Review: Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold is specifically about the history of the Lesbian community of Buffalo, NY from the 1940s-1960s. The authors interviewed a range of women identifying as both butch and femme, as well as those that just simply identify as lesbian. These women were often closeted but sometimes weren't. They spent a lot of time in bars and at house parties. Some were young and naive to the community others were older and acted as mentors to the newcomers of the community. They lived in a society that told them they had to be dainty and subservient to men and husbands. Some were women whose husbands were gay, so each went on with their secret lives, living as the "normal" couple in the mainstream public. For the women who identified as butch, they were able to eventually feel like they could dress the part in the 1940s as women began to dress in slacks and blouses while filling in jobs that men left behind to go to war. They felt more accepted and felt like they could be themselves.

Their lives were also often thrown into turmoil as friends and lovers came and went. They kept their true identities hidden from family and at times, the law. Some built lasting relationships that are still going strong today.

This book is narrowly focused on one small community which may or may not have had a similar experience to other small communities across the country. The stories are very interesting and at times shocking. Many suffered double oppression of patrimony, relegated to be subservient as women and also second fiddle to the male gay community. These women had to carve out their own niche to find places where they could be out in public and be comfortable with who they were in a society that did not accept them.

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