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HERLANDS This page intentionally left blank Herlands . . . . Exploring the Women’s Land Movement in the United States Keridwen N. Luis University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis London Portions of chapter 3 were previously published in Journal of Homosexuality as “The Gen- der of ‘Energy’: Language, Social Theory, and Cultural Change in Women’s Lands in the United States,” 62, no. 9 (2015); reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis. Portions of chapter 6 were previously published in Journal of Lesbian Studies as “Karma Eaters: The Politics of Food and Fat in Women’s Land Communities in the United States” 16, no. 1 (2012); reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis. “THOSE TEARS” is reprinted with permission of the author, Chrystos; copyright 1991. Copyright 2018 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401– 2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal- opportunity educator and employer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Luis, Keridwen N., author. Title: Herlands : exploring the women’s land movement in the United States / Keridwen N. Luis. Description: Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018001928 (print) | ISBN 978-0-8166-9823-3 (hc) | ISBN 978-0-8166-9825-7 (pb) Subjects: LCSH: Women in agriculture—United States. | Land use—United States. | United States— Race relations. | Communities—United States. Classification: LCC HD6077.2.U6 L85 2018 (print) | DDC 306.3/490820973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018001928 UMP BmB 2018 “ Just tell me,” he says to Lady Blue, who is looking at the bullet gashes, “what do you call yourselves? Women’s World? Liberation? Amazonia?” “ Why, we call ourselves human beings.” Her eyes twinkle absently at him, go back to the bullet marks. “Humanity, mankind.” She shrugs. “The human race.” — JAMES TIPTREE JR. (ALICE B. SHELDON), “HOUSTON, HOUSTON, DO YOU READ?” This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Welcome to Women’s Land, 1 Here Is Your Umbrella 1. The Political Is Personal: From the Peace Camp and 17 Women’s Music Festivals to Women’s Land 2. Are the Amazons White? Race and Space on 45 Women’s Land 3. “Now My Neighbors and Friends Are the Same People”: 73 Community, Language, and Identity 4. The Giving Tree: Gift Economies Planted in Capitalist Soil 105 5. The Mountain Is She: Gender as Landscape, 129 Landscape as Gender 6. Primally Female: Agency and the Meaning of the 153 Body on Women’s Land 7. We Have Met the Enemy and She Is Us: 187 Scapegoating Trans Bodies 8. The Hermit and the Family: Aging and Dis/Ability 217 in Community Afterword: Women’s Lands, Women’s Lives 243 Acknowledgments 251 Notes 253 Bibliography 267 Index 289 This page intentionally left blank · INTRODUCTION · Welcome to Women’s Land, Here Is Your Umbrella After all, the real question, of course, is not whether women will practice separatism against men, but rather whether men will continue to practice separatism against women. — Joanna Russ, “For Women Only, Or, What Is That Man Doing Under My Seat?” Let’s stop pretending that we have all the answers, because when it comes to gender, none of us is fucking omniscient. — Kate Bornstein, Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us It was our last night of the Landdyke Gathering at Turtle Mesa,1 where the air was thin and the views went on forever. Although women usually sat around the campfire near the lovely cob house we were using as a shared kitchen, after dinner the oncoming rainstorm dispersed residents to their houses and visitors to their tents. My wife and I were staying in a dome tent just large enough for an air mattress and our luggage, placed among some pines near the edge of the mesa. As we said our good- nights, Marta, one of the residents, glanced at the sky and said, “If you have any trouble with your tent tonight, feel free to come to my place.” We thanked her, sure that our tent would be okay, and set off. Our tent was not okay. It was raining hard by the time we navigated the twisty trails to the tent. Wary of the ways of nylon tents, I zipped our duffel bag shut and put it inside a large garbage bag I had brought for waterproofing purposes. I was pretty sure that the floor of the tent would leak; we had not been careful · 1 ·