The term "lesbian" has taken on various meanings and connotations
throughout the 20th century, and its definitions and usage have frequently been
examined and debated. Throughout this century the signification of the word has
shifted and been modified under social and cultural pressures, various political
and feminist agendas, and the identity politics of postmodemity. While the
concept of romantic relationships between women was, of course, not new, the
term "lesbian," meaning "women who love women," was first used in America at
the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. While this definition of
lesbian might appear to remain self-evident and stable, lesbian subjects have
interpreted and performed this identity diversely over the course of the last
century. As an example, lesbianism and lesbian identity in the mid-20th century
was understood largely through butch/femme paradigms. With the Second Wave
Feminist Movement, the term "lesbian" took on much more politicized and
radicalized connotations, and it "embodied" and manifested itself in various ways
and forms. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the term "lesbian" was broadened
by some to include the meaning of a "woman identified woman," that is, women
who rejected traditional male values and were woman-centered in their
philosophies but did not necessarily have romantic relationships with women.
Adrienne Rich, for example, coined the term "lesbian continuum," which she
describes as "a range [. . .] of woman-identified experience" that includes "forms
of primary intensity between and among women" but does not necessarily include
sexual relations with women (51).