Editing Lesbian (section)

==== Fiction ====
{{See also|Lesbian literature}}
Regardless of the lack of information about homosexuality in scholarly texts, another forum for learning about lesbianism was growing. A paperback book titled ''[[Women's Barracks]]'' describing a woman's experiences in the [[Free French Forces]] was published in 1950. It told of a lesbian relationship the author had witnessed. After 4.5 million copies were sold, it was consequently named in the [[House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials]] in 1952.<ref name="Stryker2001">{{cite book |last=Stryker |first=Susan |date=2001 |title=Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback |publisher=Chronicle Books, LLC. |isbn=0-8118-3020-9 |pages=49, 54–57}}</ref> Its publisher, [[Gold Medal Books]], followed with the novel ''[[Spring Fire]]'' in 1952, which sold 1.5 million copies. Gold Medal Books was overwhelmed with mail from women writing about the subject matter, and followed with more books, creating the genre of [[lesbian pulp fiction]].<ref name="Stryker2001"/>

Between 1955 and 1969, over 2,000 books were published using lesbianism as a topic, and they were sold in corner drugstores, train stations, bus stops, and newsstands all over the U.S. and Canada. Literary scholar, Yvonne Keller created several subclasses for lesbian pulp fiction, to help highlight the differences between the types of pulp fiction being released.<ref name=Keller>{{cite journal |last1=Keller |first1=Yvonne |title="Was It Right to Love Her Brother's Wife so Passionately?": Lesbian Pulp Novels and U.S. Lesbian Identity, 1950-1965 |journal=[[American Quarterly]] |date=June 2005 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=385–410 |doi=10.1353/aq.2005.0028 |jstor=40068271 |s2cid=144844572 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068271 |issn=0003-0678 |oclc=1480637}}</ref> Virile adventures were written by authors using male pseudonyms, and almost all were marketed to heterosexual men. During this time, another subclass emerged called "Pro-Lesbian". The emergence of pro-lesbian fiction began with authors seeing the voyeuristic and homophobic nature of virile adventures. With only a handful of lesbian pulp fiction authors were women writing for lesbians, including [[Ann Bannon]], [[Valerie Taylor (novelist)|Valerie Taylor]], [[Paula Christian]], and [[Marijane Meaker|Vin Packer/Ann Aldrich]]. These authors deliberately defied the standard of virile adventures by focusing on the relationship between the pair, instead of writing sexually explicit material like virile adventures.<ref name=Keller />

The differences between virile adventures and pro-lesbian covers and titles were distinct enough that Bannon, who also purchased lesbian pulp fiction, later stated that women identified the material iconically by the cover art.<ref name="forbidden">''[[Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives]]''. Dir. Fernie, L., Weissman. Videocassette. Women Make Movies Home Video, 1994.</ref> Pro-lesbian covers were innocuous and hinted at their lesbian themes, and virile adventures ranged from having one woman partially undressed to sexually explicit covers, to demonstrate the invariably salacious material inside.<ref name=Keller /> In addition to this, coded words and images were used on the covers. Instead of "lesbian", terms such as "strange", "twilight", "queer", and "third sex", were used in the titles, and cover art was invariably salacious.<ref name="Zimet1999">{{cite book |last=Zimet |first=Jaye |date=1999 |title=Strange Sisters: The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, 1949–1969 |publisher=Viking Studio |isbn=0-14-028402-8 |pages=17–24}}</ref> Many of the books used cultural references: naming places, terms, describing modes of dress and other codes to isolated women. As a result, pulp fiction helped to proliferate a lesbian identity simultaneously to lesbians and heterosexual readers.<ref name="nestle">[[Joan Nestle|Nestle, Joan]] (1983). "Desire So Big It Had to Be Brave", [[Lesbian Herstory Archives]].</ref>