On Our Backs
OCLC 14191920 | |
On Our Backs was the first
Origin
The magazine was first published in 1984 by Debi Sundahl and Myrna Elana, with the contributions of Susie Bright, Nan Kinney, Leon Mostovoy, Honey Lee Cottrell, Dawn Lewis, Shelby Sharie Cohen, Happy Hyder, Tee Corinne, Jewelle Gomez, Judith Stein, Joan Nestle, Patrick Califia,[2] Morgan Gwenwald, Katie Niles, Noreen Scully, Sarita Johnson, and many others. Susie Bright became editor-in-chief for the next six years. Later editors included Diane Anderson-Minshall, Shar Rednour, Tristan Taormino, and Diana Cage. On Our Backs defined the look and politics of lesbian culture for the 80s, as well as playing a definitive role in the feminist sex wars of the period, taking the side of sex-positive feminism.
The title of the magazine was a satirical reference to
Operations
In 1985, Sundahl and Kinney spun off the first in a series of precedent-making lesbian erotic videos, called Fatale Video. Distribution of the magazine in Australia began in 1986.[5] By the late 1980s, Fatale Media was the largest producer of lesbian pornography in the world.[4]
In 1994, the magazine experienced financial problems[
Publishing
In 1996, a
End of publication and availability online
H.A.F.'s publication of On Our Backs and its sister publication,
See also
References
- ^ Riese Bernard. "NSFW Sunday: What Does a Lesbian Sex Magazine Look Like?". Autostraddle. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
- ^ Patrick Califia, "Raising Cane", Out, August 1999, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 32
- ISBN 0-313-29022-9, p.97
- ^ ISBN 0-19-537781-8, p.219
- ISBN 1-86448-049-1, pp.121-122
- ^ a b Pogrebin, Robin (December 23, 1996). "Lesbian publications struggle for survival in a market dominated by gay males". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Marketplace finds lesbians an attractive, but elusive, niche". SF Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. September 7, 2006.
- ^ "Statement about On Our Backs" (PDF). Reveal Digital. August 24, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
Further reading
- Stark, Christine (2004), "Resisting the sexual new world order: Girls to boyz: sex radical women, promoting prostitution, pornography, and sadomasochism", in ISBN 9781876756499. Preview.
- Garber, Linda (2000), "Periodicals: The 1980s (On Our Backs)", in Zimmerman, Bonnie (ed.), Lesbian histories and cultures: encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures, volume 1, Encyclopedias of Contemporary Culture Series, New York: Routledge, p. 582, ISBN 9780815319207. Preview.
- "Sex Wars Revisited": Laura Guy on the role of On Our Backs in the feminist sex wars for Aperture
External links
- Digitized archive of On Our Backs at Reveal Digital (starting with issue 1, Summer 1984)