UNI101Y1 Chapter Notes -Homosociality, Asian Canadians
5 Jan 2014
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Document Summary
It"s important to consider the intersection of race and class when examining lesbian history. One of the only places where lesbians were visible in the 50s and 60s was in public bars. Butch and fem roles were a definitive feature of post-world war ii working-class lesbian culture, and sociability was tied to a complex set of friendship networks that divided women as much as they united them. In toronto, women whose lives centered on the continental hotel were referred to as downtowners, and people who lived in the suburbs or outside of downtown were called uptowners. Uptowners were careful to separate their gay lives from their family and working lives. These groups were mostly separate, even though there were occasionally people who dated across lines and most downtowners started out as uptowners. Downtowners were directly and indirectly involved in a lot of criminalized socio-economic activities which occurred in and around the public spaces they occupied.
