And to me, Nestle represents a very particular aspect of my own understanding of the complexities of, for lack of a better phrase, lesbian identity. Here was someone making history sexy, someone who was willing to inject a more comprehensive emotional range into her work. To her new collection, A Fragile Union: New And Selected Writings, Nestle brings the perspective and conviction that is associated with nearly 40 years of activism. This emphasis on inclusiveness made the archives a focus of controversy.
Yes, we wanted the papers of Samois, the national public lesbian SM group. Yes, we wanted the diary of a lesbian prostitute. Yes, we would cherish the pasties of a lesbian stripper. Stay connected, and tell a friend. Nestle stands behind her earlier writing, but does take the opportunity to incorporate new layers of thinking or to explore avenues of thought that were perhaps not available at an earlier time. Nestle has always been a highly rhetorical writer — all those years as an activist count for something — her prose is deliberately constructed to provoke either a political, or often a sexual, response.
Most of the newer work in this collection is imbued not with the nostalgia you might expect, but with a kind of urgency that comes to someone who sees herself as being at the end of her life. She has been struggling with cancer for the past few years and she writes with the poignancy of one who feels that her time might be limited. A Fragile Union is best read as a vivid history of sexual liberation in North America.
And, of course, Nestle is the first to point out how much further we must go. Subscribe Now.
