CLASS DESCRIPTION

Lesbians: are they women?

This question was posed satirically by journalist and political activist, Minna Wettstein-Adelt. In 1901 she published her first novel, Are they women?, portraying a group of lesbian medical students in Switzerland. The novel is not only one of the earliest novels openly discussing romantic and sexual relationships between women but also centres around a successful lesbian relationship as an ideal of love. Fifteen years later in the United States, Djuna Barnes published her Book of Repulsive Women, Alice Duer Miller published Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (a Dadaist artist, sound-poet, and lover of Djuna Barnes) published Body Sweats. Today, Helena considers these four extraordinary women – Minna Wettstein-Adelt, Djuna Barnes, Alice Duer Miller, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven – and how their international artistic collaboration and deep beliefs about lesbian solidarity influenced political action, female suffrage, and literary output.

The work of these women remains vital in lesbian history, women’s suffrage movements, and modernist experimentation in literature. They provide a striking example of how lesbians have constantly sought each other out to offer support and exchange ideas, even more important in our world of increasingly repressive politics. In revisiting their lives and rereading their stories, we question what example they set for us today.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER

Helena McBurney is a writer and PhD student at King's College London, working on female opera singers who lose their voices in nineteenth century fiction. She teaches the modules Literary Theory and Reading Past, Reading Present at KCL. Her work has appeared in the feminist publication Bluestocking and in the collection of essays 'Walking on the Grass, Dancing in the Corridors'. She has presented and lectured on a variety of topics including 18th century legacies of AI music, sexual fluidity in mermaid operas, and musical climates in 19th century novels. Her work focuses on sex, gender, and the voice – particularly in relation to musical and political contexts.

Helena is also a co-founder and writer for the international theatre company, fish in a dress. Her most recent play, 'The City for Incurable Women', (★★★★ The Guardian, The Stage, ★★★★★ Theatre Weekly) was about the history of hysteria. Upcoming work includes: 'The City for Incurable Women' tour to Exeter, Bristol, Manchester, and Dumfries; 'The Snails' (produced by Complicité); and 'bush' (produced by fish in a dress); 'Crossing the Line' (directed by Katie Thompson).

INSTAGRAM: @fishinadress and @helenamcburney

–

This is a recording of a live session hosted by The Feminist Lecture Program in February 2026. The reading list for the class can be found alongside this rental.

–

Check out The Feminist Lecture Program's term of live classes on our Outsavvy Page: https://www.outsavvy.com/organiser/the-feminist-lecture-program

Be sure to follow us on Instagram at @thefeministlectureprogram to stay up to date with our archive, live classes and more. If you have any questions, you can DM us on Instagram, or drop us an email at [email protected]

Happy watching!
FLP x