Sexuality and Politics in the Early Twentieth Century: The Case of the International Women’s Movement
Author(s)
Rupp, Leila J.
Abstract
Homosocial relationships among members of such international women’s organizations as the International Council of Women, the International Alliance of Women, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom generally seem not to have elicited comment until the early 20th century when differences along national, class, and generational lines became clearer. Anti-male women centeredness created tensions that the outbreak of World War I sharpened. Continental European women were more inclined than Anglo-Americans to regard separatist organizations as a temporary expedient, particularly socialist women for whom class solidarity was an issue. In the context of sexologists’ creation of the female “invert,” or lesbian, sex roles were more sharply defined, and the sexuality of women in women’s organizations became suspect.
