Publicação
Breaking the silence: the early Portuguese lesbian press
| Resumo: | Written media have an important role in the development and consolidation of gay and lesbian communities and subcultures. Creating a space where gays and lesbians are able to share, discuss and value their experiences, the gay and lesbian press has also been instrumental in their political consciousness (Hanson, 2011; Howes, 2004; Streitmatter, 1995). As such, it represents an implicated vision of the world that is characteristic of alternative media (Atton, 2003, 2006) and its changes over time reflect the living conditions and fundamental concerns of gays and lesbians in the face of the wider social and political context.Van der Veen’s (1988) and Streitmatter’s (1995) typologies of development of the Western gay and lesbian press show its progression from amateur, non-commercial publications aimed at reducing isolation to publications with a clearly political focus on consciousness raising and, more recently, a professional turn towards lifestyles, culture and entertainment.1 Against this backdrop, the lesbian press shows some specificity linked to the double situation of lesbians as women and as lesbians, which raises additional obstacles in terms of access to public space and sometimes contributes to editorial dissension about whether or not to provide support and protection in a heteronormative social context, to raise awareness and mobilise and/or fight male domination and/or heteronormativity (Cutler, 2003; Murray, 2007; Streitmatter, 1995; Whitt, 2008a, 2008b). As a result, lesbian publications are usually more ephemeral and financially less viable, and face additional production and distribution problems (Cutler, 2003; Erickson, 2010; Koller, 2008; Murray, 2007; Streitmatter, 1995; Turner, 2009; Whitt, 2008a, 2008b).This chapter focuses on the early Portuguese lesbian press and explores its contribution to the development of national lesbian communities and activism. It also contributes to the history of alternative press publications in Portugal, from which the specific case of the gay and lesbian press has been practically absent. Finally, it expands our understanding of the history of the Western gay and lesbian press by highlighting the distinctiveness of the Portuguese case.The discussion combines data derived from a content analysis of the first three known Portuguese lesbian magazines – Organa (1990–1992), Breaking the Silence 29 Lilás (1993–2002) and Zona Livre (since 1997) – and semi-structured interviews with Portuguese lesbian activists and/or collaborators in those publications. The interviews were conducted between 7 May 2003 and 16 May 2012. The interviewees were all graduates and one of them held a PhD degree by the time they were interviewed.2 The selection of the magazines’ issues obeyed to slightly different criteria.3 All nine issues of Organa were analysed. In the case of Lilás the first four, last four and intermediate four issues available were analysed.4 In the case of Zona Livre the first two issues published by each editorial team were analysed.This chapter is divided into three parts, following the chronological order of emergence of the publications. The early Portuguese lesbian press combined approaches and concerns that can be found also in its Western counterparts, but it obeyed neither the same timeline nor the same time lapse. Compared to what Kulpa and Mizieliňska (2011, p. 15) have called the ‘Western “time of sequence”’, it emerged later, changed faster and often combined characteristics of different historical moments in the same issues. This also suggests the presence of a ‘time of coincidence’, a ‘temporal disjunction’ (Kulpa & Mizieliňska, 2011, p. 12) in the Portuguese case, which is intimately linked to the historical particularities and semi-peripheral characteristics of Portuguese society. Changes in the magazines’ contents illustrate the transformations undergone by Portuguese society in general, as well as the gay and lesbian community in particular. Because this press was born from the lesbian community’s need to be heard, it also reveals the process of consolidation of Portuguese gay and lesbian activism and its internal tensions, which mainly revolved around a divide between the purposes of identification and political mobilisation. |
|---|---|
| Autores principais: | Brandão, Ana Maria |
| Outros Autores: | Machado, Tânia Cristina Santos; Afonso, Joana Lima |
| Assunto: | Lesbian press Alternative press Portugal Organa Ciências Sociais::Sociologia Reduzir as desigualdades |
| Ano: | 2016 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | capítulo de livro |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Written media have an important role in the development and consolidation of gay and lesbian communities and subcultures. Creating a space where gays and lesbians are able to share, discuss and value their experiences, the gay and lesbian press has also been instrumental in their political consciousness (Hanson, 2011; Howes, 2004; Streitmatter, 1995). As such, it represents an implicated vision of the world that is characteristic of alternative media (Atton, 2003, 2006) and its changes over time reflect the living conditions and fundamental concerns of gays and lesbians in the face of the wider social and political context.Van der Veen’s (1988) and Streitmatter’s (1995) typologies of development of the Western gay and lesbian press show its progression from amateur, non-commercial publications aimed at reducing isolation to publications with a clearly political focus on consciousness raising and, more recently, a professional turn towards lifestyles, culture and entertainment.1 Against this backdrop, the lesbian press shows some specificity linked to the double situation of lesbians as women and as lesbians, which raises additional obstacles in terms of access to public space and sometimes contributes to editorial dissension about whether or not to provide support and protection in a heteronormative social context, to raise awareness and mobilise and/or fight male domination and/or heteronormativity (Cutler, 2003; Murray, 2007; Streitmatter, 1995; Whitt, 2008a, 2008b). As a result, lesbian publications are usually more ephemeral and financially less viable, and face additional production and distribution problems (Cutler, 2003; Erickson, 2010; Koller, 2008; Murray, 2007; Streitmatter, 1995; Turner, 2009; Whitt, 2008a, 2008b).This chapter focuses on the early Portuguese lesbian press and explores its contribution to the development of national lesbian communities and activism. It also contributes to the history of alternative press publications in Portugal, from which the specific case of the gay and lesbian press has been practically absent. Finally, it expands our understanding of the history of the Western gay and lesbian press by highlighting the distinctiveness of the Portuguese case.The discussion combines data derived from a content analysis of the first three known Portuguese lesbian magazines – Organa (1990–1992), Breaking the Silence 29 Lilás (1993–2002) and Zona Livre (since 1997) – and semi-structured interviews with Portuguese lesbian activists and/or collaborators in those publications. The interviews were conducted between 7 May 2003 and 16 May 2012. The interviewees were all graduates and one of them held a PhD degree by the time they were interviewed.2 The selection of the magazines’ issues obeyed to slightly different criteria.3 All nine issues of Organa were analysed. In the case of Lilás the first four, last four and intermediate four issues available were analysed.4 In the case of Zona Livre the first two issues published by each editorial team were analysed.This chapter is divided into three parts, following the chronological order of emergence of the publications. The early Portuguese lesbian press combined approaches and concerns that can be found also in its Western counterparts, but it obeyed neither the same timeline nor the same time lapse. Compared to what Kulpa and Mizieliňska (2011, p. 15) have called the ‘Western “time of sequence”’, it emerged later, changed faster and often combined characteristics of different historical moments in the same issues. This also suggests the presence of a ‘time of coincidence’, a ‘temporal disjunction’ (Kulpa & Mizieliňska, 2011, p. 12) in the Portuguese case, which is intimately linked to the historical particularities and semi-peripheral characteristics of Portuguese society. Changes in the magazines’ contents illustrate the transformations undergone by Portuguese society in general, as well as the gay and lesbian community in particular. Because this press was born from the lesbian community’s need to be heard, it also reveals the process of consolidation of Portuguese gay and lesbian activism and its internal tensions, which mainly revolved around a divide between the purposes of identification and political mobilisation. |
|---|