A propos du `Rachildisme' ou Rachilde et les lesbiennes

While Rachilde was one of the first women writers to introduce lesbians in her work, her lesbians are not exempt from the clichés of the time, those of decadent aesthetics, French universalism and exceptionality: they are invisible and perceived as pederasts. Rachilde herself was accused of pederasty, of "Rachildisme." This article examines how lesbians in Rachilde's novels are subjected to contradictory positions: on one hand her work shows a strong fascination for lesbians, but on the other it is embedded in misogyny. Rachilde's work praises dominant male homosexuals, but presents lesbians as "petits frères inférieurs." She often hypersexualizes or desexualizes lesbians and sentences them to death. (In French) (DDF)