Lipstick lesbian: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 17:55, 18 February 2014
Lipstick lesbian is a phrase with two related but very different meanings depending on location. In the United States of America, the expression is slang used to describe lesbian and bisexual women who exhibit a greater amount of feminine gender attributes relative to other gender expressions, such as wearing make-up (thus, lipstick), wearing dresses or skirts and having other characteristics associated with feminine women. In the United Kingdom the expression refers to a heterosexual woman who kisses other women to shock or titillate.
United States
The term was used in San Francisco at least as far back as the 1980s. In 1982, Priscilla Rhoades, a journalist with the gay newspaper The Sentinel, wrote a feature story on "Lesbians for Lipstick". In 1990, the gay newspaper OutWeek covered the Lesbian Ladies Society, a Washington, D.C.–based social group of "feminine lesbians" that required women to wear a dress or skirt to its functions.[1] The term is thought to have emerged in wide usage during the early 1990s. A 1997 episode of the television show Ellen widely publicized the phrase. In the show, Ellen DeGeneres's character, asked by her parents whether a certain woman is a "dipstick lesbian", explains that the term is "lipstick lesbian", and comments that "I would be a chapstick lesbian."
An alternate term for "lipstick lesbian" is "doily dyke".[2][3]
The official lipstick lesbian pride flag was designed in 2010 by Natalie McCray, who is a designer living in NYC. The flag uses seven stripes of color, which is similar to the gay pride flag. The colors are various shades of reds and purples that represent femininity and womanhood. The lips print in the upper left hand corner represents lipstick.[4]
United Kingdom
In the UK, the term is used to imply either a curiosity, or a willingness to entertain for attention, or shock, in public.[5] The implication is that the most intimate sexual behaviour involved is the swapping of lipstick during kissing. Girls and women in clubs will kiss other females, often for the first time or egged-on by their companions. The females involved will generally be heterosexual and will not often engage in behaviour beyond mild physical flirting. A related term is Lesbian Until Graduation (LUG).
The term was exemplified in the UK by footage of the 2003 MTV Awards publicity stunt by US pop singers Britney Spears, Madonna and Christina Aguilera.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Lynch, Patsy (4 April 1990). "Lesbian Ladies (or where did all the femmes go?)" (PDF). OutWeek. p. 44.
- ^ Keshia Kola (2007-11-16). "The Shesaurus: America's First Women's Dictionary-Thesaurus". Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ^ "Issue 71" (PDF). G3 Magazine. April 2007. p. 10. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Marshall, Penny. "Lipstick lesbians: How this kiss sparked a teenage trend that will disturb every parent". The Daily Mail.
- ^ Image of Britney Spears kissing Madonna during the 2003 MTV Awards show opener on the VH-1 website
- Butler, Judith (1999-09-01). Gender Trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity (Paperback ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92499-5.
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