title: Lesbian

text: Although lesbian-feminism was a significant shift, not all lesbians agreed with it. Lesbian-feminism was a youth-oriented movement: its members were primarily college educated, with experience in New Left and radical causes, but they had not seen any success in persuading radical organizations to take up women's issues. Many older lesbians who had acknowledged their sexuality in more conservative times felt maintaining their ways of coping in a homophobic world was more appropriate. The Daughters of Bilitis folded in 1970 over which direction to focus on: feminism or gay rights issues.


title: Lesbian

text: As equality was a priority for lesbian-feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian-feminists eschewed gender role play that had been pervasive in bars, as well as the perceived chauvinism of gay men; many lesbian-feminists refused to work with gay men, or take up their causes. Lesbians who held more essentialist views that they were born homosexual, and used the descriptor "lesbian" to define sexual attraction, often considered the separatist, angry opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights.


title: Lesbian

text: In 1980, poet and essayist Adrienne Rich expanded upon the political meaning of lesbian by proposing a continuum of lesbian existence based on "woman-identified experience" in her essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". All relationships between women, Rich proposed, have some lesbian element, regardless if they claim a lesbian identity: mothers and daughters, women who work together, and women who nurse each other, for example. Such a perception of women relating to each other connects them through time and across cultures, and Rich considered heterosexuality a condition forced upon women by men. Several years earlier, DOB founders Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon similarly relegated sexual acts as unnecessary in determining what a lesbian is, by providing their definition: "a woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional and social interest is in a member of her own sex, even though that interest may not be overtly expressed".


title: Lesbian

text: Arabic-language historical records have used various terms to describe sexual practices between women. A common one is "sahq", which refers to rubbing. Lesbian practices and identities are largely absent from the historical record. The common term to describe lesbianism in Arabic today is essentially the same term used to describe men, and thus the distinction between male and female homosexuality is to a certain extent linguistically obscured in contemporary queer discourse. Overall, the study of contemporary lesbian experience in the region is complicated by power dynamics in the postcolonial context, shaped even by what some scholars refer to as "homonationalism," the use of politicized understanding of sexual categories to advance specific national interests on the domestic and international stage.


title: Lesbian

text: Female homosexual behavior may be present in every culture, although the concept of a lesbian as a woman who pairs exclusively with other women is not. Attitudes about female homosexual behavior are dependent upon women's roles in each society and each culture's definition of sex. Women in the Middle East have been historically segregated from men. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some extraordinary women dressed in male attire when gender roles were less strict, but the sexual roles that accompanied European women were not associated with Islamic women. The Caliphal court in Baghdad featured women who dressed as men, including false facial hair, but they competed with other women for the attentions of men.


title: Lesbian

text: According to the 12th-century writings of Sharif al-Idrisi, highly intelligent women were more likely to be lesbians; their intellectual prowess put them on a more even par with men. Relations between women who lived in harems and fears of women being sexually intimate in Turkish baths were expressed in writings by men. Women were mostly silent and men likewise rarely wrote about lesbian relationships. It is unclear to historians if the rare instances of lesbianism mentioned in literature are an accurate historical record or intended to serve as fantasies for men. A 1978 treatise about repression in Iran asserted that women were completely silenced: "In the whole of Iranian history, [no woman] has been allowed to speak out for such tendencies ... To attest to lesbian desires would be an unforgivable crime."


title: Lesbian

text: Although the authors of "Islamic Homosexualities" argued this did not mean women could not engage in lesbian relationships, a lesbian anthropologist in 1991 visited Yemen and reported that women in the town she visited were unable to comprehend her romantic relationship to another woman. Women in Pakistan are expected to marry men; those who do not are ostracized. Women may have intimate relations with other women as long as their wifely duties are met, their private matters are kept quiet, and the woman with whom they are involved is somehow related by family or logical interest to her lover.


title: Lesbian

text: Individuals identifying with or otherwise engaging in lesbian practices in the region can face family violence and societal persecution, including what are commonly referred to as "honor killings." The justifications provided by murderers relate to a person's perceived sexual immorality, loss of virginity (outside of acceptable frames of marriage), and target female victims primarily.


title: Lesbian

text: Both male and female homosexuality were known in Aztec culture. Although both were generally disapproved of, there is no evidence that homosexuality was actively suppressed until after the Spanish Conquest. Female homosexuality is described in the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century study of the Aztec world written by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. It describes Aztec lesbians as masculine in appearance and behavior and never wishing to be married. The book "Monarquía indiana" by Fray Juan de Torquemada, published in 1615, briefly mentions the persecution of Aztec lesbians: "The woman, who with another woman had carnal pleasures, whom they called "patlache", which is to say: female incubus; they both died for it."


title: Lesbian

text: In Latin America, lesbian consciousness and associations appeared in the 1970s, increasing while several countries transitioned to or reformed democratic governments. Harassment and intimidation have been common even in places where homosexuality is legal, and laws against child corruption, morality, or "the good ways" ("faltas a la moral o las buenas costumbres"), have been used to persecute homosexuals. From the Hispanic perspective, the conflict between the lesbophobia of some feminists and the misogyny from gay men has created a difficult path for lesbians and associated groups.


title: Lesbian

text: Argentina was the first Latin American country with a gay rights group, "Nuestro Mundo" (NM, or Our World), created in 1969. Six mostly secret organizations concentrating on gay or lesbian issues were founded around this time, but persecution and harassment were continuous and grew worse with the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in 1976, when all groups were dissolved in the Dirty War. Lesbian rights groups have gradually formed since 1986 to build a cohesive community that works to overcome philosophical differences with heterosexual women.


title: Lesbian

text: The Latin American lesbian movement has been the most active in Mexico, but has encountered similar problems in effectiveness and cohesion. While groups try to promote lesbian issues and concerns, they also face misogynistic attitudes from gay men and homophobic views from heterosexual women. In 1977, "Lesbos", the first lesbian organization for Mexicans, was formed. Several incarnations of political groups promoting lesbian issues have evolved; 13 lesbian organizations were active in Mexico City in 1997. Ultimately, lesbian associations had little influence on the homosexual and feminist movements.


title: Lesbian

text: In Chile, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet forbade the creation of lesbian groups until 1984, when "Ayuquelén" ("joy of being" in Mapuche) was first founded, prompted by the very public beating death of a woman amid shouts of "Damned lesbian!" from her attacker. The lesbian movement has been closely associated with the feminist movement in Chile, although the relationship has been sometimes strained. "Ayuquelén" worked with the International Lesbian Information Service, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and the Chilean gay rights group "Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual" (Movement to Integrate and Liberate Homosexuals) to remove the sodomy law still in force in Chile.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbian consciousness became more visible in Nicaragua in 1986, when the Sandinista National Liberation Front expelled gay men and lesbians from its midst. State persecution prevented the formation of associations until AIDS became a concern, when educational efforts forced sexual minorities to band together. The first lesbian organization was "Nosotras", founded in 1989. An effort to promote visibility from 1991 to 1992 provoked the government to declare homosexuality illegal in 1994, effectively ending the movement, until 2004, when "Grupo Safo – Grupo de Mujeres Lesbianas de Nicaragua" was created, four years before homosexuality became legal again.


title: Lesbian

text: The meetings of feminist lesbians of Latin America and the Caribbean, sometimes shortened to "Lesbian meetings", have been an important forum for the exchange of ideas for Latin American lesbians since the late 1980s. With rotating hosts and biannual gatherings, its main aims are the creation of communication networks, to change the situation of lesbians in Latin America (both legally and socially), to increase solidarity between lesbians and to destroy the existing myths about them.


title: Lesbian

text: Some Indigenous peoples of the Americas conceptualize a third gender for women who dress as, and fulfill the roles usually filled by, men in their cultures. In other cases they may see gender as a spectrum, and use different terms for feminine women and masculine women. These identities are rooted in the context of the ceremonial and cultural lives of the particular Indigenous cultures, and "simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit." These ceremonial and social roles, which are conferred and confirmed by the person's elders, "do not make sense" when defined by non-Native concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity. Rather, they must be understood in an Indigenous context, as traditional spiritual and social roles held by the person in their Indigenous community.


title: Lesbian

text: Cross-gender roles and marriage between women has also been recorded in over 30 African societies. Women may marry other women, raise their children, and be generally thought of as men in societies in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya. The Hausa people of Sudan have a term equivalent to lesbian, "kifi", that may also be applied to males to mean "neither party insists on a particular sexual role".


title: Lesbian

text: Near the Congo River, a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the Nkundo people is known as "yaikya bonsángo" (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in Ghana among the Akan people. In Lesotho, females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in cunnilingus, and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians.


title: Lesbian

text: In Tanzania, lesbians are known as or called "Msagaji" (singular), "Wasagaji" (plural), which in Swahili means grinder or grinding because of the perceived nature of lesbian sex that would involve the mutual rubbing of vulvas.


title: Lesbian

text: In South Africa, lesbians are sometimes raped by heterosexual men with a goal of punishment of "abnormal" behavior and reinforcement of societal norms. The crime was first identified in South Africa where it is sometimes supervised by members of the woman's family or local community, and is a major contributor to HIV infection in South African lesbians. "Corrective rape" is not recognized by the South African legal system as a hate crime despite the fact that the South African Constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their social status and identity, including sexual orientation. Legally, South Africa protects gay rights extensively, but the government has not taken proactive action to prevent corrective rape, and women do not have much faith in the police and their investigations.


title: Lesbian

text: Corrective rape is reported to be on the rise in South Africa. The South African nonprofit "Luleki Sizwe" estimates that more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang-raped on a weekly basis. As made public by the Triangle Project in 2008, at least 500 lesbians become victims of corrective rape every year and 86% of black lesbians in the Western Cape live in fear of being sexually assaulted. Victims of corrective rape are less likely to report the crime because of their society's negative beliefs about homosexuality.


title: Lesbian

text: China before westernization was another society that segregated men from women. Historical Chinese culture has not recognized a concept of sexual orientation, or a framework to divide people based on their same-sex or opposite-sex attractions. Although there was a significant culture surrounding homosexual men, there was none for women. Outside their duties to bear sons to their husbands, women were perceived as having no sexuality at all.


title: Lesbian

text: This did not mean that women could not pursue sexual relationships with other women, but that such associations could not impose upon women's relationships to men. Rare references to lesbianism were written by Ying Shao, who identified same-sex relationships between women in imperial courts who behaved as husband and wife as "dui shi" (paired eating). "Golden Orchid Associations" in Southern China existed into the 20th century and promoted formal marriages between women, who were then allowed to adopt children. Westernization brought new ideas that all sexual behavior not resulting in reproduction was aberrant.


title: Lesbian

text: The liberty of being employed in silk factories starting in 1865 allowed some women to style themselves "tzu-shu nii" (never to marry) and live in communes with other women. Other Chinese called them "sou-hei" (self-combers) for adopting hairstyles of married women. These communes passed because of the Great Depression and were subsequently discouraged by the communist government for being a relic of feudal China. In contemporary Chinese society, "tongzhi" (same goal or spirit) is the term used to refer to homosexuals; most Chinese are reluctant to divide this classification further to identify lesbians.


title: Lesbian

text: In Japan, the term "rezubian", a Japanese pronunciation of "lesbian", was used during the 1920s. Westernization brought more independence for women and allowed some Japanese women to wear pants. The cognate tomboy is used in the Philippines, and particularly in Manila, to denote women who are more masculine. Virtuous women in Korea prioritize motherhood, chastity, and virginity; outside this scope, very few women are free to express themselves through sexuality, although there is a growing organization for lesbians named "Kkirikkiri". The term "pondan" is used in Malaysia to refer to gay men, but since there is no historical context to reference lesbians, the term is used for female homosexuals as well. As in many Asian countries, open homosexuality is discouraged in many social levels, so many Malaysians lead double lives.


title: Lesbian

text: In India, a 14th-century Indian text mentioning a lesbian couple who had a child as a result of their lovemaking is an exception to the general silence about female homosexuality. According to Ruth Vanita, this invisibility disappeared with the release of a film titled "Fire" in 1996, prompting some theaters in India to be attacked by religious extremists. Terms used to label homosexuals are often rejected by Indian activists for being the result of imperialist influence, but most discourse on homosexuality centers on men. Women's rights groups in India continue to debate the legitimacy of including lesbian issues in their platforms, as lesbians and material focusing on female homosexuality are frequently suppressed.


title: Lesbian

text: The most extensive early study of female homosexuality was provided by the Institute for Sex Research, who published an in-depth report of the sexual experiences of American women in 1953. More than 8,000 women were interviewed by Alfred Kinsey and the staff of the Institute for Sex Research in a book titled "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female", popularly known as part of the Kinsey Report. The Kinsey Report's dispassionate discussion of homosexuality as a form of human sexual behavior was revolutionary. Up to this study, only physicians and psychiatrists studied sexual behavior, and almost always the results were interpreted with a moral view.


title: Lesbian

text: Kinsey and his staff reported that 28% of women had been aroused by another female, and 19% had a sexual contact with another female. Of women who had sexual contact with another female, half to two-thirds of them had orgasmed. Single women had the highest prevalence of homosexual activity, followed by women who were widowed, divorced, or separated. The lowest occurrence of sexual activity was among married women; those with previous homosexual experience reported they married to stop homosexual activity.


title: Lesbian

text: Most of the women who reported homosexual activity had not experienced it more than ten times. Fifty-one percent of women reporting homosexual experience had only one partner. Women with post-graduate education had a higher prevalence of homosexual experience, followed by women with a college education; the smallest occurrence was among women with education no higher than eighth grade. Some criticized Kinsey's methodology.


title: Lesbian

text: Based on Kinsey's scale where 0 represents a person with an exclusively heterosexual response and 6 represents a person with an exclusively homosexual one, and numbers in between represent a gradient of responses with both sexes, 6% of those interviewed ranked as a 6: exclusively homosexual. Apart from those who ranked 0 (71%), the largest percentage in between 0 and 6 was 1 at approximately 15%. The Kinsey Report remarked that the ranking described a period in a person's life, and that a person's orientation may change. Among the criticisms the Kinsey Report received, a particular one addressed the Institute for Sex Research's tendency to use statistical sampling, which facilitated an over-representation of same-sex relationships by other researchers who did not adhere to Kinsey's qualifications of data.


title: Lesbian

text: In 1976, sexologist Shere Hite published a report on the sexual encounters of 3,019 women who had responded to questionnaires, under the title "The Hite Report". Hite's questions differed from Kinsey's, focusing more on how women identified, or what they preferred rather than experience. Respondents to Hite's questions indicated that 8% preferred sex with women and 9% answered that they identified as bisexual or had sexual experiences with men and women, though they refused to indicate preference.


title: Lesbian

text: Hite's conclusions are more based on respondents' comments than quantifiable data. She found it "striking" that many women who had no lesbian experiences indicated they were interested in sex with women, particularly because the question was not asked. Hite found the two most significant differences between respondents' experience with men and women were the focus on clitoral stimulation, and more emotional involvement and orgasmic responses. Since Hite performed her study during the popularity of feminism in the 1970s, she also acknowledged that women may have chosen the political identity of a lesbian.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbians in the U.S. are estimated to be about 2.6% of the population, according to a National Opinion Research Center survey of sexually active adults who had had same-sex experiences within the past year, completed in 2000. A survey of same-sex couples in the United States showed that between 2000 and 2005, the number of people claiming to be in same-sex relationships increased by 30%—five times the rate of population growth in the U.S. The study attributed the jump to people being more comfortable self-identifying as homosexual to the federal government.


title: Lesbian

text: The government of the United Kingdom does not ask citizens to define their sexuality. A survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2010 found that 1.5% of Britons identified themselves as gay or bisexual, and the ONS suggests that this is in line with other surveys showing the number between 0.3% and 3%. Estimates of lesbians are sometimes not differentiated in studies of same-sex households, such as those performed by the U.S. census, and estimates of total gay, lesbian, or bisexual population by the UK government. Polls in Australia recorded a range of self-identified lesbian or bisexual women from 1.3% to 2.2% of the total population.


title: Lesbian

text: In terms of medical issues, lesbians are referred to as women who have sex with women (WSW) because of the misconceptions and assumptions about women's sexuality and some women's hesitancy to disclose their accurate sexual histories even to a physician. Many self-identified lesbians neglect to see a physician because they do not participate in heterosexual activity and require no birth control, which is the initiating factor for most women to seek consultation with a gynecologist when they become sexually active. As a result, many lesbians are not screened regularly with Pap smears. The U.S. government reports that some lesbians neglect seeking medical screening in the U.S.; they lack health insurance because many employers do not offer health benefits to domestic partners.


title: Lesbian

text: The result of the lack of medical information on WSW is that medical professionals and some lesbians perceive lesbians as having lower risks of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases or types of cancer. When women do seek medical attention, medical professionals often fail to take a complete medical history. In a 2006 study of 2,345 lesbian and bisexual women, only 9.3% had claimed they had ever been asked their sexual orientation by a physician. A third of the respondents believed disclosing their sexual history would result in a negative reaction, and 30% had received a negative reaction from a medical professional after identifying themselves as lesbian or bisexual. A patient's complete history helps medical professionals identify higher risk areas and corrects assumptions about the personal histories of women. In a similar survey of 6,935 lesbians, 77% had had sexual contact with one or more male partners, and 6% had that contact within the previous year.


title: Lesbian

text: Heart disease is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the number one cause of death for all women. Factors that add to risk of heart disease include obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent in lesbians. Studies show that lesbians have a higher body mass and are generally less concerned about weight issues than heterosexual women, and lesbians consider women with higher body masses to be more attractive than heterosexual women do. Lesbians are more likely to exercise regularly than heterosexual women, and lesbians do not generally exercise for aesthetic reasons, although heterosexual women do. Research is needed to determine specific causes of obesity in lesbians.


title: Lesbian

text: Lack of differentiation between homosexual and heterosexual women in medical studies that concentrate on health issues for women skews results for lesbians and non-lesbian women. Reports are inconclusive about occurrence of breast cancer in lesbians. It has been determined that the lower rate of lesbians tested by regular Pap smears makes it more difficult to detect cervical cancer at early stages in lesbians. The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer rates are higher in lesbians than heterosexual women, perhaps because many lesbians lack protective factors of pregnancy, abortion, contraceptives, breast feeding, and miscarriages.


title: Lesbian

text: Some sexually transmitted diseases are communicable between women, including human papillomavirus (HPV)—specifically genital warts—squamous intraepithelial lesions, trichomoniasis, syphilis, and herpes simplex virus (HSV). Transmission of specific sexually transmitted diseases among women who have sex with women depends on the sexual practices women engage in. Any object that comes in contact with cervical secretions, vaginal mucosa, or menstrual blood, including fingers or penetrative objects may transmit sexually transmitted diseases. Orogenital contact may indicate a higher risk of acquiring HSV, even among women who have had no prior sex with men.


title: Lesbian

text: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) occurs more often in lesbians, but it is unclear if BV is transmitted by sexual contact; it occurs in celibate as well as sexually active women. BV often occurs in both partners in a lesbian relationship; a recent study of women with BV found that 81% had partners with BV. Lesbians are not included in a category of frequency of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission, although transmission is possible through vaginal and cervical secretions. The highest rate of transmission of HIV to lesbians is among women who participate in intravenous drug use or have sexual intercourse with bisexual men.


title: Lesbian

text: Since medical literature began to describe homosexuality, it has often been approached from a view that sought to find an inherent psychopathology as the root cause, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud. Although he considered bisexuality inherent in all people, and said that most have phases of homosexual attraction or experimentation, exclusive same-sex attraction he attributed to stunted development resulting from trauma or parental conflicts. Much literature on mental health and lesbians centered on their depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Although these issues exist among lesbians, discussion about their causes shifted after homosexuality was removed from the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" in 1973. Instead, social ostracism, legal discrimination, internalization of negative stereotypes, and limited support structures indicate factors homosexuals face in Western societies that often adversely affect their mental health.


title: Lesbian

text: Women who identify as lesbian report feeling significantly different and isolated during adolescence. These emotions have been cited as appearing on average at 15 years old in lesbians and 18 years old in women who identify as bisexual. On the whole, women tend to work through developing a self-concept internally, or with other women with whom they are intimate. Women also limit who they divulge their sexual identities to, and more often see being lesbian as a choice, as opposed to gay men, who work more externally and see being gay as outside their control.


title: Lesbian

text: Anxiety disorders and depression are the most common mental health issues for women. Depression is reported among lesbians at a rate similar to heterosexual women, although generalized anxiety disorder is more likely to appear among lesbian and bisexual women than heterosexual women. Depression is a more significant problem among women who feel they must hide their sexual orientation from friends and family, or experience compounded ethnic or religious discrimination, or endure relationship difficulties with no support system. Men's shaping of women's sexuality has proven to have an effect on how lesbians see their own bodies. Studies have shown that heterosexual men and lesbians have different standards for what they consider attractive in women. Lesbians who view themselves with male standards of female beauty may experience lower self-esteem, eating disorders, and higher incidence of depression. More than half the respondents to a 1994 survey of health issues in lesbians reported they had suicidal thoughts, and 18% had attempted suicide.


title: Lesbian

text: A population-based study completed by the National Alcohol Research Center found that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are less likely to abstain from alcohol. Lesbians and bisexual women have a higher likelihood of reporting problems with alcohol, as well as not being satisfied with treatment for substance abuse programs. Many lesbian communities are centered in bars, and drinking is an activity that correlates to community participation for lesbians and bisexual women.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbians portrayed in literature, film, and television often shape contemporary thought about women's sexuality. The majority of media about lesbians is produced by men; women's publishing companies did not develop until the 1970s, films about lesbians made by women did not appear until the 1980s, and television shows portraying lesbians written by women only began to be created in the 21st century. As a result, homosexuality—particularly dealing with women—has been excluded because of symbolic annihilation. When depictions of lesbians began to surface, they were often one-dimensional, simplified stereotypes.


title: Lesbian

text: In addition to Sappho's accomplishments, literary historian Jeannette Howard Foster includes the Book of Ruth, and ancient mythological tradition as examples of lesbianism in classical literature. Greek stories of the heavens often included a female figure whose virtue and virginity were unspoiled, who pursued more masculine interests, and who was followed by a dedicated group of maidens. Foster cites Camilla and Diana, Artemis and Callisto, and Iphis and Ianthe as examples of female mythological figures who showed remarkable devotion to each other, or defied gender expectations. The Greeks are also given credit with spreading the story of a mythological race of women warriors named Amazons.


title: Lesbian

text: For ten centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, lesbianism disappeared from literature. Foster points to the particularly strict view that Eve—representative of all women—caused the downfall of mankind; original sin among women was a particular concern, especially because women were perceived as creating life. During this time, women were largely illiterate and not encouraged to engage in intellectual pursuit, so men were responsible for shaping ideas about sexuality.


title: Lesbian

text: In the 15th and 16th centuries, French and English depictions of relationships between women ("Lives of Gallant Ladies" by Brantôme in 1665, John Cleland's 1749 erotica "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure", "L'Espion Anglais" by various authors in 1778), writers' attitudes spanned from amused tolerance to arousal, whereupon a male character would participate to complete the act. Physical relationships between women were often encouraged; men felt no threat as they viewed sexual acts between women to be accepted when men were not available, and not comparable to fulfillment that could be achieved by sexual acts between men and women. At worst, if a woman became enamored of another woman, she became a tragic figure. Physical and therefore emotional satisfaction was considered impossible without a natural phallus. Male intervention into relationships between women was necessary only when women acted as men and demanded the same social privileges.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbianism became almost exclusive to French literature in the 19th century, based on male fantasy and the desire to shock bourgeois moral values. Honoré de Balzac, in "The Girl with the Golden Eyes" (1835), employed lesbianism in his story about three people living amongst the moral degeneration of Paris, and again in "Cousin Bette" and "Séraphîta". His work influenced novelist Théophile Gautier's "Mademoiselle de Maupin", which provided the first description of a physical type that became associated with lesbians: tall, wide-shouldered, slim-hipped, and athletically inclined. Charles Baudelaire repeatedly used lesbianism as a theme in his poems "Lesbos", "Femmes damnées 1" ("Damned Women"), and "Femmes damnées 2".


title: Lesbian

text: Reflecting French society, as well as employing stock character associations, many of the lesbian characters in 19th-century French literature were prostitutes or courtesans: personifications of vice who died early, violent deaths in moral endings. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1816 poem "Christabel" and the novella "Carmilla" (1872) by Sheridan Le Fanu both present lesbianism associated with vampirism. Portrayals of female homosexuality not only formed European consciousness about lesbianism, but Krafft-Ebing cited the characters in Gustave Flaubert's "Salammbô" (1862) and Ernest Feydeau's "Le Comte de Chalis" (1867) as examples of lesbians because both novels feature female protagonists who do not adhere to social norms and express "contrary sexual feeling", although neither participated in same-sex desire or sexual behavior. Havelock Ellis used literary examples from Balzac and several French poets and writers to develop his framework to identify sexual inversion in women.


title: Lesbian

text: Gradually, women began to author their own thoughts and literary works about lesbian relationships. Until the publication of "The Well of Loneliness", most major works involving lesbianism were penned by men. Foster suggests that women would have encountered suspicion about their own lives had they used same-sex love as a topic, and that some writers including Louise Labé, Charlotte Charke, and Margaret Fuller either changed the pronouns in their literary works to male, or made them ambiguous. Author George Sand was portrayed as a character in several works in the 19th century; writer Mario Praz credited the popularity of lesbianism as a theme to Sand's appearance in Paris society in the 1830s. Charlotte Brontë's "Villette" in 1853 initiated a genre of boarding school stories with homoerotic themes.


title: Lesbian

text: In the 20th century, Katherine Mansfield, Amy Lowell, Gertrude Stein, H.D., Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf, and Gale Wilhelm wrote popular works that had same-sex relationships as themes. Some women, such as Marguerite Yourcenar and Mary Renault, wrote or translated works of fiction that focused on homosexual men, like some of the writings of Carson McCullers. All three were involved in same-sex relationships, but their primary friendships were with gay men. Foster further asserts 1928 was a "peak year" for lesbian-themed literature; in addition to "The Well of Loneliness", three other novels with lesbian themes were published in England: Elizabeth Bowen's "The Hotel", Woolf's "", and Compton Mackenzie's satirical novel "Extraordinary Women". Unlike "The Well of Loneliness", none of these novels were banned.


title: Lesbian

text: As the paperback book came into fashion, lesbian themes were relegated to pulp fiction. Many of the pulp novels typically presented very unhappy women, or relationships that ended tragically. Marijane Meaker later wrote that she was told to make the relationship end badly in "Spring Fire" because the publishers were concerned about the books being confiscated by the U.S. Postal Service. Patricia Highsmith, writing as Claire Morgan, wrote "The Price of Salt" in 1951 and refused to follow this directive, but instead used a pseudonym.


title: Lesbian

text: Following the Stonewall riots, lesbian themes in literature became much more diverse and complex, and shifted the focus of lesbianism from erotica for heterosexual men to works written by and for lesbians. Feminist magazines such as "The Furies", and "Sinister Wisdom" replaced "The Ladder". Serious writers who used lesbian characters and plots included Rita Mae Brown's "Rubyfruit Jungle" (1973), which presents a feminist heroine who chooses to be a lesbian. Poet Audre Lorde confronts homophobia and racism in her works, and Cherríe Moraga is credited with being primarily responsible for bringing Latina perspectives to lesbian literature. Further changing values are evident in the writings of Dorothy Allison, who focuses on child sexual abuse and deliberately provocative lesbian sadomasochism themes.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbianism, or the suggestion of it, began early in filmmaking. The same constructs of how lesbians were portrayed—or for what reasons—as what had appeared in literature were placed on women in the films. Women challenging their feminine roles was a device more easily accepted than men challenging masculine ones. Actresses appeared as men in male roles because of plot devices as early as 1914 in "A Florida Enchantment" featuring Edith Storey. In "Morocco" (1930) Marlene Dietrich kisses another woman on the lips, and Katharine Hepburn plays a man in "Christopher Strong" in 1933 and again in "Sylvia Scarlett" (1936). Hollywood films followed the same trend set by audiences who flocked to Harlem to see edgy shows that suggested bisexuality.


title: Lesbian

text: Overt female homosexuality was introduced in 1929's "Pandora's Box" between Louise Brooks and Alice Roberts. After the Hays Code in 1930, most references to homosexuality in films were censored under the umbrella term "sex perversion". German films depicted homosexuality and were distributed throughout Europe, but 1931's "Mädchen in Uniform" was not distributed in the U.S. because of the depiction of an adolescent's love for a female teacher in boarding school.


title: Lesbian

text: Because of the Hays Code, lesbianism after 1930 was absent from most films, even those adapted with overt lesbian characters or plot devices. Lillian Hellman's play "The Children's Hour" was converted into a heterosexual love triangle and retitled "These Three". Biopic "Queen Christina" in 1933, starring Greta Garbo, veiled most of the speculation about Christina of Sweden's affairs with women. Homosexuality or lesbianism was never mentioned outright in the films while the Hays Code was enforced. The reason censors stated for removing a lesbian scene in 1954's "The Pit of Loneliness" was that it was, "Immoral, would tend to corrupt morals". The code was relaxed somewhat after 1961, and the next year William Wyler remade "The Children's Hour" with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. After MacLaine's character admits her love for Hepburn's, she hangs herself; this set a precedent for miserable endings in films addressing homosexuality.


title: Lesbian

text: Gay characters also were often killed off at the end, such as the death of Sandy Dennis' character at the end of "The Fox" in 1968. If not victims, lesbians were depicted as villains or morally corrupt, such as portrayals of brothel madames by Barbara Stanwyck in "Walk on the Wild Side" from 1962 and Shelley Winters in "The Balcony" in 1963. Lesbians as predators were presented in "Rebecca" (1940), women's prison films like "Caged" (1950), or in the character Rosa Klebb in "From Russia with Love" (1963). Lesbian vampire themes have reappeared in "Dracula's Daughter" (1936), "Blood and Roses" (1960), "Vampyros Lesbos" (1971), and "The Hunger" (1983). "Basic Instinct" (1992) featured a bisexual murderer played by Sharon Stone; it was one of several films that set off a storm of protests about the depiction of gay people as predators.


title: Lesbian

text: The first film to address lesbianism with significant depth was "The Killing of Sister George" in 1968, which was filmed in The Gateways Club, a longstanding lesbian pub in London. It is the first to claim a film character who identifies as a lesbian, and film historian Vito Russo considers the film a complex treatment of a multifaceted character who is forced into silence about her openness by other lesbians. "Personal Best" in 1982, and "Lianna" in 1983 treat the lesbian relationships more sympathetically and show lesbian sex scenes, though in neither film are the relationships happy ones. "Personal Best" was criticized for engaging in the clichéd plot device of one woman returning to a relationship with a man, implying that lesbianism is a phase, as well as treating the lesbian relationship with "undisguised voyeurism". More ambiguous portrayals of lesbian characters were seen in "Silkwood" (1983), "The Color Purple" (1985), and "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991), despite explicit lesbianism in the source material.


title: Lesbian

text: An era of independent filmmaking brought different stories, writers, and directors to films. "Desert Hearts" arrived in 1985, to be one of the most successful. Directed by lesbian Donna Deitch, it is loosely based on Jane Rule's novel "Desert of the Heart". It received mixed critical commentary, but earned positive reviews from the gay press. The late 1980s and early 1990s ushered in a series of films treating gay and lesbian issues seriously, made by gays and lesbians, nicknamed New Queer Cinema. Films using lesbians as a subject included Rose Troche's avant garde romantic comedy "Go Fish" (1994) and the first film about African American lesbians, Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman", in 1995.


title: Lesbian

text: Realism in films depicting lesbians developed further to include romance stories such as "The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love" and "When Night Is Falling", both in 1995, "Better Than Chocolate" (1999), and the social satire "But I'm a Cheerleader" (also in 1999). A twist on the lesbian-as-predator theme was the added complexity of motivations of some lesbian characters in Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures" (1994), the Oscar-winning biopic of Aileen Wuornos, "Monster" (2003), and the exploration of fluid sexuality and gender in "Chasing Amy" (1997), "Kissing Jessica Stein" (2001), and "Boys Don't Cry" (1999). The film "V for Vendetta" shows a dictatorship in future Britain that forces lesbians, homosexuals, and other "unwanted" people in society to be systematically slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps. In the film, a lesbian actress named Valerie, who was killed in such a manner, serves as inspiration for the masked rebel V and his ally Evey Hammond, who set out to overthrow the dictatorship.


title: Lesbian

text: The first stage production to feature a lesbian kiss and open depiction of two women in love is the 1907 Yiddish play "God of Vengeance" ("Got fun nekome") by Sholem Asch. Rivkele, a young woman, and Manke, a prostitute in her father's brothel, fall in love. On March 6, 1923, during a performance of the play in a New York City theatre, producers and cast were informed that they had been indicted by a Grand Jury for violating the Penal Code that defined the presentation of "an obscene, indecent, immoral and impure theatrical production." They were arrested the following day when they appeared before a judge. Two months later, they were found guilty in a jury trial. The producers were fined $200 and the cast received suspended sentences. The play is considered by some to be "the greatest drama of the Yiddish theater". "God of Vengeance" was the inspiration for the 2015 play "Indecent" by Paula Vogel, which features lesbian characters Rifkele and Manke. "Indecent" was nominated for the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.


title: Lesbian

text: Broadway musical "The Prom" featured lesbian characters Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene. In 2019, the production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical. A performance from "The Prom" was included in the 2018 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and made history by showing the first same-sex kiss in the parade's broadcast. "Jagged Little Pill" featured lesbian character Jo, who is dealing with her religious mother's disapproval.


title: Lesbian

text: Television began to address homosexuality much later than film. Local talk shows in the late 1950s first addressed homosexuality by inviting panels of experts (usually not gay themselves) to discuss the problems of gay men in society. Lesbianism was rarely included. The first time a lesbian was portrayed on network television was the NBC drama "The Eleventh Hour" in the early 1960s, in a teleplay about an actress who feels she is persecuted by her female director, and in distress, calls a psychiatrist who explains she is a latent lesbian who has deep-rooted guilt about her feelings for women. When she realizes this, she is able to pursue heterosexual relationships, which are portrayed as "healthy".


title: Lesbian

text: Invisibility for lesbians continued in the 1970s when homosexuality became the subject of dramatic portrayals, first with medical dramas ("", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "Medical Center") featuring primarily male patients coming out to doctors, or staff members coming out to other staff members. These shows allowed homosexuality to be discussed clinically, with the main characters guiding troubled gay characters or correcting homophobic antagonists, while simultaneously comparing homosexuality to psychosis, criminal behavior, or drug use.


title: Lesbian

text: Another stock plot device in the 1970s was the gay character in a police drama. They served as victims of blackmail or anti-gay violence, but more often as criminals. Beginning in the late 1960s with "N.Y.P.D.", "Police Story", and "Police Woman", the use of homosexuals in stories became much more prevalent, according to Vito Russo, as a response to their higher profiles in gay activism. Lesbians were included as villains, motivated to murder by their desires, internalized homophobia, or fear of being exposed as homosexual. One episode of "Police Woman" earned protests by the National Gay Task Force before it aired for portraying a trio of murderous lesbians who killed retirement home patients for their money. NBC edited the episode because of the protests, but a sit-in was staged in the head of NBC's offices.


title: Lesbian

text: In the middle of the 1970s, gay men and lesbians began to appear as police officers or detectives facing coming out issues. This did not extend to CBS' groundbreaking show "Cagney & Lacey" in 1982, starring two female police detectives. CBS production made conscious attempts to soften the characters so they would not appear to be lesbians. In 1991, a bisexual lawyer portrayed by Amanda Donohoe on "L.A. Law" shared the first significant lesbian kiss on primetime television with Michele Greene, stirring a controversy despite being labeled "chaste" by "The Hollywood Reporter".


title: Lesbian

text: Though television did not begin to use recurring homosexual characters until the late 1980s, some early situation comedies used a stock character that author Stephen Tropiano calls "gay-straight": supporting characters who were quirky, did not comply with gender norms, or had ambiguous personal lives, that "for all purposes "should" be gay". These included Zelda from "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", Miss Hathaway from "The Beverly Hillbillies", and Jo from "The Facts of Life". In the mid-1980s through the 1990s, sitcoms frequently employed a "coming out" episode, where a friend of one of the stars admits she is a lesbian, forcing the cast to deal with the issue. "Designing Women", "The Golden Girls", and "Friends" used this device with women in particular.


title: Lesbian

text: Recurring lesbian characters who came out were seen on "Married... with Children", "Mad About You", and "Roseanne", in which a highly publicized episode had ABC executives afraid a televised kiss between Roseanne and Mariel Hemingway would destroy ratings and ruin advertising. The episode was instead the week's highest rated. By far the sitcom with the most significant impact to the image of lesbians was "Ellen". Publicity surrounding Ellen's coming out episode in 1997 was enormous; Ellen DeGeneres appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine the week before the airing of "The Puppy Episode" with the headline "Yep, I'm Gay". Parties were held in many U.S. cities to watch the episode, and the opposition from conservative organizations was intense. WBMA-LP, the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama, even refused to air the first run of the episode, citing conservative values of the local viewing audience, which earned the station some infamy and ire in the LGBT community. Even still, "The Puppy Episode" won an Emmy for writing, but as the show began to deal with Ellen Morgan's sexuality each week, network executives grew uncomfortable with the direction the show took and canceled it.


title: Lesbian

text: Dramas following "L.A. Law" began incorporating homosexual themes, particularly with continuing storylines on "Relativity", "Picket Fences", "ER", and "" and "", both of which tested the boundaries of sexuality and gender. A show directed at adolescents that had a particularly strong cult following was "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". In the fourth season of "Buffy", Tara and Willow admit their love for each other without any special fanfare and the relationship is treated as are the other romantic relationships on the show.


title: Lesbian

text: What followed was a series devoted solely to gay characters from network television. Showtime's American rendition of "Queer as Folk" ran for five years, from 2000 to 2005; two of the main characters were a lesbian couple. Showtime promoted the series as "No Limits", and "Queer as Folk" addressed homosexuality graphically. The aggressive advertising paid off as the show became the network's highest rated, doubling the numbers of other Showtime programs after the first season. In 2004, Showtime introduced "The L Word", a dramatic series devoted to a group of lesbian and bisexual women, running its final season in 2009.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbian visibility has improved since the early 1980s. This is in part due to public figures who have drawn speculation from the public and comment in the press about their sexuality and lesbianism in general. The primary figure earning this attention was Martina Navratilova, who served as tabloid fodder for years as she denied being lesbian, admitted to being bisexual, had very public relationships with Rita Mae Brown and Judy Nelson, and acquired as much press about her sexuality as she did her athletic achievements. Navratilova spurred what scholar Diane Hamer termed "constant preoccupation" in the press with determining the root of same-sex desire.


title: Lesbian

text: Other public figures acknowledged their homosexuality and bisexuality, notably musicians k.d. lang and Melissa Etheridge, and Madonna's pushing of sexual boundaries in her performances and publications. In 1993, lang and self-professed heterosexual supermodel Cindy Crawford posed for the August cover of "Vanity Fair" in a provocative arrangement that showed Crawford shaving lang's face, as lang lounged in a barber's chair wearing a pinstripe suit. The image "became an internationally recognized symbol of the phenomenon of lesbian chic", according to Hamer. The year 1994 marked a rise in lesbian visibility, particularly appealing to women with feminine appearances. Between 1992 and 1994, "Mademoiselle", "Vogue", "Cosmopolitan", "Glamour", "Newsweek", and "New York" magazines featured stories about women who admitted sexual histories with other women.


title: Lesbian

text: One analyst reasoned the recurrence of lesbian chic was due to the often-used homoerotic subtexts of gay male subculture being considered off-limits because of AIDS in the late 1980s and 1990s, joined with the distant memory of lesbians as they appeared in the 1970s: unattractive and militant. In short, lesbians became more attractive to general audiences when they ceased having political convictions. All the attention on feminine and glamorous women created what culture analyst Rodger Streitmatter characterizes as an unrealistic image of lesbians packaged by heterosexual men; the trend influenced an increase in the inclusion of lesbian material in pornography aimed at men.


title: Lesbian

text: A resurgence of lesbian visibility and sexual fluidity was noted in 2009, with celebrities such as Cynthia Nixon and Lindsay Lohan commenting openly on their relationships with women, and reality television addressing same-sex relationships. Psychiatrists and feminist philosophers write that the rise in women acknowledging same-sex relationships is due to growing social acceptance, but also concede that "only a certain kind of lesbian—slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way—is acceptable to mainstream culture".


title: Lesbian

text: Although homosexuality among females has taken place in many cultures in history, a recent phenomenon is the development of family among same-sex partners. Before the 1970s, the idea that same-sex adults formed long-term committed relationships was unknown to many people. The majority of lesbians (between 60% and 80%) report being in a long-term relationship. Sociologists credit the high number of paired women to gender role socialization: the inclination for women to commit to relationships doubles in a lesbian union. Unlike heterosexual relationships that tend to divide work based on sex roles, lesbian relationships divide chores evenly between both members. Studies have also reported that emotional bonds are closer in lesbian and gay relationships than heterosexual ones.


title: Lesbian

text: Family issues were significant concerns for lesbians when gay activism became more vocal in the 1960s and 1970s. Custody issues in particular were of interest since often courts would not award custody to mothers who were openly homosexual, even though the general procedure acknowledged children were awarded to the biological mother. Several studies performed as a result of custody disputes viewed how children grow up with same-sex parents compared to single mothers who did not identify as lesbians. They found that children's mental health, happiness, and overall adjustment is similar to children of divorced women who are not lesbians. Sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex roles of children who grow up with lesbian mothers are unaffected. Differences that were found include the fact that divorced lesbians tend to be living with a partner, fathers visit divorced lesbian mothers more often than divorced nonlesbian mothers, and lesbian mothers report a greater fear of losing their children through legal means.


title: Lesbian

text: Improving opportunities for growing families of same-sex couples has shaped the political landscape within the past ten years. A push for same-sex marriage or civil unions in western countries has replaced other political objectives. , ten countries and six U.S. states offer same-sex marriage; civil unions are offered as an option in some European countries, U.S. states and individual municipalities. The ability to adopt domestically or internationally children or provide a home as a foster parent is also a political and family priority for many lesbians, as is improving access to artificial insemination.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbians of color have often been a marginalized group, including African American, Latina, Asian, Arab, and other non-Caucasian lesbians; and experienced racism in addition to homophobia and misogyny.


title: Lesbian

text: Some scholars have noted that in the past the predominant lesbian community was largely composed of white women and influenced by American culture, leading some lesbians of color to experience difficulties integrating into the community at large. Many lesbians of color have stated that they were often systematically excluded from lesbian spaces based on the fact that they are women of color. Additionally, these women face a unique set of challenges within their respective racial communities. Many feel abandoned, as communities of color often view homosexual identity as a "white" lifestyle and see the acceptance of homosexuality as a setback in achieving equality.


title: Lesbian

text: Lesbians of color, especially those of immigrant populations, often hold the sentiment that their sexual orientation identity adversely affects assimilation into the dominant culture. Historically, women of color were often excluded from participating in lesbian and gay movements. Scholars have stated that this exclusion came as a result of the majority of whites dismissing the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality that are a core part of the lesbian of color identity. Lesbians that organized events were mostly white and middle-class, and largely focused their political movements on the issues of sexism and homophobia, rather than class or race issues. The early lesbian feminist movement was criticized for excluding race and class issues from their spaces and for a lack of focus on issues that did not benefit white women. Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, and Cherrie Moraga are cited as major theorists within the various lesbians of color movements for their insistence on inclusion and equality, from both racial communities and white lesbian communities.


title: Lesbian

text: The many intersections surrounding lesbians of color can often contribute to an increased need for mental health resources. Lesbians of color are more likely to experience a number of psychological issues due to the various experiences of sexism, racism, and homophobia as a part of their existence. Mental health providers, such as therapists, often use heteronormative standards to gauge the health of lesbian relationships, and the relationships of lesbian women of color are often subjects of judgment because they are seen as the most deviant.


title: Lesbian

text: Within racial communities, the decision to come out can be costly, as the threat of loss of support from family, friends, and the community at large is probable. Lesbians of color are often exposed to a range of adverse consequences, including microaggression, discrimination, menace, and violence.


title: Krithi Shetty

text: Krithi Shetty (born 21 September 2003) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She made her debut with the commercially successful film "Uppena" (2021).


title: Krithi Shetty

text: Krithi Shetty was born on 21 September 2003 in Mumbai, in a Tulu family hailing from Mangalore, Karnataka. Her father is a businessman and her mother is a fashion designer. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister. She was brought up in Mumbai and , she was studying psychology. During her academics, she worked in commercial ads.


title: Krithi Shetty

text: Shetty can speak her mother tongue Tulu, Hindi and English. She has learnt to speak Telugu and is learning Tamil for her film career.


title: Krithi Shetty

text: Following a brief appearance in the Hindi film "Super 30", Shetty made her debut in a lead role at age of 17, with the Telugu film "Uppena" directed by Buchi Babu Sana and produced by Mythri Movie Makers and Sukumar Writings. The film was commercially successful at the box office by collecting over . Reviewing her performance, "The Times of India" Neeshitha Nyayapati wrote: "The debutants Vaisshnav and Krithi manage to pull off the intricacies of their characters well for the most part.


title: Krithi Shetty

text: In 2021, she appeared in the Telugu film "Shyam Singha Roy" opposite Nani. In 2022, she appeared opposite Ram Pothineni in bilingual film "The Warriorr" directed by N. Lingusamy. The film received negative reviews from critics and was huge commercial failure. Her next release in the same year was Telugu film "Macherla Niyojakavargam", directed by M. S. Rajashekhar Reddy. As of 2022, she is shooting for the upcoming film "Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali" directed by Mohana Krishna Indraganti, co-starring Sudheer Babu.


title: Frances McDormand

text: Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and one Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". Additionally, she has received two Golden Globe Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Although primarily recognized for her roles in small-budget independent films, McDormand's worldwide box office gross exceeds $2.2 billion helped by her appearances in "" (2011) and "" (2012).


title: Frances McDormand

text: McDormand was educated at Bethany College and Yale University. She has been married to Joel Coen of the Coen brothers since 1984. She has appeared in a number of their films, including "Blood Simple" (1984), "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "Barton Fink" (1991), "Fargo" (1996), "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001), "Burn After Reading" (2008), and "Hail, Caesar!" (2016). For her portrayal of a pregnant police chief in "Fargo", McDormand won her first Academy Award for Best Actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in "Mississippi Burning" (1988), "Almost Famous" (2000), and "North Country" (2005). McDormand won two more Academy Awards for Best Actress for starring as a justice-seeking mother in the crime drama film "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" (2017) and a widowed van-dwelling nomad in the drama film "Nomadland" (2020), making her the second woman in history to win Best Actress three times, and the seventh performer overall to win three competitive Academy Awards in acting categories. For producing the latter, she was also awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture, making her the first person in history to win Academy Awards both as producer and performer for the same film.


title: Frances McDormand

text: On television, McDormand produced and starred as the titular protagonist in the HBO miniseries "Olive Kitteridge" (2014), which won her the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. On stage, McDormand made her Broadway debut in a 1984 revival of the drama "Awake and Sing!", and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Stella Kowalski in a 1988 revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire". She returned to Broadway in 2008 with a revival of "The Country Girl", leading to a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play. In 2011, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing a troubled single mother in "Good People".


title: Frances McDormand

text: McDormand was born Cynthia Ann Smith on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. She was adopted at one and a half years of age by Noreen (Nickelson) and Vernon McDormand and renamed Frances Louise McDormand. Her adoptive mother was a nurse and receptionist while her adoptive father was a Disciples of Christ pastor; both were originally from Canada. McDormand has said that her biological mother—to whom she has proudly referred, along with herself, as "white trash"—may have been one of the parishioners at Vernon's church. She has a sister, Dorothy A. "Dot" McDormand, who is an ordained Disciples of Christ minister and chaplain, as well as a brother, Kenneth, both of whom also were adopted by the McDormands, who had no biological children.


title: Frances McDormand

text: Because McDormand's father specialized in restoring congregations, he frequently moved their family, and they lived in several small towns in Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, before settling in Monessen, Pennsylvania, where McDormand graduated from Monessen High School in 1975. She attended Bethany College in West Virginia, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater in 1979. In 1982, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama. She was a roommate of actress Holly Hunter while living in New York City.


title: Frances McDormand

text: McDormand's first professional acting role was in Derek Walcott's play "In a Fine Castle" also known as "The Last Carnival", which was funded by the MacArthur Foundation and performed in Trinidad. In 1984, she made her film debut in "Blood Simple", the first film by her husband Joel Coen and brother-in-law Ethan Coen. In 1985, McDormand appeared in Sam Raimi's "Crimewave", as well as an episode of "Hunter". In 1987, she appeared as eccentric friend Dot in "Raising Arizona", starring Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage. In addition to her early film roles, McDormand played Connie Chapman in the fifth season of the television police drama "Hill Street Blues", and appeared in a 1986 episode of "The Twilight Zone". In 1988, she played Stella Kowalski in a stage production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire", for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. McDormand is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. In 2002, "the game and talented" McDormand performed as Oenone in the Wooster Group's production of an "exhilarating dissection" of Racine's tragedy "Phèdre" entitled "To You, the Birdie!", at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York.


title: Frances McDormand

text: After appearing in several theatrical and television roles during the 1980s, McDormand gradually gained renown and critical acclaim for her dramatic work in film. In 1989, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for "Mississippi Burning" (1988). Cast alongside Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, McDormand was singled out for praise, with Sheila Benson in her review for the "Los Angeles Times" writing, "Hackman's mastery reaches a peak here, but McDormand soars right with him. And since she is the film's sole voice of morality, it's right that she is so memorable."


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 1990, McDormand teamed again with director Sam Raimi for "Darkman", in which she co-starred alongside Liam Neeson. The film was a critical and commercial success, with film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert giving the film "two thumbs up" on the TV program "At the Movies". That same year, she appeared in the Coen brothers' "Miller's Crossing" and starred in the political thriller "Hidden Agenda" alongside Brian Cox, which was met with further critical acclaim, and won the Jury Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. The following year, McDormand appeared alongside Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels in the romantic comedy "The Butcher's Wife". In 1992, she co-starred in the television film "Crazy in Love" with Holly Hunter and Gena Rowlands. In 1993, McDormand co-starred in Robert Altman's ensemble film "Short Cuts", based on stories by Raymond Carver. The film was critically acclaimed, with the cast receiving a special Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble at the 50th Venice International Film Festival, as well as a Special Ensemble Award at the 51st Golden Globe Awards.


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 1996, McDormand starred as pregnant police Chief Marge Gunderson in "Fargo", written and directed by the Coen brothers. She garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. Roger Ebert called "Fargo" "one of the best films I've ever seen" and asserted that McDormand "should have a lock on an Academy Award nomination with this performance, which is true in every individual moment, and yet slyly, quietly, over the top in its cumulative effect." In 2003, the character of Marge Gunderson as portrayed by McDormand was ranked the 33rd greatest screen hero by AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains. Also in 1996, McDormand played Edward Norton's psychiatrist Dr. Molly Arrington in the legal thriller "Primal Fear", and appeared alongside Chris Cooper in the neo-Western mystery film "Lone Star".


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 1997, McDormand received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her role as Gus in the television film "Hidden in America" (1996). That same year, she co-starred alongside Glenn Close in Bruce Beresford's war drama "Paradise Road". In 1998, McDormand played the strict but loving nun Miss Clara Clavel in the family film "Madeline".


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2001, McDormand was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of an overbearing mother in "Almost Famous" (2000). For her role in "Wonder Boys" (2000), she won Best Supporting Actress from the Florida Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. For her roles in both films, she won the Broadcast Film Critics Association award for Best Supporting Actress. McDormand starred as Billy Bob Thornton’s wife Doris Crane in the Coen Brothers’ film noir "The Man Who Wasn’t There" (2001). In 2002, she starred alongside Robert De Niro in the crime drama "City by the Sea", and as free-spirited record producer Jane in "Laurel Canyon", which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female. The following year, she played Diane Keaton's sister Zoe in the romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give". In 2005, McDormand co-starred alongside Charlize Theron in the true life drama "North Country", which earned her Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she also appeared alongside Theron in the science fiction action film "Æon Flux".


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2007, McDormand won an Independent Spirit Award for her supporting role in Nicole Holofcener's dark comedy "Friends with Money" (2006). She also voiced the role of the principal Melanie Upfoot in "The Simpsons" episode "Girls Just Want to Have Sums", which aired on April 30, 2006. In 2008, McDormand starred in the romantic comedy "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" alongside Amy Adams as governess Guinevere Pettigrew, and the black comedy "Burn After Reading", which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2011, she appeared alongside Sean Penn in "This Must Be the Place", and alongside her "Burn After Reading" co-star John Malkovich in the action movie "", playing the US government's National Intelligence Director. She returned to the stage in the David Lindsay-Abaire play "Good People", in a limited engagement on Broadway from February 8, 2011, to May 29, 2011. Her performance won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. In the animated film "" (2012), McDormand voiced Captain Chantel Dubois and also sang a version of the French song "Non, je ne regrette rien". That same year, she co-starred in Wes Anderson's ensemble film "Moonrise Kingdom", and alongside Matt Damon in "Promised Land".


title: Frances McDormand

text: In November 2014, HBO aired a four-part miniseries based upon the series of short stories by Elizabeth Strout, "Olive Kitteridge", co-produced by and starring McDormand. For her performance in the title role, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. With her Emmy win, McDormand became the twelfth actress in history to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting", for competitive Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award wins in acting categories. As a co-producer on "Olive Kitteridge", McDormand also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. In 2015, McDormand voiced Momma Ida in the Pixar animated film "The Good Dinosaur".


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2017, McDormand starred in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" as Mildred Hayes, a grieving mother who rents three roadside billboards to call attention to her daughter's unsolved rape and murder. Her performance garnered enormous critical acclaim, and she won her second Academy Award for Best Actress (her statuette was stolen briefly following the awards ceremony), the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. During that year's awards season, she drew significant media attention for her feminist provoking acceptance speeches which came with the advent of the Time's Up and Me Too movements.


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2018, McDormand voiced Interpreter Nelson in Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated film "Isle of Dogs". The following year, she voiced God in the six-episode Amazon/BBC Studios series "Good Omens", starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.


title: Frances McDormand

text: In 2020, McDormand produced and starred in Chloé Zhao's "Nomadland", playing Fern, a nomad in the American West. McDormand received universal acclaim for her performance, winning her third Academy Award for Best Actress and her second BAFTA Award for Best Actress, and earning nominations for the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. As a producer on the film, McDormand also won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Her wins for "Nomadland" made her the first person in history to win Academy Awards both as producer and performer for the same film, the second woman in history to win Best Actress three times, and the seventh performer overall to win three competitive Academy Awards in acting categories. In 2021, McDormand received further critical acclaim for her performances as Lady Macbeth in Joel Coen's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" and Lucinda Krementz in Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch".


title: Frances McDormand

text: Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has appeared in a wide variety of projects on the screen and stage, portraying various characters for which she has frequently received critical acclaim. Vogue remarked how she is "long considered one of our greatest living performers" and continues mentioning that "she grounds every performance with an innate truthfulness. McDormand makes you believe every person she plays is a flesh-and-blood human who continues living out their life once the cameras stop rolling." In his review of "Laurel Canyon" (2002), film critic Roger Ebert wrote "In almost all of her roles, McDormand embodies an immediate, present, physical, functioning, living, breathing person as well as any actor ever has, and she plays radically different roles as easily as she walks... How she does it is a mystery, but she does, reinventing herself, role after role. McDormand is ascendant." In his review of "Nomadland" (2020), film critic Leonard Maltin refers to McDormand as "one of the finest actresses on the planet," stating "because [Fern] is played by McDormand, there is no better way to establish a connection between her and us in the audience. We know she is genuine; there is no artifice here."


title: Frances McDormand

text: McDormand has been married to director Joel Coen since 1984. In 1995, they adopted a son from Paraguay, Pedro McDormand Coen, when he was six months old.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Kim Tae-pyung (born September 25, 1982), better known as Hyun Bin, is a South Korean actor. He gained widespread recognition for his role in the 2005 romantic comedy TV drama "My Name is Kim Sam-soon". Since then, he has appeared in leading roles in other successful television shows, including the romantic fantasy drama "Secret Garden" (2010–2011), fantasy drama "Memories of the Alhambra" (2018–2019), and romantic drama "Crash Landing on You" (2019–2020). Hyun Bin's popularity was further widened by starring in a series of box office hits: the action thriller "Confidential Assignment" (2017), the crime thrillers "The Swindlers" (2017) and "The Negotiation" (2018) as well as the zombie horror "Rampant" (2018). He was Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year in 2011. The success of Hyun Bin's works internationally established him as a top Hallyu star. He is among the highest paid and most influential actors in South Korea.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun drew praise from critics for his performance in melodrama film "Late Autumn", which was screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. Throughout his television and film career, he has been nominated for several prestigious awards, including five at the Baeksang Arts Awards, and won various accolades for his acting recognition, including the Grand Prize (Daesang) for TV at the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun Bin's first film was "Shower" in 2002. However, filming was stopped and was not released due to lack of funding. Hyun eventually made his debut as an actor in the 2003 television series "Bodyguard". He then starred in the sitcom "Nonstop 4" and quirky romance drama "Ireland", and made his film debut the same year in the youth sports movie "Spin Kick".


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun shot to stardom with the 2005 romantic comedy TV series "My Lovely Sam Soon" with Kim Sun-a, for which Hyun won the Top Excellence Award at the MBC Drama Awards. "My Lovely Sam Soon" was a massive hit with average viewership ratings of over 37% and recorded 50.5% for the finale, making it one of the highest-rated Korean drama of all time. The explosive popularity of the drama and his portrayal as Sam-sik established Hyun Bin as a top star in South Korea and a Hallyu star as his popularity expanded beyond South Korea to Japan and other countries in Asia.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Following the success of "My Lovely Sam Soon", Hyun starred in lead role in his first film "A Millionaire's First Love" (written by internet novelist Guiyeoni). The movie was a hit with the young audience. Hyun's next television project, "The Snow Queen", although underperformed, earned him his first Best Actor nomination at Baeksang Arts Awards.


title: Hyun Bin

text: To expand his acting profile, Hyun started to choose more eclectic projects. In 2008, he acted in director Yoon Jong-chan's film "I Am Happy", playing Man-soo, a man who suffers from mental illnesses. The movie was selected to screen at the 13th Busan International Film Festival in 2008, but it was not released in theatres until late 2009. After "The Snow Queen", Hyun returned to television with "Worlds Within", which was well-received for Noh Hee-kyung's writing. He was praised for his nuanced acting in the drama series. In 2009, Hyun drew critical acclaim with his portrayal as a sociopath in the gangster saga "Friend, Our Legend". To prepare for his role, he reportedly watched Kwak Kyung-taek's original film 20 to 30 times.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2010, Hyun starred in "Secret Garden", a romantic fantasy drama written by Kim Eun-sook. The drama recorded its highest viewership ratings of 35%, and gained enormous popularity both domestically and internationally for its fashion, catchphrases and music. His portrayal as Kim Joo-won created a ""Hyun Bin" Syndrome" as his name and face were plastered everywhere, from newspapers to television and the internet. Hyun was recognized at the 2010 SBS Drama Awards and the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards for his stellar performance. He also contributed to the soundtrack of the drama with "That Man", which peaked at number one in eight Korean music portals.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2011, Hyun appeared in two films that were released back to back; "Come Rain, Come Shine", a minimalist breakup indie directed by Lee Yoon-ki, and "Late Autumn" directed by Kim Tae-yong. Shot in Seattle, "Late Autumn" is an English-language remake of the 1966 Lee Man-hee classic, in which Hyun played a man on the run who falls in love with a woman who is on special leave from prison (Chinese actress Tang Wei). It became the highest grossing Korean film released in China to date, taking in more than over two weeks, which was unprecedented for a melodrama. He received a good review from "The Hollywood Reporter" which stated, "It is Hyun who impresses more for not underplaying the dandy, narcissistic side of his personality." Hyun walked the red carpet at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, where the two films were both selected to be screened. He described the honor as his "happiest achievement."


title: Hyun Bin

text: On March 7, 2011, Hyun began his 21-month mandatory military service as a soldier in the Marine Corps. He volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps, said to be the toughest branch of the Korean military, as he had a good impression of the Marines. Competition rate to enter the Marines at that time was high at 4:1 with Hyun placing in the top 5% of applicants. Hyun applied to be a combat soldier. The decision to join the Marines while at the peak of his career generated much interest in Korea and overseas. Seven broadcasting companies, including Japan's NHK, requested access to the training camp. Hyun was named a top marksman during training, one of 16 out of about 720 rookie Marines. Hyun hit the target 19 times out of 20 in day shooting training, and all of his 10 shots hit the target during night training. To qualify as a top marksman, rookies must hit the target more than 18 times out of 20 in day training and nine out of 10 at night.


title: Hyun Bin

text: The Corps originally planned to put Hyun on public relations duty; however due to public criticism and Hyun's reported desire to serve on the front line, Hyun was assigned on active duty to Baengnyeong Island, close to the Northern Limit Line and Yeonpyeong, site of a November 2010 artillery engagement between the North and South Korean forces.


title: Hyun Bin

text: After joining the Marines and completing his six months in the service, Hyun participated in the "Seoul Reclamation Anniversary Marine Marathon Competition". He ran a 6.25 km long course with 400 exemplary senior marines. This event was held in remembrance of the historically significant event when the Marines won back the capital Seoul that had been taken during the 6.25 Korean War.


title: Hyun Bin

text: He was discharged on December 6, 2012, and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Award and the Marine Corps Commandant Commendation for being an exemplary soldier. After the merger of their former agency AM Entertainment with SM Entertainment, Hyun's reps announced in November 2012 that the actor and Shin Min-ah had decided to go independent and set up their own management agency O& Entertainment.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun spent most of 2013 shooting ad commercials as an in-demand product endorser, and holding fan meetings all over Asia. For his acting comeback after military service, Hyun chose "The Fatal Encounter", his first ever period film, in which he played the leading role of King Jeongjo who faced fierce party strife and assassination attempts during his reign. It was released in April 2014 and drew more than 3 million admissions. However, Hyun was criticized for his flat tonation and lack of emotions in the film, which received mostly negative reviews.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2015, Hyun made a comeback in the Korean drama scene after 4 years with romantic comedy series "Hyde, Jekyll, Me". In the drama inspired by the literary character, he plays a man with split personality disorder whose two personas both fall for the same woman.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In January 2016, Hyun set up his own agency, VAST Entertainment, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao M three years later.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun returned to silver screen with the action-thriller film titled "Confidential Assignment" (2017), where he plays the role of a North Korean detective that is secretly sent to South Korea to apprehend a crime ring that is made up of North Korean traitors. The film was a success, and Hyun received positive reviews from critics for his action scenes and comedic performance. He then starred in crime action film "The Swindlers", along with Yoo Ji-tae, about a prosecutor who plans to catch a con man who has swindled a large sum of money. "The Swindlers" was another box office hit for Hyun.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2018, Hyun starred in crime thriller "The Negotiation", playing a villain role for the first time, alongside Son Ye-jin; and zombie blockbuster "Rampant" (which was co-produced by VAST Entertainment).


title: Hyun Bin

text: The same year, he returned to the small screen with fantasy suspense drama "Memories of the Alhambra" alongside Park Shin-hye. The series is one of highest rated Korean drama in cable television history, and Hyun was praised for his seemingly indifferent but humorous depiction of his character.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2019, Hyun reunited with "The Negotiation" co-star Son Ye-jin in the hit romance drama "Crash Landing on You" as a North Korean army captain. The drama was a huge success and is the third-highest-rated Korean drama in cable television history, and Hyun was praised for his versatile range of emotions and acting skills.


title: Hyun Bin

text: For his portrayal as Captain Ri Jeong Hyuk as a North Korean elite army officer, Hyun won Grand Prize at APAN Star Awards.


title: Hyun Bin

text: In 2020, Hyun is set to star as a NIS agent in the action thriller film "The Point Men", directed by Yim Soon-rye.


title: Hyun Bin

text: On October 29, 2013, Hyun received the President's award at the 50th Savings Day held by the Financial Services Committee, for saving 35 billion won (approximately US$33 million) within 17 years. In February 2016, Hyun was involved in an awareness campaign against animal cruelty. As part of the project, Hyun's agency VAST Entertainment released pictures of him posing with a retired search and rescue dog named "Vision".


title: Hyun Bin

text: In March 2020, it was revealed that Hyun made a secret donation of 200 million won to the non-profit organization, Community Chest of Korea, to help fight against the COVID-19 outbreak on February 21, 2020. Hyun is also included as a member in the "Honor Society", a group of major private donors, for his many donations to different causes. He has continually supported projects by organizations such as Save the Children, "Community Chest of Korea" and international relief NGOs.


title: Hyun Bin

text: On March 8, 2022, Hyun made a donation million to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association, together with Son Ye-jin to help those who have been damaged by the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has continued to spread Samcheok, Gangwon.


title: Hyun Bin

text: Hyun was born and raised in Seoul and has one elder brother. He graduated from Youngdong High School and studied at Chung-Ang University, where he majored in Theater Studies in 2004. In 2009, he enrolled at the same university to obtain a Master's degree.


title: Hyun Bin

text: On January 1, 2021, Hyun's agency confirmed that he had been in a relationship with actress Son Ye-jin, his co-star in "The Negotiation" (2018) and "Crash Landing on You" (2019–2020), since the year prior, after "Crash Landing on You" concluded. On February 10, 2022, Hyun and Son announced their engagement in letters posted on their social media accounts. They married in a private ceremony on March 31, attended by their parents and friends of both families. On June 27, Son announced that she is pregnant with the couple's first child, and she gave birth to a son on 27 November 2022.


title: Serial killer

text: A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two.


title: Serial killer

text: Psychological gratification is the usual motive for serial killing, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims may have something in common; for example, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race. Often the FBI will focus on a particular pattern serial killers follow. Based on this pattern, this will give key clues into finding the killer along with their motives.


title: Serial killer

text: Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer, spree killer, or contract killer, there exist conceptual overlaps between them. Some debate exists on the specific criteria for each category, especially with regard to the distinction between spree killers and serial killers.


title: Serial killer

text: The English term and concept of "serial killer" are commonly attributed to former FBI Special agent Robert Ressler, who used the term "serial homicide" in 1974 in a lecture at Police Staff Academy in Bramshill, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. Author Ann Rule postulates in her 2004 book "Kiss Me, Kill Me", that the English-language credit for coining the term goes to LAPD detective Pierce Brooks, who created the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) system in 1985.


title: Serial killer

text: The German term and concept were coined by criminologist Ernst Gennat, who described Peter Kürten as a "" ('serial-murderer') in his article "" (1930). In his book, "" (2004), criminal justice historian Peter Vronsky notes that while Ressler might have coined the English term "serial homicide" within the law in 1974, the terms "serial murder" and "serial murderer" appear in John Brophy's book "The Meaning of Murder" (1966). The Washington, D.C., newspaper "Evening Star", in a 1967 review of the book:


title: Serial killer

text: Vronsky states that the term "serial killing" first entered into broader American popular usage when published in "The New York Times" in the spring of 1981, to describe Atlanta serial killer Wayne Williams. Subsequently, throughout the 1980s, the term was used again in the pages of "The New York Times", one of the major national news publications of the United States, on 233 occasions. By the end of the 1990s, the use of the term had increased to 2,514 instances in the paper.


title: Serial killer

text: When defining serial killers, researchers generally use "three or more murders" as the baseline, considering it sufficient to provide a pattern without being overly restrictive. Independent of the number of murders, they need to have been committed at different times, and are usually committed in different places. The lack of a cooling-off period (a significant break between the murders) marks the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. The category has, however, been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of a "cooling-off period". Cases of extended bouts of sequential killings over periods of weeks or months with no apparent "cooling off period" or "return to normality" have caused some experts to suggest a hybrid category of "spree-serial killer".


title: Serial killer

text: In "Controversial Issues in Criminology", Fuller and Hickey write that "[t]he element of time involved between murderous acts is primary in the differentiation of serial, mass, and spree murderers", later elaborating that spree killers "will engage in the killing acts for days or weeks" while the "methods of murder and types of victims vary". Andrew Cunanan is given as an example of spree killing, while Charles Whitman is mentioned in connection with mass murder, and Jeffrey Dahmer with serial killing.


title: Serial killer

text: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone". In 2005, the FBI hosted a multi-disciplinary symposium in San Antonio, Texas, which brought together 135 experts on serial murder from a variety of fields and specialties with the goal of identifying the commonalities of knowledge regarding serial murder. The group also settled on a definition of serial murder which FBI investigators widely accept as their standard: "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s) in separate events". The definition does not consider the motivation for killing nor define a cooling-off period.


title: Serial killer

text: Historical criminologists suggest that there have been serial killers throughout history. Some sources suggest that legends such as werewolves and vampires were inspired by medieval serial killers. In Africa, there have been periodic outbreaks of murder by "Lion" and "Leopard men".


title: Serial killer

text: Liu Pengli of China, nephew of the Han Emperor Jing, was made Prince of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of Jing's reign (144 BC). According to the Chinese historian Sima Qian, he would "go out on marauding expeditions with 20 or 30 slaves or with young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport". Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, it was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the emperor. Eventually, it was discovered that he had murdered at least 100 people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his own nephew killed, so Liu Pengli was made a commoner and banished.


title: Serial killer

text: In the 9th century (year 257 of the Islamic Calendar), "a strangler from Baghdad was apprehended. He had murdered a number of women and buried them in the house where he was living."


title: Serial killer

text: In the 15th century, one of the wealthiest men in Europe and a former companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais, was alleged to have sexually assaulted and killed peasant children, mainly boys, whom he had abducted from the surrounding villages and had taken to his castle. It is estimated that his victims numbered between 140 and 800.


title: Serial killer

text: The Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory, born into one of the wealthiest families in Transylvania, allegedly tortured and killed as many as 650 girls and young women before her arrest in 1610.


title: Serial killer

text: Members of the Thuggee cult in India may have murdered a million people between 1740 and 1840. Thug Behram, a member of the cult, may have murdered as many as 931 victims.


title: Serial killer

text: In his 1886 book, "Psychopathia Sexualis", psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing noted a case of a serial murderer in the 1870s, a Frenchman named Eusebius Pieydagnelle who had a sexual obsession with blood and confessed to murdering six people.


title: Serial killer

text: The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper, who has been called the first modern serial killer, killed at least five women, and possibly more, in London in 1888. He was the subject of a massive manhunt and investigation by the Metropolitan Police, during which many modern criminal investigation techniques were pioneered. A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries, forensic material was collected and suspects were identified and traced. Police surgeon Thomas Bond assembled one of the earliest character profiles of the offender.


title: Serial killer

text: The Ripper murders also marked an important watershed in the treatment of crime by journalists. While not the first serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper's case was the first to create a worldwide media frenzy. The dramatic murders of financially destitute women in the midst of the wealth of London focused the media's attention on the plight of the urban poor and gained coverage worldwide. Jack the Ripper has also been called the most infamous serial killer of all time, and his legend has spawned hundreds of theories on his real identity and many works of fiction.


title: Serial killer

text: H. H. Holmes was one of the first documented modern serial killers in the United States, responsible for the death of at least nine victims in the early 1890s. The case gained notoriety and wide publicity through possibly sensationalized accounts in William Randolph Hearst's newspapers. At the same time in France, Joseph Vacher became known as "The French Ripper" after killing and mutilating 11 women and children. He was executed in 1898 after confessing to his crimes.


title: Serial killer

text: The serial killing phenomenon in the United States was especially prominent from 1970 to 2000, which has been described as the "golden age of serial murder." The cause of the spike in serial killings has been attributed to urbanization, which put people in close proximity and offered anonymity.


title: Serial killer

text: The number of active serial killers in the country peaked in 1989 and has been steadily trending downward since, coinciding with an overall decrease in crime in the United States since that time. The decline in serial killers has no known single cause but is attributed to a number of factors. Mike Aamodt, emeritus professor at Radford University in Virginia, attributes the decline in number of serial killings to less frequent use of parole, improved forensic technology, and people behaving more cautiously. Causes for the general reduction in violent crime following the 1990s include increased incarceration in the United States, the end of the crack epidemic in the United States, and decreased lead exposure in early childhood.