Course:CSIS200/2025/How Social Media and the Modern Age Has Changed What it Means to be a Lesbian

Introduction

The Lesbian Pride Flag as of 2018.

In the earliest centuries of human existence, dating back to the 7th century BCE, the poet Sappho showed that love is the most natural feeling. The evolution of lesbian identity from the ideas found in Sappho's papyri to today's modern definition of what the label represents has changed drastically. Looking at the transformation between the 2010s to 2020s specifically, the Westernized understanding of what "lesbian" means has had a massive part in altering how people perceive their own identities, as well as one another's. Between technological advances, experiences, ideas, and concepts, the 21st-century concept of what it means to be a lesbian has changed from when Sappho lived.  Drawing on a combination of academic sources and pop culture and media references, a comparison will be conducted across a condensed timeline from the 7th century BCE to the 2010-2025 decade, focusing on the idea of what it means to be a lesbian in today's world, and the act of reclaiming sapphic identity.

The Revival of "Sapphics" Through Early New Media

Sappho's Poetry Through the Tumblr. Aesthetic

When Tumblr. first started in 2007, the website immediately created its own aesthetic and community. With visuals evoking a more grunge or gothic exterior, the mixed-media interior evoked notions of love and nostalgia for ancient Greece. Due to the era's prominent themes of same-sex attraction, gender fluidity, and androgyny, Greek history grew to become a huge theme across multiple subsections located within Tumblr. Through this, the revival and reclaiming of the term "Sapphic" occurred. As an homage to the great lesbian poet, modern-day lesbians began to use the term to express their sexuality. With her poetry frequently circulating on the website, many found comfort and a reflection of their own feelings, written back to them, in the papyrus discovered decades earlier. There was a subset of the lesbian community that did not feel comfortable identifying as a "woman who was attracted to women", so identifying as sapphic allowed anyone with a woman-based attraction to be included. Despite differing greatly from how Sappho seemed to originally express her feelings in her papyri, the modern community of sapphics seemed not opposed to the joining of sexualities that centre only women, as well as those that favour multiple genders.

Through Tumblr. came one of the most influential pieces of lesbian media; the Lesbian Masterdoc. The document was written as an attempt to explore the writer's own sexuality, but also to help others do the same by examining the impact of compulsory heterosexuality. The term, first coined and created by Adrienne Rich, is described as "a political institution, not a natural state, that is imposed on women to maintain patriarchal control". The paper never shames, but rather serves as an anonymous safe place that allows for complete explorative anonymity. With over 31 pages and hundreds of questions, the Lesbian Masterdoc was one of the first truly educational, user-based resources that allowed thousands of young folks to realize their lesbian identity.

In 2011, Steven Seidman composed a piece titled "Theoretical Perspectives" that helps frame this shift by explaining how modernization and sociological discourse have redefined sexual identities - moving them from fluid expressions of affection to fixed, socially constructed categories. Seidman notes that it was a technical and tedious subject that shaped Western culture. Seidman mentions that in a world where high school students are surrounded by slurs that alienate and degrade the queer community, it makes sense that those slurs would generate a culture of stigmatization. However, the author also points out that the same individuals who feel fear regarding their sexuality may be the same ones who eventually become exposed to a "gay subculture, which champions a view of homosexuality as natural and good". The overflowing acceptance and queer joy found throughout Tumblr. is one that many young, queer folks find belonging in. Residing in the aesthetic of a time more welcoming to a variety of sexualities is not an accident; children long to find an environment that fosters their happiness and choice in who to love as easily as explained in the ancient papyri of Sappho.

The Lesbian on Your 'For You Page'

Just as easily as humans have evolved, technology has been ever-growing. Through the revolutionary accessibility of other individuals' personal experiences, queer folks were able to easily engage with sources that helped further their understanding of themselves and the world around them. However, what initially started as a community for inclusivity became a snowball of terms to represent similar, if not identical, identities. This began as a way to include as many people as possible, but many words quickly devolved into offensive or derogatory words directed at queer people. In the digital lesbian community, terms such as "gold-star lesbian", "chapstick lesbian", or "touch-me-nots" once held positive aspects of inclusion, but have now degenerated to stereotypical or divisive terms within the community.

A TikTok video where the user implies that anyone who uses "lesbians are non-men who love non-men" should "jump".

Social media has had a massive effect on how lesbians are both understood and represented. Each platform has a unique perspective on what it means to be a lesbian: Tumblr. generates a sad, melancholic aesthetic that focuses on the tragedies of heartbreak; TikTok has allowed for the creation of countless labels, each intended to be inclusive in its own way, yet eventually end up having the opposite effect. One of the biggest issues within the lesbian community on TikTok is how the word "lesbian" has become somewhat censored, as many users have opted to use vocabulary such as "wuhluhwuh" (wlw/women loving women) or "non-men loving non-men", which many users feel infantilizes the sexuality. Especially regarding the latter term, users have used their platform to express their feelings that the act of describing lesbians as "non-men" completely erases the fundamental aspect of women and recenters men when they really should not play a part in lesbian identity at all.

With statistics provided by Feeld, as of 2024, there are 30% of young women are comfortable with identifying under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. With the percentage rising more each year, the number of subsections per sexuality is also on an increase. In the article alone, there are 14 identities listed that apply solely to lesbians. Terms such as "butch" and "femme" have circulated within the lesbian community since the 1940s, but other variants, such as "lipstick" or "stone top," are quite recent developments. Created to help self-identification and provide feelings of belonging, the terms eventually devolved into a way of offending people rather than acceptance. Although many terms aim to refer to visual and aesthetic aspects of lesbian identity, each definition has slowly snowballed and now varies between users, meaning depending on the perception of the individual, the same word may be seen as humorous in one situation, but then completely harmful in the next.

Mixed Reviews

When searching the word "lesbian" in the Urban Dictionary search bar, these are the top two results to appear.

In the Urban Dictionary, another website where many go to understand popular internet references, has become a place to examine just how broad and varying the definition of lesbian can be. Modernization and digital culture have reshaped the term over time, from the original definition of a woman loving another woman, into one that varies. Despite all sexuality being a social construct, a term described by Lars D. Christiansen and Nancy L. Fischer as "a phenomenon created and developed by society through its cultural and social practices", the concept of a technically imaginative subject still holds so much significance in countless lives. With over ten pages filled top to bottom with definitions, there is a mix of personally-influenced descriptions of what the term "lesbian" means. Some give examples, some say something entirely unrelated to sexuality, allowing the website to showcase how malleable the concept of what it means to be a lesbian really is. The range from slang and humour to niche sub-labels reflects how popular culture and social media influence identity.

Through statistics highlighted in Jean M. Twenge's article "Is There Really a Generational Difference in Identifying as Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual?", the rate of LGBTQIA+ individuals has more than doubled since the number collected in the late 1980s. Children and youths in today's generation are much more likely to adopt flexible, self-defined labels that challenge older and more fixed definitions. The meaning of "lesbian" is no longer universally agreed upon like it was portrayed to be in Sappho's papyri: culture and modernization have expanded, complicated, and sometimes even diluted the term. However, the core identity of women loving women remains, but the ways it is expressed and recognized continue to change. The definition of "lesbian" is not static; it is actively shaped by generational attitudes, technology, and social change, reflecting both the opportunities and challenges of modern identity formation.

Socially-Generated, Silent Symbols of a Lesbian

Lavender

A painting conducted by W. Curtis St. Geo-Crescent circa. 1798.

There have always been silent indicators that allude to a woman's lesbian identity. One of the earliest examples of this is the flower lavender. Originating in Sappho's papyri, where women are described as wearing "garlands of violets", these flowers symbolized affection and intimacy between women. Over centuries, lavender became a discreet emblem of lesbian love; subtle enough to remain hidden from a disapproving world, yet powerful enough for those in the know to recognize. The Dressing Dykes article "From Lavender to Violet" explores how these symbols transformed with modernization, changing from coded signals of desire into open expressions of pride and solidarity. The symbol of a lavender is known to signify a club of sorts; a club that refers to a worldwide community of lesbians and queer women around the world.

Accessories: Carabiners and Thumb Rings

In more modern years, as fashion grew to become a major part of lesbian identity, accessories such as carabiners and thumb rings grew popular. As discussed in Eleanor Medhurst's paper "Carabiners and Violet Tattoos", she speaks on how culturally known this symbol is, especially on social media apps. Countless individuals on that platform have shared how they deliberately wear certain accessories, such as carabiners, for the lesbian significance associated with them. Another subtle, symbolic signal of lesbian identity can be the choice to wear a thumb ring. Grown from historical roots of resistance against traditional gender norms, the practice originally started as a way for women to show their subversion of patriarchal and heteronormative expectations in marriage, a definition that still rings true today. These items have lingered in popular culture, for the unionization of lesbians regarding this one specific act, even if it is never formally vocalized, is an act using online spaces to form a silent community of acceptance.

Conclusion

Looking across the evolution of humanity, love as a feeling has endured. It may not look or mean the same as it did in early BCE, but the poet Sappho was correct when she wrote that "someone will remember us, I say, even in another time". Lesbians have always existed, and their identities with them. Whether it be an interpretation of Sappho's poetry, a personal definition of sexuality, or an accessory, the lesbian identity has morphed and transformed in countless ways, but it has not disappeared. When looking at the original writings of Sappho's papyri and her exploration of what it meant to be lesbian, through the involvement of social media, the definition of what the word "lesbian" means has been changed through culture and modernization.

About the Author

Isabella Fabro is a second-year student at the University of British Columbia. Majoring in English Literature with a minor in Journalism and Social Change, Isabella has always grown up as an avid reader who wanted to make society as representative and inclusive as possible. With hobbies like going on walks and baking, or listening to music and writing in her journal, Isabella loves being creative and sharing her thoughts with the world - she really hopes you enjoy reading her piece!