Everyday Mutinies: Funding Lesbian Activism (Monograph Published Simultaneously As the Journal of Lesbian Studies, 3)

Rating:
Summary: lesbian activism
Review: This anthology proposes discussing how lesbians fund lesbian-specific activism. Activism is broadly defined here, ranging from the arts, sciences, law, non-profit groups, publications, etc. The writing styles here are diverse, ranging from personal narrative, question and answer, journalistic style, etc. Unlike other books, the variety in styles works well here.

This book will introduce readers to key leaders in the lesbian community (Kate Kendell, Jewelle Gomez, P. Lyons & D. Martin, etc.) It will also cover prominent lesbian organizations such as the National Center for Lesbian Rights and 100 Lesbians and Their Friends.

The chapters are short. Each interviewee and interviewer has a page-length photo. I am sure this was done for egalitarian purposes. Haworth Press tends to have summaries and keywords for each chapter in their books. This eats up page space. Each chapter here had lesbianism, lesbian activism, and fundraising as keywords. They could have been more concise by just mentioning these terms in the introduction.

Unfortunately, the reader has to glean fundraising ideas from this book. You won't find a "Top 10 List for Raising Money for Lesbian Causes" here. Each chapter talks more about the individual lesbian's personal journey into activism. You get ideas but you have to read for them carefully. The book is a little bit preachy. Almost every chapter urges lesbians to not fear asking straights for money and to not look as money as an evil patriarchal tool. At a time when non-profits are hiring development directors more than any other positions, this is a let-down. People not interested in activism won't like this book, but people who are, regardless of gender or sexuality, will.

This book also provides almost nothing for middle-class lesbians or those lesbians who want to stay in the middle class. The book mentions two types of activists: donors that inherit huge fortunes who can then use that money for lesbian empowerment or lesbians who forgo sturdy wages and either go on welfare or earn poverty-level wages in order to have the time to do activism. For those who are not incredibly rich or don't want to be poor, there is little here for advice.

Many lesbian activists and theorists have asked themselves, "What are we first: women or gay people?" This book solidly chooses the former. Many of the contributors started off in feminist activism and then moved to the lesbian counterpart. Work or alliance with gay men is hardly brought up at all. Many women are now running national gay and lesbian organizations right now (Urvashi Vaid, Cheryl Jacques, Joo-Hyun Kim), yet these lesbians and their work isn't brought up at all. Similarly, straight women will find this book much more useful than gay men.

This book was a novel idea. It wasn't perfect, but it's still nice. I do think lesbians interested in activism should peep it.