Review of A Short History of Queer Women by Kristy Loehr. A short history book showcasing the many lesbian figures there have been in the past.
“Who said lesbians weren’t funny.”
– A Short History of Queer Women
Kirsty Loehr
‘A Short History of Queer Women’ by Kirsty Loehr offers a diverse portrayal of women but falls short on historical accuracy and transgender representation
Synopsis
Queer women have always existed – let’s put them back in the history books
No, they weren’t ‘just friends’!
Queer women have been written out of history since, well, forever. ‘But historians famously care about women!’, said no one. From Anne Bonny and Mary Read who sailed the seas together disguised as pirates, to US football captain Megan Rapinoe declaring ‘You can’t win a championship without gays on your team’, via countless literary salons and tuxedos, A Short History of Queer Women sets the record straight on women who have loved other women through the ages.
Who says lesbians can’t be funny?
Review
First of all I want to start off by saying that the range of women portrayed in this book was really good. We get a glimpse of different figures both well known and less well known as well as a good range of women from different backgrounds and cultures.
However, I do want to note that I don’t know how much research went into this. So I have no idea how historically correct all this information is. I would’ve liked seeing some credible sources to back-up these claims. That’s why I wanted to read this book in the first place: to learn about the queer icons of the past. A Short History of Queer Women ultimately isn’t a book I can recommend to friends, because I don’t know how accurate it is. A missed opportunity if you ask me.
Another issue I have with this book is the fact that Loehr erases the concept of being transgender. As Loehr says in her book, there were ‘lesbians’ dressing up as men and even some of them even actively identified as male. But the author keeps referring to them as lesbians. I read this review on Goodreads by Charlotte and couldn’t agree with more with what they say. So let me quote the article:
“I don’t think you can purport to write a “short history of queer women” and neglect an analysis of gender within that. No, we don’t know how these people might have identified, whether they thought of themselves as women or not, whether they even had the words to express not-womanhood- we are likely never to know, unless they wrote about it (although I maintain we might make educated guesses, such as those individuals who elected to live as men). But even in writing such a book, we are subconsciously imposing our modern ideas of gender onto it, whether we mean to or not. To act like we might remove the concept of it entirely defeats the point.”
You can read Charlotte’s full review here.
I also would’ve loved to see a more chronological story. In A Short History of Queer Women goes back and forth in time and I wanted to see a more logical build-up. I sometimes got lost as to which time period we were in and what the customs were back then.
I do think listening to the audiobook gives a better idea of how sarcastic this book really is. There are so many sarcastic jokes that maybe go unnoticed if you read the (e)book. Even though I liked that the sarcasm really came forward in the audiobook (the narrator did a great job), there were just too many sarcastic remarks in my opinion. Loehr could’ve easily halved the sassy remarks and it would’ve still make the point come across.
Would I recommend it?
Not really. I appreciate the book’s inclusive portrayal of women from varied backgrounds, but I question the depth of research and credibility of the information. Another concern is the erasure of transgender individuals. I also feel the non-chronological structure, excessive sarcasm, and lack of gender analysis are significant drawbacks, despite the enjoyable pace of the book and the engaging delivery in the audiobook.
Rating
3/10
Details
- Trigger warnings / Death, suicide, transphobia
- Representation / Lesbianism, Women of Colour
- Genre / History
- Pages / 208
- Publication date / November 8th, 2022
- Publisher / Oneworld Publications
- About the author / Kirsty Loehr is a writer and English teacher. She has a master’s degree in transnational creative writing and loves football, history and humour – but not necessarily in that order. She lives in Brighton with her partner and their son.
With love,
heavenlybookish 