She Was a Lesbian Feminist

Though Johnston moved away from dance as the topic of her writing in the 1970s, dance remained in the structure of her writing. This chapter consider Johnston’s provocative public appearances of the 1970s as performances and then considers her writing about lesbian feminism as an improvisational score. The chapter focuses on several instances where Johnston combined the written and physical in unexpected ways, including her 1970 disruption of a feminist fundraiser in Long Island where she interrupted Betty Friedan’s speech by swimming topless; and her contributions to a 1971 panel where she marginalized both Norman Mailer and her fellow feminists, toward lesbian queer ends.