Seeing Red: Immigrant Women and Sexual Danger in Toronto's Postwar Daily Newspapers

In Canada, post-World War Two European immigration gave rise to nativist fears that the political, cultural and social traditions of "New Canadians" - and in particular, the supposed sexual immorality of "DP" (Displaced Persons) men - threatened to undermine the Canadian way ol'life. This article offers a gendered examination of how these forces shaped the media coverage of the 1954 murders of two Eastern European refugee women in the city of TorontoAu Canada, l'immigration europeenne apres la Seconde Guerre mondiale a donne naissance aux craintes nativistes que les traditions culturelles et socialcs des "nouveaux canadiens" en particulier, la soi-disant immoralite sexuelle des hommes "PD" (personnes deplacees), menacaient de donner des coups de beche a la facon de vivre canadienne. Cet article offre un examen sur la difference entre les sexes et comment ces forces ont influence la facon dont les medias ont couvert les meurtres de 1954 de deux refugiees de l'Europe de l'Est a Toronto

Love-Politics: Lesbian Wedding Practices in Canada and the United States from the 1920s to the 1970s

Lesbians have organized and participated in same-sex wedding ceremonies since the 1950s, but never without controversy, and the controversies have been as much among lesbians and gays themselves as between those opposed to homosexuality and those in favor of sexual rights. This article examines lesbian weddings in the United States and Canada in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s to consider the meaning of such ceremonies in the social, political, and temporal context in which they occurred. Building on Elizabeth Kennedy and Madeline Davis’ argument that butch and femme culture in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s was feminism in its pre-political stage, I argue that women of color and white women who in the 1970s campaigned for state recognition of their marriages represent one aspect of butch and femme culture in its political stage. Because these political demands stood in opposition to white feminists’ argument that marriage was an oppressive institution that should be abolished, this article invites us to question assumptions embedded in the analytical tools used by queer theorists and historians of sexuality, namely the emphasis on resistance against normativity as indicative of progressive politics

Oral History and Open Access: Fulfilling the Promise of Democratizing Knowledge

The Archives of Lesbian Oral Testimony (A LOT) is an online digital archive of lesbian oral/aural testimonies housed at the Simon Fraser University Library. A LOT began as a simple preservation project. Many people who interviewed women in the 1980s and 1990s about their experiences as lesbians had not archived their analog tapes. I had access to a lab and funding that would allow me to convert analog tapes to .wav (digital sound) files, and it was this modest task I set out to do in 2010. The deeper I read into the literature on digital humanities, however, the more complex and exciting the project became. In this note I present the ideas that have shaped my thinking about building this archives, the concept for the archives that has evolved, and our overall objectives

Queer Normal: Interpreting Lesbian Marriages of the 1950s, 60s and 70s

Lesbians have organized and participated in same-sex wedding ceremonies since the 1950s, but never without controversy, and the controversies have been as much among lesbians and gays themselves as between those opposed to homosexuality and those in favor of sexual rights. This article examines lesbian weddings in the United States and Canada in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s to consider the meaning of such ceremonies in the social, political, and temporal context in which they occurred. Building on Elizabeth Kennedy and Madeline Davis’ argument that butch and femme culture in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s was feminism in its pre-political stage, I argue that women of color and white women who in the 1970s campaigned for state recognition of their marriages represent one aspect of butch and femme culture in its political stage. Because these political demands stood in opposition to white feminists’ argument that marriage was an oppressive institution that should be abolished, this article invites us to question assumptions embedded in the analytical tools used by queer theorists and historians of sexuality, namely the emphasis on resistance against normativity as indicative of progressive politics

Hidden from Historians: Preserving Lesbian Oral History in Canada

Lesbian history is an important part of Canada’s past but some of the most valuable research material we have is in danger of disappearing. Over the past twenty years Canadian activists and researchers have conducted many oral history interviews with lesbians in Canada, yet only a handful have donated their research material to an archive. Drawing on the findings of a research questionnaire distributed to oral historians, this article shows that a lack of training, an absence of financial resources, and a failure to put in place a plan to donate research material to an archive are three of the most important barriers to preserving lesbian oral history in Canada. The article also describes the Archive of Lesbian Oral History, an international digital archive founded by the author.RÉSUMÉ L’histoire lesbienne est une partie importante du passé canadien, mais certains documents de recherche les plus utiles sont en danger de disparition. Au cours des vingt dernières années, les activistes canadiens et les chercheurs ont mené des interviews d’histoire orale avec des lesbiennes au Canada. Cependant, seulement quelques-uns ont fait don de leur recherche à un centre d’archives. À partir des résultats obtenus dans un sondage auprès des spécialistes en histoire orale, cet article montre qu’un manque de formation, une pénurie de ressources financières et une incapacité de mettre en place un plan pour faire don des documents de recherche à un centre d’archives sont trois obstacles importants qui empêchent la préservation de l’histoire orale lesbienne. L’article décrit aussi les Archive of Lesbian Oral History, des archives numériques internationales fondées par l’auteure

Sex, Intimacy, and Desire among Men of Chinese Heritage and Women of Non-Asian Heritage in Toronto, 1910–1950

Because few women of Chinese heritage came to Canada, Chinese migrant communities before 1950 are described as “bachelor societies.” Sojourners’ own ambition to return home with more wealth, the imposition of ever-increasing head taxes on migrants from China, the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, and deeply entrenched racism toward people of Chinese heritage meant that the vast majority were doomed to live their lives without the emotional, material, or domestic support or companionship provided by wives and children. They were de facto bachelors, if not bachelors in fact. New research, however, shows that since the 1910s young men of Chinese heritage carved out spaces for themselves in Toronto’s urban sexual culture, and young white women a space for themselves in Toronto’s Chinatown. During the first half of the twentieth century, many men of Chinese heritage enjoyed sex, companionship, love, and family life. Perhaps as many as a third were married to or lived common-law with women of white heritage, and many more frequently engaged in sexual and intimate relationships with sex workers they sometimes sought as long-term companions. The evidence presented here challenges the current perception that “Chinese bachelors” lived sexless, loveless lives. These relationships were not without controversy, of course, but many people within the community accepted them, and women of white heritage, including sex workers, were integrated into the community in diverse ways.Parce que peu de femmes d’origine chinoise sont venues au Canada, les communautés de migrants chinois d’avant 1950 sont qualifiées de « sociétés de célibataires ». L’ambition des migrants de s’enrichir avant de rentrer au pays, l’imposition de taxes d’entrée toujours plus élevées sur les migrants en provenance de Chine, la loi sur l’exclusion des Chinois de 1923 et le racisme profondément enraciné envers les personnes d’origine chinoise font que la grande majorité des migrants sont condamnés à vivre sans la compagnie ou le soutien affectif, matériel ou ménager d’épouses et d’enfants. Ils sont célibataires de fait, sinon célibataires en fait. De nouvelles recherches montrent toutefois qu’à partir des années 1910 des jeunes hommes d’origine chinoise se sont taillés une place dans la culture sexuelle urbaine de Toronto et des jeunes femmes blanches une place correspondante dans le quartier chinois de Toronto. Au cours de la première moitié du XXe siècle, de nombreux hommes d’origine chinoise ont connu le sexe, la camaraderie, l’amour et la vie de famille. Peut-être au moins un tiers d’entre eux sont mariés ou vivent en union libre avec des femmes d’origine européenne, et bien d’autres poursuivent fréquemment des relations sexuelles et intimes avec les travailleuse du sexe qu’ils cherchent parfois comme compagnons de longue durée. La preuve présentée ici remet en question la perception actuelle que ces « célibataires chinois » ont vécu une vie sans sexe ni amour. Ces relations n’étaient pas sans controverse, bien sûr, mais beaucoup de gens au sein de la communauté les ont acceptées, et les femmes blanches, y compris les travailleuse du sexe, ont été intégrées dans la communauté de diverses façons