Social and Political, Personal and Impersonal

One of the main things that stood out to me while I was reading Ordona's Asian Lesbians in San Francisco essay was, what seemed to me at least, a lack of focus on the political activism of these women in their communities. After Canyon Sam is quoted as saying "What was really exciting for me was the political atmosphere" (325) I was expecting more information about participation in local or nation-wide political groups. However, I felt like this was glossed over in favor of focusing on the social aspects of the community, which seemed to have offered more impact to the story Ordona is trying to tell.

The essay is mainly focused on the roughly half-dozen women leaders that she profiles and follows the social lives of, and I think that this approach is what is making me have mixed opinions about this essay. Though I agree with the importance of introducing the main players in the Asian lesbian movement, I felt as though it there was a lack of information about the other, more average members. Obviously not all of the other 100 women on their mailing lists were active performers who were out to the community at large - how were their struggles different than the more public figures? How did they maintain ties and relations when the community seemed to be breaking apart and reforming? Though I did enjoy this essay and found the movement interesting to read about, I had a hard time viewing it as an essay about what its title makes it out to be; I thought the topic was too focused on the leaders of Asian lesbians in San Francisco, not on the community as a whole.

I think it would extremely interesting to read more about the movements that followed, which Ordona describes as the "out, loud, and proud" groups - and how these newer movements worked together or were opposed to the first generations of Asian lesbian activists.

Now that I'm thinking a little more about it, I'm wondering if maybe my issue with this essay is just the fact that it's a fairly personal account of events in the activist community. Most essays that I've read about political movements are extremely impersonal - usually talking about the group as a whole or regional groups as distinct entities that all shared the same ideals. My question then, is, Can highly personal accounts of political movements really tell the whole story? Because I didn't know much about the Asian lesbian movement at all before this essay, I do feel it gives me a good grounding to learn more about it. However, I wonder if Ordona's purpose is intentionally profiling just the most active participants or some other cause.