Browse Items (4 total)

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  Bobbi Ausubel Interview

  In this oral history conducted by the Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club, Bobbi Ausubel discusses her early life and family, her coming out process, the RLSC community during Covid and her experience with the second wave feminist movement and feminist liberation theater.

  Tags Bobbi Ausubel, Class, First Generation, Jewish Lesbians, Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club, Working Class
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  Leadership, Self-concept, & Group Identity

  Four women from working-class backgrounds critique leadership and individualism in second-wave feminism. Karen Kollias, Rita Mae Brown, Dolores Bargowski, and Beverly Fisher discuss the exclusion they experience by middle-class feminists who do not hold the same values of strength and leadership, which are viewed as masculine and therefore threatening. Feelings of guilt and the role of the mother in lower-class homes are also discussed.

  Tags Class, Female Masculinity, Feminism, Rita Mae Brown, Second Wave Feminism, Working Class
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  Judith Schwarz Interview, 1992

  Judith Schwarz discusses how grateful she is the DOB exists, the way that societal attitudes towards lesbianism has changed since the founding of DOB, how many women were afraid to have mail mailed to them or used pseudonyms or “bar names” to hide their identity.
  
  She discusses her first lesbian relationship, which happened shortly after she moved to San Franciso, and how this introduced her to lesbian culture, specifically survival literature. She talks about how she was at first intimidated by certain aspects of lesbian culture, like powerful butch lesbians, frequent drinking in the community, and lesbian literature.
  
  She talks about the impact of DOB, and how there was harassment from police as well as other lesbians or women. She also talks about sharing The Ladder around her workplace in secret, and shares the story about how The Ladder was “stolen” from the DOB San Franciso offices. She says that diversity was always lacking in the DOB, and talks about some reasons why.
  
  DOB meetings sometimes consisted of potluck dinners and Gab and Javas, sometimes taking place at Schwarz’s house. She talks about how lesbians dressed at the time.
  
  Finally she discusses the differences between the DOB and the Lesbian Herstory Archives and how they met different needs for lesbians, and finally some of the special collections in the archive. Joan Nestle jumps in at the end to discuss radical politics and the FBI surveillance of the DOB.

  Tags Bars, Butch and Femme, California, Communities, Daughters of Bilitis, Fashion, Interviews, Joan Nestle, Judith Schwarz, Mailing Lists, Non-Monogamy, Pseudonyms, Southern Lesbians, Working Class, Working-class Lesbians
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  Martha Shelley Interview, June 24, 1989

  Martha Shelley is interviewed in New York in 1989. She talks about being a lesbian in New York from the 1960s, the negative views of lesbians portrayed by psychologists, the bar scene, roles and her use of a pseudonym. She talks about finding DOB, the meetings and discussions that took place, and her contributions to the Ladder. She talks about Jean Powers and other members of DOB and describes the members as mixed race, working class, couples and singles. She also talks about her political activism in terms of DOB, peace, civil rights and the Stonewall Riots, including the marches she was involved in and the speeches she made.

  Tags Activism, Bars, Civil Rights, Class, Daughters of Bilitis, Gender Roles, Interviews, Lesbians of Color, Martha Shelley, New York, New York City Lesbians & Gays, Psychology, Stonewall, The Ladder, Working Class