Surpassing the Love of Men Author:Lillian Faderman A quietly revolutionary book which reconstructs a lost history of women loving women. Here Lillian Faderman explores the different forms which that love has taken over the years, from the elaborate deceptions of Deborah Sampson, soldier of the American Revolution, to the genteel Ladies of Llangollen and the notorious 'Boston marriages' of the ni... more »neteenth century.
Drawing on a rich variety of historical sources, from love letters, trial records, even pornography and the proclamations of the 'experts,' Faderman takes a subversive look at the traditional view of lesbianism. She demonstrates how shifting theories of female sexuality have affected what is defined as love between women and why what is acceptable in one age--women vowing eternal love, living and even sleeping together in the name of 'romantic friendship'--becomes taboo in another.« less