In lieu of an abstract, this is the first paragraph of the article: “For years we as lesbian-feminists have been fighting male pornography,” a reader named Donna from Washington D.C. wrote. “It shocks and abhors me to find that women have stooped to the same methods.” To scan the letters pages of the San Francisco-based magazine On Our Backs, published from 1984-2005, is to find lesbian erotica thrown into relief against the backdrop of the feminist sex wars. Antagonisms that characterised the movement, in the 1980s, play out in an epistolary exchange, and through the rancour, a contrasting story emerges. “How different–bold–and wonderful to see (for my first time) women enjoying women,” another reader commented. “It makes me remember that I’m not alone in my thoughts, although fairly secluded in South Carolina’ says another. One reader gets right to the point: “...a splendid aid to masturbation! Thanks!” Nestled among these letters are whetted appetites and desires unmet, a request for clarification on attraction between butches, a note about racial integration in the San Francisco leather scene, even a complaint about proofreading errors. A field of lesbian desire appears, one that was contested, shared, and shaped by contributors and readers alike.

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