Dear Research Participant:

My research is on lesbian-feminist presses and literature of the 1970s. As part of my book project, I would like to include a chapter (“Literature and Revolution: Lesbian Readers Remember the Seventies”) investigating how readers of this literature at the time responded to it. Please consider filling out the attached, brief (only 10 questions) survey and emailing it back to me at mvanausd@purdue.edu. Please feel free to pass this survey along to others who might be interested. Respondents need not necessarily be lesbian-identified, but they do need to have read lesbian-themed literature from the ‘70s.

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary, and participants may skip any questions that bring discomfort. Respondents may stop the survey at any time. All personal identifiers will be removed in any public presentation of survey results. This study has been reviewed by the Office of the Vice President of Research at Purdue University and found to be exempt from Institutional Review Board Approval, under category 2.

Thank you in advance for you assistance with this project! Feel free to email me at mvanausd@purdue.edu with any questions or for further information.

Cordially,

Mimi Iimuro Van Ausdall, Ph.D.
CIC Fellow and Visiting Instructor
Department of English
Purdue University
500 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907
mvanausd@purdue.edu

Information about the Researcher

Mimi Iimuro Van Ausdall earned her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa and is a CIC Postdoctoral Fellow in English working on a book manuscript entitled “Writing Revolution: Lesbian Presses, Literature, and Readers.” Her article “Loving Her Without Class: The Politics of Feminist Love in Ann Allen Shockley’s Lesbian Novel” in which she analyzes the first known novel to feature an African-American lesbian protagonist, has been accepted by the National Women’s Studies Association Journal (NWSAJ) and is scheduled to appear in 2010.

Questionnaire for Readers of 1970s Lesbian Fiction

Please respond to the following questions in as much detail as you are able and return to mvanausd@purdue.edu. Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary, and you may skip any questions that bring discomfort. You may stop the survey at any time. All personal identifiers will be removed in any public presentation of survey results. This study has been reviewed by the Office of the Vice President of Research at Purdue University and found to be exempt from Institutional Review Board Approval, under category 2. Thank you for your participation in this study!

1. In the late 1960s and '70s, what books do you recall reading that were lesbian-themed? How did you hear about these titles and how or where did you acquire them?

2. Are there any books in particular that you remember being especially influential to you?

3. Were you changed personally or politically by reading these books? In what ways (identity, activism, etc)?

4. Did you read lesbian/feminist books with other people in book groups and such? Please explain.

5. Do you remember the books dealing much with issues of race and class in addition to sexuality?

6. Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Desmoines, the editors of Sinister Wisdom, stated that “the lesbian presses exist primarily to make revolution” (126). And Martha Shelley of the Women's Press Collective has said that the presses fought against not just patriarchy but capitalism. Do you agree? Do you think the presses were able to "make revolution"? What was meant by “revolution”?

7. Looking back, what would you say the continued significance of these presses and their work is in your life and in the broader society?

8. Do you recall disagreeing with anything you read in the lesbian-themed books?

9. Do you remember ever having mentioned a book like Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle to discern either what someone’s attitude was toward lesbianism or whether or not she was lesbian-identfied?

10. Additional comments?

If you are willing to be contacted for a brief phone interview, please provide your name and contact information below. Your real name would not be used in any published material (unless you would prefer).

Name:

Email:

Phone:

Contact information:

Mimi Iimuro Van Ausdall, Ph.D.
CIC Fellow and Visiting Instructor
Purdue University
Department of English
500 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907
mvanausd@purdue.edu