Sapphic or sapphist[1][2] refers to a woman of any sexual orientation who is attracted to women;[1][3][4][5] in an expanded definition, it is additionally inclusive of woman-aligned[note 1] or non-binary people who are attracted to women.[1] Sapphic is also known as girls loving girls (GLG), or the abbreviation WLW for woman loving woman[1] or women who love women.[6]
As an umbrella term for all women who are attracted to women, sapphic includes other labels such as lesbian, pansexual, bisexual, or queer. This umbrella usage promotes solidarity among all women[1][6] and non-binary people[1] who are attracted to women[1][6] or those who are woman-aligned. Sapphic or WLW can describe the personal identity of someone who knows they are attracted to women but may be uncertain if they are attracted to other genders.[1] In sexual health settings, "women who have sex with women" (WSW) may be used to describe behavior rather than labeling or claiming a queer identity.[6] Sapphic is also an adjective describing relationships between two women.[7]
The complementary, or male-to-male equivalent of sapphic, is Achillean.
Etymology
Sapphic as an adjective came into during the 16th century in reference to Sappho, poetess of the isle of Lesbos c. 600 BCE. "Sapphic" was used especially in reference to the characteristic meter of her poetry, and it was not until the 1890s that it gained its meaning of "pertaining to sexual relations between women".[7] The noun "sapphism", meaning "homosexual relations between women", also originated in the 1890s.[2] "Lesbian" and its meanings are similarly derived from Lesbos, the isle associated with Sappho.[8]
The sexual identity of Sappho is a longstanding, ongoing debate. Some interpret her lyric poems as meaning she had romantic or sexual relationships with women, because she describes women's beauty and being susceptible to younger women's graces. In antiquity, she was portrayed as having unrequited love for a boatman named Phaon. By the early nineteenth century, scholars reframed her attachments to her female friends as "innocent" and not homoerotic.[9]
In the mid-20th century, "lesbian" and "sapphic" were often synonyms used to describe a potentially romantic relationship between two women.[3][8] The term bisexual did not come into popularity until the 1950s. In the 21st century, sapphic has become an umbrella term used to describe any romantic relationship between women. There has been an uptick in searches for the term sapphic since 2014.[3]
Community
Flag
The violet flower has long been associated with queer women. Sappho often referred to violets and other purple flowers in her poems,[10][11] with imagery such as a girl with "wreaths of violets" around her "slender neck". In early 20th century Paris, lesbians inspired by Sappho used violets as an adornment. For instance, Renée Vivien incorporated them into her wardrobe and as a motif in her poetry, in part because of the name of her first love: Violet Shillito. In the 1920s, women would give "sprigs of violets" to another woman to signal their love.[10] Violets' popularity increased when they were used as a symbol of two women's love for each other in the 1926 play The Captive by Édouard Bourdet.[10][11] Lesbians and other sapphics continue to use violets symbolically.[10]
On Tumblr, Cayla[note 2] posted a design as "Sapphic / WLW / SGA Women Flag" on August 14, 2015. It has three horizontal stripes, with pink (#EF8FAB) at the top and bottom and a near-white (#F8F0FD) central stripe with a botanical illustration of purple flowers in the center; the artist is not identified. Cayla wrote, "Sga[note 3] women used to give violets to whom they were wooing, symbolizing their 'sapphic' desire", while the color pink represents love.[14] Before editing the post, it originally stated that "White = purity". In response to criticisms alleging that the color association and creation of a flag was based in white Eurocentricism, Cayla posted clarifications.[15][16] She is multiracial and the color usage was intended to be about the "purity of the love between women" and its "innocence and beauty".[15] She also wanted to create a flag with violets on it, "Especially for wlw who aren't sure about their identities or their identity is vague (so they don't have to use the q slur[note 4] or anything like that)". Another user suggested replacing the white with lavender. Cayla decided to leave the stripe as-is since it was already "kinda lavender-y" and instead edit the original post text,[16] which no longer mentions white or purity and instead highlights "the lavender-ish color" alongside the violets.[14]
On September 11, 2016, Mod Hermy of Pride-Flags posted a revision of Cayla's design using a simplified violet image[18] to replace the botanical illustration, which limited the quality when reproducing the image.[19]
Distinction
The word "sapphic" is often confused for "lesbian" or thought to be the same thing. They historically were equivalent and could be used interchangeably. Their present-day usage can be ambiguous when their definitions are unclear or overlap.[3] "Lesbian" is often (but not always) defined as a woman exclusively attracted to other women[20] and "sapphic" as any woman attracted to women to any extent. When these specific definitions are used, lesbians are a subset of the broader umbrella term "sapphic" that includes all women loving women—lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and other queer women who may or may not be attracted to men.[3] Definitions of these other words also vary in their use of language that is explicitly expansive and inclusive of genders beyond "woman".[21]
Media
Literature
- The Ultimate Sapphic Masterlist of 2020 - All these books have moments in the text where it is shown a character is WLW, however, some characters use a specific label (i.e., lesbian, bi, pan) to identify themselves. Others use the term "sapphic" to describe themselves or their relationship(s).
- Sapphic stanza
- Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
- The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gender identity is a personal experience, so defining "woman-aligned" may lead to different answers depending on whom you ask; however, it generally refers to a non-binary person who is partially aligned with or identifies with being female, femininity, and/or womanhood to a significant extent. People who could potentially be described with this term may or may not use it to label themselves, and those who do use it may be fluid between other identities. Its use here attempts to encapsulate multiple identities without listing each possibility.
- ↑ Cayla originally posted under the username @gemderflux. By October 24, 2015, that username pointed to @lesbeux,[12] which has since been renamed to @lesbeux-moved.
- ↑ "SGA" means "same gender attract -ion / -ed".[13]
- ↑ "The q slur" is a social media phrase to replace the word "queer" when someone believes it is only a slur. Cayla had a post asking not to be followed by users who "think that 'Queer' isnt a slur",[17] so this is most likely the intended meaning.
References
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