Cold War Femme: Lesbianism, National Identity, and Hollywood Cinema

During the Cold War, Americans’ ideas about lesbianism changed, and rather than the masculine butch, the “invisible” femme, who could more easily pass as heterosexual, was seen as a greater threat to the nation and traditional family. Corber backs up this argument by analyzing images of lesbianism and butch and femme characters in the Cold War era films of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Doris Day, and others.