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Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold

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Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community
20th anniversary edition book cover
AuthorMadeline Davis
Elizabeth L. Kennedy
LanguageEnglish
GenreOral history
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date
1993
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN0415902932
OCLC1088074986
305.48/9664

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community is a 1993 book by Madeline Davis and Elizabeth L. Kennedy on the history of lesbian women in Buffalo and western New York state from the 1930s to the 1960s.[1][2][3][4] Based on oral histories of 45 women,[5] the book won awards from the American Sociological Association, the American Anthropological Association and the Lambda Literary Foundation.[6][7][8] Published by Routledge, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold was reprinted for its 20th anniversary.[9]

Background

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Davis and Kennedy developed the book over the course of 14 years of research in the lesbian community in Buffalo, New York. In the process, they often gave presentations at which their subjects were present, correcting their errors and helping shape the book rather than strictly being objects of study. Boots of Leather includes description of this process while not taking all of their subjects' comments at face value; in a review for The New York Times Jeannine Delombard wrote, “The subjects' most telling anecdotes are tempered by the authors' references to their inconsistencies."[5]

Synopsis

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Davis and Kennedy argue that for the working-class women of Buffalo in mid-century America, the frequent adoption of a butch-femme framework for relationships was not a conservative replication of heterosexuality, but instead was born of resistance to a homophobic environment in which women who went out alone or only in the company of other women were at significant physical risk. Butch lesbians Davis and Kennedy studied physically fought back, developing an identity in the course of their defense of their community and their right to occupy public space.

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Freedman, Estelle B. (June 7, 1993). "Won't You Come Out Tonight? (cover story)". Nation. 256 (22): 774–776.
  2. ^ Simmons, Christina (1994). "Review of Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community". The American Historical Review. 99 (4): 1416–1418. doi:10.2307/2168964. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 2168964.
  3. ^ Boyd, Nan Alamilla (1994). "Review of Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community". Gender and Society. 8 (3): 472–474. doi:10.1177/089124394008003014. ISSN 0891-2432. JSTOR 189720. S2CID 220474607.
  4. ^ Cvetkovich, Ann (1995). "Review of Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community; Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America's First Gay and Lesbian Town". Signs. 21 (1): 212–215. doi:10.1086/495059. ISSN 0097-9740. JSTOR 3175139.
  5. ^ a b Delombard, Jeannine (1993-10-24). "Buffalo Gals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  6. ^ a b "6th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 1994-07-14. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  7. ^ a b "The Ruth Benedict Prize". AQA. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  8. ^ a b "Jessie Bernard Award". American Sociological Association. 2009-05-29. Archived from the original on 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  9. ^ Rock, Kristy (2019-06-26). "Madeline Davis: Revolutionist of Record". Qween City. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
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