The word lesbian is the demonym of the Greek island of Lesbos, home to the 6th-centuryBCE poet Sappho. [3] From various ancient writings, historians gathered that a group of young women were left in Sappho's charge for their instruction or cultural edification. [9] Little of Sappho's poetry survives, but her remaining poetry reflects the topics she wrote about: women's daily lives, their relationships, and rituals. She focused on the beauty of women and proclaimed her love for girls. [10] Before the mid-19th century, [11] the word lesbian referred to any derivative or aspect of Lesbos, including a type of wine. [b] In this Japanese thriller, Rei helps the woman she's had a crush on for years escape her abusive husband. As they venture on their journey, their feelings for each other begin to ignite. Gradually, women began to author their own thoughts and literary works about lesbian relationships. Until the publication of The Well of Loneliness, most major works involving lesbianism were penned by men. Foster suggests that women would have encountered suspicion about their own lives had they used same-sex love as a topic, and that some writers including Louise Labé, Charlotte Charke, and Margaret Fuller either changed the pronouns in their literary works to male, or made them ambiguous. [250] Author George Sand was portrayed as a character in several works in the 19th century; writer Mario Praz credited the popularity of lesbianism as a theme to Sand's appearance in Paris society in the 1830s. [251] [r] Charlotte Brontë's Villette in 1853 initiated a genre of boarding school stories with homoerotic themes. [253] Faderman, Lillian (April 1992). "The Return of Butch and Femme: A Phenomenon in Lesbian Sexuality in the 1980s and 1990s". Journal of the History of Sexuality. 2 (4): 578–596. JSTOR 3704264. After spending a long time as a vampire, Carmilla is a human again and enjoying that life, while Laura is trying to jumpstart her journalism career. Things seem to be going well for the couple... until Carmilla's vampirism appears to start up again.

The many intersections surrounding lesbians of color can often contribute to an increased need for mental health resources. Lesbians of color are more likely to experience a number of psychological issues due to the various experiences of sexism, racism, and homophobia as a part of their existence. [316] Mental health providers, such as therapists, often use heteronormative standards to gauge the health of lesbian relationships, and the relationships of lesbian women of color are often subjects of judgment because they are seen as the most deviant. [316] The cross-dressing Sand was also the subject of a few of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets. [252] Hermaphroditism appeared in medical literature enough to be considered common knowledge, although cases were rare. Homoerotic elements in literature were pervasive, specifically the masquerade of one gender for another to fool an unsuspecting woman into being seduced. Such plot devices were used in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601), The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser in 1590, and James Shirley's The Bird in a Cage (1633). [61] Cases during the Renaissance of women taking on male personae and going undetected for years or decades have been recorded, though whether these cases would be described as transvestism by homosexual women, [62] [63] or in contemporary sociology characterised as transgender, is debated and depends on the individual details of each case.Heart disease is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the number one cause of death for all women. Factors that add to risk of heart disease include obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent among lesbians. Studies show that lesbians have a higher body mass and are generally less concerned about weight issues than heterosexual women; and lesbians consider women with higher body masses to be more attractive than heterosexual women do. Lesbians are more likely to exercise regularly than heterosexual women, and lesbians do not generally exercise for aesthetic reasons, although heterosexual women do. [214] Research is needed to determine specific causes of obesity in lesbians. [211] [212] Lisa M. Diamond (2009). Sexual Fluidity. Harvard University Press. pp.105–106. ISBN 978-0674033696 . Retrieved July 20, 2014. Women who had the option of a career instead of marriage labeled themselves New Women, and took their new opportunities very seriously. [f] Faderman calls this period "the last breath of innocence" before 1920 when characterizations of female affection were connected to sexuality, marking lesbians as a unique and often unflatteringly-portrayed group. [86] Specifically, Faderman connects the growth of women's independence and their beginning to reject strictly prescribed roles in the Victorian era to the scientific designation of lesbianism as a type of aberrant sexual behavior. [88] Identity and gender role in western culture Construction Berlin's thriving lesbian community in the 1920s published Die Freundin magazine between 1924 and 1933.

For some women, the realization that they participated in behavior or relationships that could be categorized as lesbian caused them to deny or conceal it, such as professor Jeannette Augustus Marks at Mount Holyoke College, who lived with the college president, Mary Woolley, for 36 years. Marks discouraged young women from "abnormal" friendships and insisted happiness could only be attained with a man. [26] [g] Other women embraced the distinction and used their uniqueness to set themselves apart from heterosexual women and gay men. [90]Portrayals of lesbians in the media suggest that society at large has been simultaneously intrigued and threatened by women who challenge feminine gender roles, as well as fascinated and appalled with women who are romantically involved with other women. Women who adopt a lesbian identity share experiences that form an outlook similar to an ethnic identity: as homosexuals, they are unified by the heterosexist discrimination and potential rejection they face from their families, friends, and others as a result of homophobia. As women, they face concerns separate from men. Lesbians may encounter distinct physical or mental health concerns arising from discrimination, prejudice, and minority stress. Political conditions and social attitudes also affect the formation of lesbian relationships and families in the open. More discussion on gender and sexual orientation identity has affected how many women label or view themselves. Most people in western culture are taught that heterosexuality is an innate quality in all people. When a woman realizes her romantic and sexual attraction to another woman, it may cause an "existential crisis"; many who go through this adopt the identity of a lesbian, challenging what society has offered in stereotypes about homosexuals, to learn how to function within a homosexual subculture. [36] Lesbians in western cultures generally share an identity that parallels those built on ethnicity; they have a shared history and subculture, and similar experiences with discrimination which has caused many lesbians to reject heterosexual principles. This identity is unique from gay men and heterosexual women, and often creates tension with bisexual women. [25] One point of contention are lesbians who have had sex with men, while lesbians who have never had sex with men may be referred to as " gold star lesbians". Those who have had sex with men may face ridicule from other lesbians or identity challenges with regard to defining what it means to be a lesbian. [37] Andersson, Jasmine (July 4, 2019). "Pride flag guide: what the different flags look like, and what they all mean". i. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019 . Retrieved 24 August 2019.