Monika Pater
"Gegen geile Männerpresse - für lesbische Liebe".
Der Andersen/Ihns-Prozess als Ausgangspunkt für das Coming-out von Lesben
"Contra Lewd Men's Press - for Lesbian Love".
The Andersen-Ihns Trial as a Point of Origin for Going Public
English abstract
This essay deals with a law suit against two women who were tried for murder in the early 1970s. This law suit marks a transition: female homosexuality was no longer treated as a taboo but was criminalized instead. A central issue here is the question, how changes in gender relations made obvious by the existence of the new women's movement, were portrayed using the paradigms of sensational journalism. The essay aims to show how gendered norms were renegotiated in the coverage by Bild. Specific attention is given to the paradigms of sensational coverage which generated specific meanings. Furthermore the reaction of the new women's movement is portrayed. This double perspective reveals how the public sphere of a social movement and the media public refer to and constitute each other. It is also shown that at this moment in time, the women's and the lesbian liberation movement had a common, feminist background upon which they acted in unison.