The lives of many lesbians prior to 1965 remain cloaked in mystery. Historians have turned the spotlight on upper-middle-class “romantic friends” and on working-class butch and femme women, but the lives of the lower-middle-class majority remain in the shadows. Awfully Devoted Women offers a portrait of middle-class lesbianism in the decades before the gay rights movement in English Canada. This intimate study of the lives of women who were forced to love in secret not only challenges the idea that lesbian relationships in the past were asexual, it also reveals the courage it took to explore desire in an era when women were supposed to know little about sexuality.

Cameron Duder's profile page

Cameron Duder is an independent researcher based in Vancouver. His research interests include sexuality, transgender studies, and the history of mental health.

Engaging and accessible without slacking on the analysis, this book is required reading for anybody with an interest in the history of lady-lovin’ ladies.

QueeriesMag.com

An excellent contribution to canadian lesbian historiography and to the growing literature on gender and sexuality. Highly recommended.

CHOICE, Vol. 48, No. 3

Awfully Devoted Women: Lesbian Lives in Canada, 1900-65

This is the first book-length study of Canadian lesbian lives pre-1965. Using newspaper articles, letters, journals and interviews, Duder paints a complete picture of the lives of several women. While many other writers have focused on the romantic friendships of the 19th century or the working class butch-femme couples of the 1960s, Duder has filled the gap specific to upper and lower middle class lesbians that falls in between. Topics covered include social lives, sexuality, heteronormativity, lesbians and their families, and the lesbian community up to 1970.

Duder teaches at Capilano University. This book was selected for the 2011 Over the Rainbow Booklist from the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table of the American Library Association.

Caution: Reading level may be difficult for some students.