Heike Schader:
Die Klubrevolte 1929
Heike Schader:
The Club Revolt
The Social Dynamics of the Berlin Women-Only Clubs Violetta and Monbijou in 1928–1929
English abstract
Ensuing from the conflicts of the women-only dance clubs Violetta and Monbijou in 1928–1929, Heike Schrader examines the entanglement of the four elements of homosexual women’s subculture in Berlin. Women-only clubs, bars, friendship associations, and magazines were intervowen both in terms of staff and mode of organization.
Before 1928, women loving women were represented marginally at best in the two umbrella organizations Bund für Menschenrechte (BfM) and Deutscher Freundschaftsverband (DFV). This notwithstanding, both organizations aimed at canvassing this group eagerly. One successful strategy to recruit homosexual women was to integrate women-only clubs into the organizations. The comparative analysis of magazines catering to women loving women reveal that statements by and on the two competing umbrella organizations equal each other to the extent of interchangeability. The attractivity of an umbrella organization depended on its magazine and venue rather than its particular political stance. If an organization lacked an adequate location, homosexual women failed to appear. This imponderability put women-only clubs at the constant risk of disbanding and made it hard for women earning their living in these organizations to secure their economic independency in the long run.