On "Carol"

Linda Garber

In the later poem "Carol and," Grahn portrays the butch, working-class lesbian—either at home (as her Common Woman poem implies), or after she has come out. Outside the context of the intertextual reading, "Carol and" stands as an openly lesbian poem, presumably about a woman living an openly lesbian life:

[. . . ]

Closeted in the 1969 poem, Carol does not appear to be "shy" about her sexuality in She Who, published once lesbian feminism and gay liberation were gathering steam in the early 1970s.

from Garber, Linda. "Lesbian Identity Politics: Judy Grahn, Pat Parker, and the Rise of Queer Theory." Diss. Stanford U, 1995. Copyright © 1996 by Linda Garber.

---

Return to Judy Grahn