Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group

UK feminist organisation

Leeds Revolutionary Feminist GroupFounded| 1977 (1977)

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Type| Radical lesbian feminist organization
Location|

* Leeds, England

Key people

| Sheila Jeffreys

The Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group was a feminist organisation active in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s. While there were a number of contemporary revolutionary feminist organisations in the UK, the Leeds group was 'internationally significant'.[1] The group is remembered chiefly for two reasons. The first is organising the UK-wide ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches in November 1977. The second is the publication of the pamphlet Political Lesbianism: The Case Against Heterosexuality, which advocated political lesbianism. British activist Sheila Jeffreys was closely involved with the group, while UK feminist Julie Bindel has spoken of the group's influence on her, as have many others.[2]

The Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group was founded in 1977, the result of a wider backlash against the perceived dominance of liberal feminism.[3] The group emphasised the importance of women-only spaces and organisation, and identified male violence against women and the threat of it as the keystone in the oppression of women.[3] According to Alison Garthwaite, who was heavily involved with the Leeds group, the group differed from many separatists by their opposition to separatism as a lifestyle, or an end in itself.[3]

The group organised the Reclaim the Night marches that were held in various cities across the United Kingdom on the night of 12 November 1977. They were inspired by night marches which had taken place in Germany with the message that women should be able to walk at night without fear. The marches took place in the context of the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ murders, where thirteen women and girls were murdered over a five-year period. Feminists were angry not just over the murders but also the police reaction to them. Police had advised women not to go out at night. Not only was this not practical to many women, it was also seen as blaming the victims.[4] As many of the murders took place in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, and because many of the organisers lived in the area, the Leeds march took place there.[3] This drew criticism from some anti-racist campaigners. They argued that since Chapeltown was a mostly-black area, the march risked reinforcing the ‘black beast’ stereotype and drawing unwanted police attention the area. Increasing policing, however, was not a demand of the organisers.[3]

The pamphlet Political Lesbianism: The Case Against Heterosexuality also proved controversial. The pamphlet was published in 1979, having originated from a conference talk given in 1977. It was republished in 1981 under the title Love your enemy? The debate between heterosexual feminism and political lesbianism. The re-publication highlighted some of the responses to the argument. The authors of the pamphlet advocate that women should become lesbians. Lesbian here is defined as a woman who refrains from heterosexual sexual activity, not necessarily a woman who sleeps with other women.[5] It is argued that heterosexuality must be abandoned since heterosexual relations are one of the main ways that women as a whole are kept under systematic control.[6] Women who engage in heterosexual activity are denounced as ‘collaborators with the enemy’.[6] While many women were influenced by the pamphlet, it also evoked a critical reaction.[2] Many heterosexual women were offended at being called collaborators, and the labeling of all men as the enemy of women. Lesbian feminists and others also opposed the suggestion that sexuality was a choice.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Finn Mackay (2015). Radical Feminism: Feminist Activism in Movement. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2. ^ a b c 'My sexual revolution', Julie Bindel, The Guardian, 30 January 2009.
3. ^ a b c d e Finn Mackay (2014), 'Reclaiming revolutionary feminism'. Feminist Review, 106.
4. ^ 'Why reclaim the night?'
5. ^ Onlywomen Press; Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group (1981). Love your enemy?: the debate between heterosexual feminism and political lesbianism. London: Onlywomen Press. p. 5\. ISBN 978-0-906500-08-8.
6. ^ a b Onlywomen Press; Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group (1981). Love your enemy?: the debate between heterosexual feminism and political lesbianism. London: Onlywomen Press. p. 6\. ISBN 978-0-906500-08-8.

## External links

[edit]

* Love your enemy? The debate between heterosexual feminism and political lesbianism

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Lesbian feminism

People|

* Paula Gunn Allen
* Dorothy Allison
* Ti-Grace Atkinson
* Alison Bechdel
* Evelyn Torton Beck
* Miriam Ben-Shalom
* Julie Bindel
* Ivy Bottini
* Charlotte Bunch
* Cheryl Clarke
* Michelle Cliff
* Kate Clinton
* Jeanne Córdova
* Mary Daly
* Max Dashu
* Stormé DeLarverie
* Diane DiMassa
* Alix Dobkin
* Andrea Dworkin
* Elana Dykewomon
* Lillian Faderman
* Ferron
* Marilyn Frye
* Michiyo Fukaya
* Carolyn Gage
* Donna Gottschalk
* Sarah Hoagland
* Karla Jay
* Sheila Jeffreys
* Jill Johnston
* Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
* Eva Kollisch
* Joan Larkin
* Anna Livia
* Audre Lorde
* Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
* Cherríe Moraga
* Bonnie J. Morris
* Ruth Mountaingrove
* Joan Nestle
* Jean O'Leary
* Pat Parker
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* Janice Raymond
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* Margaret Sloan-Hunter
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* Monique Wittig
* Bonnie Zimmerman

Groups|

* AMASONG
* Amazon Bookstore Cooperative
* Anjaree
* Artemis Singers
* Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance
* Bi-National Lesbian Conference
* Chicago Lesbian Liberation
* Combahee River Collective
* Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres
* Daughters of Bilitis
* Daughters of Bilitis (Australia)
* The Feminists
* First Black Lesbian Conference
* The Furies Collective
* Gay Women's Alternative
* Gouines rouges
* June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives
* Lavender Menace
* Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group
* Lesbian Art Project
* Lesbian Avengers
* Lesbian Feminist Liberation
* Lesbian Herstory Archives
* Lesbian Movement (Denmark)
* Lesbian Organization of Toronto
* Lesbians Against Pit Closures
* Lincoln Legion of Lesbians
* Mujeres Creando
* Oregon Women's Land Trust
* Salsa Soul Sisters
* Sister Spit
* Sisters for Homophile Equality
* Van Dykes
* Women's Liberation Center

Key issues|

* Butch
* Butch and femme
* Compulsory heterosexuality
* Corrective rape
* Dyke
* Feminist separatism
* Femme
* Gender-critical feminism
* Lesbian bed death
* Lesbian erasure
* Lesbian feminism
* Lesbians in Francoist Spain
* Lesbians in the Spanish Second Republic
* Lesbophobia
* Lipstick lesbian
* Political lesbianism
* Radical lesbianism
* Soft butch
* Stone butch
* Stone femme
* U-Haul lesbian
* Womyn-born womyn
* Womyn's land

Media|

| Books|

* Les Guérillères (1969)
* Lesbian Nation (1973)
* Le Corps Lesbien (1973)
* Lover (1976)
* The Wanderground (1979)
* Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982)
* Lesbian/Woman (1991)
* The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992)
* Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993)
* Your Silence Will Not Protect You (2017)

|

Other|

* Die Freundin (1924–1933)
* Vice Versa (1947–1948)
* The Ladder (1956–1972)
* Arena Three (1963-1972)
* The Woman-Identified Woman (1970)
* Off Our Backs (1970–2008)
* Lavender Woman (1971–1976)
* Lesbian Tide (1971–1980)
* Dykes & Gorgons (1973–1976)
* Lesbian Feminist Circle (1973–1986)
* WomanSpirit (1974–1984)
* Lesbian Connection (1974–present)
* Conditions (1976–1990)
* Sinister Wisdom (1976–present)
* Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (1977–1983)
* Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (1980–1996)
* Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter (1982–1984)
* Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui (1982–present)
* Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008)
* Hothead Paisan (1991–1998)
* Diva (1994–present)
* Journal of Lesbian Studies (1997–present)
* Jane's World (1998–2018)
* Curve (2000–present)
* AfterEllen (2002–present)
* Velvetpark (2007–present)
* Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2017)

Actions and ideas|

* Cineffable
* Dyke march
* Lesbian bar
* Lesbian flags
* Lesbian literature
* Lesbian pulp fiction
* Maud's (bar)
* Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
* Motherpeace Tarot
* Mountain Moving Coffeehouse
* Olivia Records
* Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival
* Peg's Place (bar)
* Some Prefer Cake
* Women's music
* Women's Week Provincetown

Feminism portal

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Radical feminism

People|

* Wim Hora Adema
* Chude Pam Allen
* Ti-Grace Atkinson
* Kathleen Barry
* Rosalyn Baxandall
* Linda Bellos
* Julie Bindel
* Jenny Brown
* Judith Brown
* Susan Brownmiller
* Phyllis Chesler
* D. A. Clarke
* Nikki Craft
* Kimberlé Crenshaw
* Mary Daly
* Christine Delphy
* Gail Dines
* Andrea Dworkin
* Melissa Farley
* Shulamith Firestone
* Marilyn French
* Marilyn Frye
* Germaine Greer
* Carol Hanisch
* Merle Hoffman
* bell hooks
* Sheila Jeffreys
* Robert Jensen
* Lierre Keith
* Anne Koedt
* Marjorie Kramer
* Holly Lawford-Smith
* Audre Lorde
* Catharine A. MacKinnon
* Sheila Michaels
* Kate Millett
* Robin Morgan
* Meghan Murphy
* Irene Peslikis
* Janice Raymond
* Rosetta Reitz
* Adrienne Rich
* Florence Rush
* Kathie Sarachild
* Alix Kates Shulman
* Valerie Solanas
* Gloria Steinem
* John Stoltenberg
* Michele Wallace
* Marilyn Salzman Webb
* Ellen Willis
* Harriet Wistrich
* Monique Wittig
* Laura X

Groups|

* Cell 16
* Chicago Women's Liberation Union
* Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
* Deep Green Resistance
* Lesbian Organization of Toronto
* Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
* Mountain Moving Coffeehouse
* New York Radical Feminists
* New York Radical Women
* Redstockings
* Stop Porn Culture
* The Feminists
* The Furies Collective
* WOMAD
* Women Against Pornography
* Women's Liberation Center
* Women's Liberation Front (WoLF)

Issues|

* 4 NOs
* Child sexual abuse
* False consciousness
* Feminism
* Lesbian
* Second wave
* Feminist separatism
* Feminist views on transgender topics
* Gender role
* Male privilege
* Patriarchy
* Political lesbianism
* Pornography
* Feminist views on pornography
* Postgenderism
* Prostitution
* Feminist views
* Reproductive rights
* Sexism
* Misogyny
* Internalized sexism
* Social construction of gender
* Violence against women

Media|

| Books|

* The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970)
* Sexual Politics (1970)
* Sisterhood Is Powerful (1970)
* "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" (1970)
* The Female Eunuch (1970)
* Lesbian Nation (1973)
* Woman Hating (1974)
* Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape (1974)
* Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981)
* Ain't I a Woman? (1981)
* Against Sadomasochism (1982)
* Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984)
* Sisterhood Is Global (1984)
* Intercourse (1987)
* Feminism Unmodified (1987)
* Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989)
* The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992)
* Only Words (1993)
* Scapegoat: The Jews, Israel, and Women's Liberation (2000)
* Sisterhood Is Forever (2003)
* The Industrial Vagina (2008)

|

Other|

* Off Our Backs (1970–2008)
* SCUM Manifesto (1967)
* She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014)

Other|

* Consciousness raising
* Herstory
* Miss America protest (1968)
* Radical lesbianism
* Womyn's land

Feminism portal
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