emma donoghue

stir-fry by emma donoghue

pitifully ugly by robin alexander

COMICS BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS:

blue is the warmest colour by julie maroh

fun home by alison bechdel

dykes to watch out for by alison bechdel

honor girl by maggie trash

skim by mariko tamaki

potential by ariel shrag

strangers in paradise by terry moore

NON-FICTION:

odd girls and twilight lovers by lillian faderman

surpassing the love of men by lillian faderman

chloe plus olivia by lillian faderman

to believe in women by lillian faderman

sapphistries by leila j. rupp

inseparable by emma donoghue

passions between women by emma donoghue

dear john, i love jane by candace walsh

a woman like that by joan larkin

aimee & jaguar by erica fischer

the femme mystique by leslea newman

boots of leather, slippers of gold by elizabeth lapovsky kennedy

different daughters by marcia m. gallo

between women by sharon marcus

charity and sylvia by rachel hope cleves

lesbian culture: an anthology by julia penelope

alice + freda forever by alexis coe

Tall Lady Pictures writes:

Lili Elbe

Elbe was a Danish artist and illustrator and one of the first trans women to undergo gender confirmation surgery. […]

Her case became a sensation in both Germany and Denmark and a Danish court invalidated her marriage to Gottlieb. She was able to get her sex and name legally changed.

Elbe began a relationship with French art dealer Claude Lejeune, with whom she wanted to marry and have children, and was looking forward to her final surgery involving a uterus transplant, so that they could one day have children.

With no medication to prevent organ rejection, she did not recover from her final operation and died September 13, 1931 […] Elbe’s life is the subject of the 2015 Oscar nominated film “The Danish Girl”.

Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos is an Americn Composer and keyboardist best known her electronic music and film scores. Carlos help oversee the development of the Moog synthesizer, and help to popularize the instrument by recording an album of music by Johann Sebastian Bach called Switched-On Bach which won her three Grammy Awards. She also composed the scores for both, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining as well as Disney’s Tron.

Tracy Norman

Tracey “Africa” Norman was the first black trans fashion model, though she hid the secret of her gender identity as she rose through the industry in the 1970s. Norman was recruited for the Italian version of Vogue and quickly became a model, appearing in magazines and advertisements for such brands as Avon and Clairol. Norman said that she only went into modeling to avoid sex work, which she thought of as the only other outlet for a black trans woman from Newark, New Jersey, who had just begun taking hormones.

Around 1980, an assistant on an Essence magazine photo shoot who recognized her from Newark exposed her secret, and Norman stopped getting modeling work after that. She worked abroad in Paris and Milan before moving back to Newark, and only decided this year to tell her true story.

Sally Mursi

In 1988, Egyptian Sally Mursi sent a shockwave through the Muslim World when she changed her sex from male to female in Egypt. The case led to such a crisis in the country that the Grand Mufti was asked to decide on it. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, the Grand Mufti, released a fatwa, making it spiritually legal for a transgendered individual to change to his or her appropriate gender.

Martine Rothblatt

Martine Rothblatt is a lawyer, author and entrepreneur. She also happens to be the highest paid female executive in the US, and for good reason. She was a leading proponent of satellite communications, as well as former CEO of the Geostar Corporation and founder of Sirius Satellite Radio.

Kim Coco Iwamoto

In 2006 Iwamoto was elected to a position on Hawaii’s state Board of Education and became (at the time) the highest-elected openly transgender official in the United States. She ran for re-election in 2010 and won. See a video of Iwamoto discussing her support of an anti-bullying bill in Hawaii by clicking here.

Fallon Fox

Fallon Fox is the only out trans mixed martial arts fighter and the subject of the documentary Game Face. She has used her influence outside of the ring to bring attention to issues affecting trans youth, like ending conversion therapy.

Sadie Switchblade of G.L.O.S.S.

Sadie is the badass frontwoman of G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit), a hardcore punk band out of Olympia, Washington. G.L.O.S.S. is crucial listening for punks who are hungry for music that vocalizes queer and trans experiences with brutal honesty Check out their bandcamp here: (https://girlslivingoutsidesocietysshit.bandcamp.com/releases)

Landa Lakes

Landa Lakes is a Native American two-spirit individual from the Chicasaw Tribal Community in Oklahoma, and an activist and drag performer. Regarding their self-chosen name, Landa said, “It’s a tongue-in-cheek reference for the famous butter mascot because I like to point out that even in today’s world we’re still using native people as mascots.”

[image description: Beyoncé in the music video for “Love Drought” marching into the water followed by a procession of black women]

Beyoncé’s LEMONADE is filled with incredible artistry and stunning imagery. One of the most striking images for me on the visual album, though, occurs in the video for “Love Drought”. Much has been said about how LEMONADE draws influence from Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust, but less has been said in these same conversations about how the story of Igbo Landing is central to Daughters of the Dust and how the story of Igbo Landing- an act of mass resistance against slavery-also shows up in a really pronounced manner in the “Love Drought” Video.

[Image description: Donovan Nelson’s artistic depiction of Igbo Landing in charcoal. It shows the Igbo slaves marching into a body of water with the water already up to their necks and their eyes closed. Image via Valentine Museum of Art]

For those who don’t know, Igbo Landing is the location of a mass suicide of Igbo slaves that occurred in 1803 on St. Simons Island, Georgia. As the story goes, a group of Igbo slaves revolted and took control of their slave ship, grounded it on an island, and rather than submit to slavery, proceeded to march into the water while singing in Igbo, drowning themselves in turn. They all chose death over slavery. It was an act of mass resistance against the horrors of slavery and became a legend, particularly amongst the Gullah people living near the site of Igbo Landing. 

Not only is the story of Igbo Landing one of the key themes of Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust, which influenced LEMONADE, but its imagery also appears to be central to the “Love Drought” video. In the video, Beyoncé marches into the water followed by a group of black women all in white with black fabric in the shape of a cross across the front of their bodies. They march progressively deeper into the water before pausing and raising all of their hands toward the sunset.

[Image description: Beyoncé marching into a large body of water by a beach followed by other black women]

This scene and the video as a whole also occurs in a marshy, swampy landscape, matching African-American folklore descriptions of the location of Igbo Landing. In addition, this is all mixed in with imagery of Beyoncé physically bound in ropes and resisting their pull, which directly evokes slavery, resistance and the events at Igbo Landing for me.

[Image description: Beyoncé on a beach leaning backward as she appears to be resisting the pull of a taught rope]

Lastly, I would like to note how Beyoncé and the group of black women she is with very deliberately rose their hands while in the water toward the sunset. For me this recalled how the act of mass resistance at Igbo Landing was mythologized in many African-American communities as either the myth of the “water walking” or “flying” Africans. In the latter legend, the Igbo slaves walked into the water and then flew back to Africa, saving themselves in turn. 

Below is the myth of the “flying Africans” at Igbo Landing as told by Wallace Quarterman, an African-American man born in 1844 who was interviewed by members of the Federal Writers Project in 1930 (via wiki):

Ain’t you heard about them? Well, at that time Mr. Blue he was the overseer and … Mr. Blue he go down one morning with a long whip for to whip them good… . Anyway, he whipped them good and they got together and stuck that hoe in the field and then … rose up in the sky and turned themselves into buzzards and flew right back to Africa… . Everybody knows about them.

[Image description: Beyoncé and several black women partially submerged in water by a beach and raising their arms toward the setting sun]

Seeing Beyoncé and a group of black women marching into the water and raising their hands collectively toward the sunset reminded me specifically of this last interpretation of the story of Igbo Landing where the slaves flew to their freedom.

There are lots of potential interpretations for this video and the visual album as a whole but the core imagery of the “Love Drought” video - marshy landscape matching folklore descriptions of the location of “Igbo Landing,” images of Beyoncé bound in ropes and resisting their pull, a collective march into the water and holding their hands out toward the sky as if they were about to fly away together-basically screamed out to me as the story of Igbo Landing as I watched the video. It’s such a powerful act of mass resistance against slavery and as an Igbo person living today in America, it was moving to see imagery which reminded me strongly of it in LEMONADE as well.

another page i drew for recent collab zine @–>— with my all time favorite @boogerbrie 

lesbian means attracted to women and only women, and thats it.

“The woods gal, that’s what they called me.” Emma Dupree, 1898-1996. Photos by Mary Anne McDonald.

This is Catherine The Great. She was a legendary Empress of Russia and ruled longer than any other leader, and she did a damn good job by all accounts. People loved her, she worked hard, she was smart, and she was also one of the proudest motherfucking freaks in HISTORY. She proved to the world that just because you look a little like Lady John Lithgow does not mean you are undesirable, and just because you’re royalty does not mean you can’t be a horny goddess of filth.

There’s this rumor that Catherine’s biggest conquest was a literal goddamn horse, but historians believe that it’s just a sick rumor that some hating ass bitches made up because they were intimidated that a woman could not only be in charge of a country but of her own sexual predilections. HMM, THANK GOD TIMES HAVE CHANGED???

Anyway, Catherine used her money to finance this fuck pad room in her castle that was an homage to doin’ the nasty. Catherine’s Pinterest board must have looked like a fucking PornHub screenshot because this is what that beautiful proud slut decorated her lair with:

A chair that is so classically beautiful and…oh my damn…what in the hell..

IS THAT CHAIR SUCKING A DAMN DICK?

THAT IS THE DEVIL AND HE IS EATING A PUSSY LIKE HELLFIRE’S GONNA SHOOT OUT OF IT

YOU NOT A BAD BITCH UNLESS YOUR OFFICE CHAIR HAS A PANTALOON-LESS VULVA AIRING ITSELF OUT ON IT. 

THERE ARE GIANT WANGS GROWING OUT OF GIANT CHI-CHIS HOLDING UP A CORNUCOPIA OF FINELY-CRAFTED, CLASSICAL ASS, BAROQUE ASS, ROCOCO ASS GENITALS. HOW THE FUCK YOU GONNA GO TO IKEA AFTER THIS SHIT?