American singer-songwriter and lesbian feminist activist
Alix Dobkin
|
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Birth name
| Alix Cecil Dobkin
|
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Born
| (
1940-08-16
)
August 16, 1940
New York, New York
, U.S.
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Died
| May 19, 2021
(2021-05-19)
(aged 80)
Woodstock, New York
, U.S.
|
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Genres
| Folk
,
women's music
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Occupation(s)
| Singer-songwriter
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Instrument(s)
| Vocals, guitar
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Years active
| 1973?2021
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Labels
| Women's Wax Works (Ladyslipper)
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Musical artist
Alix Cecil Dobkin
[1]
(August 16, 1940 ? May 19, 2021)
[2]
was an American
folk
singer-songwriter, memoirist, and
lesbian feminist
activist. In 1979, she was the first American lesbian feminist musician to do a European concert tour.
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Dobkin was born in
New York City
into a
Jewish Communist
family, named after her uncle Alix who died fighting against the
fascists
in the
Spanish Civil War
. She was raised in
Philadelphia
and
Kansas City
.
[4]
Dobkin graduated from
Germantown High School
in 1958 and the
Tyler School of Art
with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree in 1962.
Career
[
edit
]
Dobkin began her career by performing on the
Greenwich Village
coffeehouse
scene in 1962.
[5]
She played with greats like
Bob Dylan
and
Buffy Sainte-Marie
.
[5]
[6]
Starting in 1973, she released a number of albums as well as a songbook and toured throughout the U.S., Canada, England,
Scotland
, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand promoting lesbian culture and community through
women's music
.
Dobkin enjoyed a small and devoted audience, has been called a "women's music legend" by
Spin Magazine
, "pithy" by
The Village Voice
, "Biting...inventive... imaginative" by
New Age Journal
, "uncompromising" in the
New York Times Magazine
, and "a troublemaker" by the
FBI
. She gained some unexpected fame in the 1980s when comedians such as
David Letterman
and
Howard Stern
tracked down her
Lavender Jane Loves Women
album, and began playing phrases from the song "View From Gay Head" on the air. By the 21st century, Dobkin had ceased writing and recording new material, but continued to tour until her death, stating she had "lost interest" and that writing her memoir had "sucked up all the creativity.”
[7]
In 1977, she became an associate of the American nonprofit publishing organization
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press
(WIFP).
[8]
Dobkin was a member of the OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) Steering Committee.
[9]
Her 2009 memoir,
My Red Blood
, was published by
Alyson Books
.
[10]
Activism
[
edit
]
Dobkin spoke about
women-only spaces
and protections
[
which?
]
for lesbian women. She was a vocal critic of the inclusion of
trans women
in women-only spaces. In one letter to the
National Center for Lesbian Rights
, she asserted, "For over twenty years men have declared themselves 'women,' manipulated their bodies and then demanded the feminist seal of approval from survivors of girlhood.... [My lyrics] are not 'oppressive' but refer to those of us who have a girlhood & a clitoris, & no one else."
[11]
Her criticisms of
postmodernism
,
[12]
sadomasochism
,
[13]
the transgender rights movement
,
[14]
[15]
and other movements appeared in several of her written columns, such as "Minstrel Blood."
[16]
Her article "The Emperor's New Gender" appeared in the feminist journal
off our backs
in 2000.
[17]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1965 she married Sam Hood, who ran the
Gaslight Cafe
in Greenwich Village.
[5]
They moved to
Miami
and opened The Gaslight South folk club,
[5]
but moved back to New York in 1968.
[18]
Their daughter Adrian was born two years later, and the following year the marriage broke up. A few months later, Dobkin
came out
as a lesbian, which was uncommon for a public personality to do at the time. She met partner Liza Cowan when performing on the latter's radio show in New York. The meeting was subsequently described as "love at first sight" and the two women came out as a couple and moved in together in 1971, residing with Dobkin's daughter Adrian.
[2]
Dobkin suffered a
brain aneurysm
on April 29, 2021, and was subsequently admitted to
Westchester Medical Center
. She was taken off life support on May 11 and discharged on May 17.
[19]
She died at home surrounded by family on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. The cause of death was cited as a brain aneurysm and
stroke
.
[20]
At the time of her death, Dobkin lived in
Woodstock, New York
.
[21]
She is survived by her daughter Adrian, a brother and a sister, three grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held for her in the summer of 2021.
[22]
Discography
[
edit
]
Albums
[
edit
]
- Lavender Jane Loves Women
(1973)
- Living with Lesbians
(1975)
- Xx Alix
(1980)
- These Women
(1986)
- Yahoo Australia! Live from Sydney
(1990)
- Love & Politics
(compilation, 1992)
- Living with Lavender Jane
(CD re-release of first two albums, 1998)
Published works
[
edit
]
- (Not Just A Songbook)
(1978)
- Alix Dobkin's Adventures in Women's Music
(1979)
[23]
- My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement
(2009)
[24]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Smith, Harrison (May 21, 2021).
"Alix Dobkin, who celebrated lesbian life in music, dies at 80"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
May 21,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Maxwell, Carrie (May 19, 2021).
"Passages: Lesbian-feminist musician, activist Alix Dobkin dies"
.
Windy City Times
. Chicago, Illinois
. Retrieved
May 20,
2021
.
- ^
Clark, Jil (March 29, 1980). "Alix Dobkin: Still a Separatist".
Gay Community News
. Vol. 7, no. 35. p. 8.
- ^
Gianoulis, Tina.
"Dobkin, Alix (b. 1940)"
. GLBTQ Encyclopedia. Archived from
the original
on July 15, 2012
. Retrieved
August 9,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
van Laarhoven, Kasper (December 28, 2016).
"The Story of the Gaslight Cafe, Where Dylan Premiered 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall'
"
.
BedfordandBowery.com
. Bedford & Bowery.
Archived
from the original on December 28, 2016
. Retrieved
December 28,
2016
.
- ^
Rosechild, Rene (June 2010).
"Women's Music Icon Alix Dobkin on the Rise of Lesbian Feminism and Her Road to Fame"
.
Curve
.
20
(5): 44+ – via Academic OneFile.
- ^
Zonkel, Phillip (May 19, 2021).
"Alix Dobkin, pioneering lesbian musician, dies at 80"
.
Q Voice News
. Retrieved
May 20,
2021
.
- ^
"Associates | The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press"
.
www.wifp.org
. Retrieved
June 21,
2017
.
- ^
"The Reporter"
(PDF)
. Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. June 2015.
- ^
Baim, Tracy (January 6, 2010).
"My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Into the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement"
.
Windy City Times
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (September 1, 2014).
"Alix Dobkin's letter to Kate Kendell of the National Council of Lesbian Women"
.
DYKE, A Quarterly
. Retrieved
January 20,
2016
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (October 21, 1998).
"Deconstruct This!"
.
Feminist Reprise
. Retrieved
October 13,
2012
.
(Originally published in
Outlines
.)
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (June 2000). "Sadomasochism: It's a Republican Thing".
Off Our Backs
.
30
(6): 16.
JSTOR
20836638
.
- ^
"Can Lesbian Identity Survive The Gender Revolution?"
.
BuzzFeed News
. Retrieved
December 18,
2020
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (June 21, 2000).
"MINSTREL BLOOD: (In)famous Last Words (For Now)"
.
Windy City Times
. Retrieved
October 13,
2012
.
- ^
"Alix Dobkin Columns"
(PDF)
.
You Are A Splendid Butterfly.com
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (April 2000). "The Emperor's New Gender".
Off Our Backs
.
30
(4): 14.
JSTOR
20836592
.
- ^
Armstrong, Toni (May 1989). "A Mother-Daughter Conversation: Alix Dobkin & Adrian Hood".
Hot Wire: The Journal of Women's Music and Culture
.
5
(2): 36 – via ProQuest GenderWatch.
- ^
Dobkin, Loren (May 1, 2021).
"Alix's Story"
.
CaringBridge
. Retrieved
May 17,
2021
.
- ^
Dobkin, Loren (May 19, 2021).
"With Grace And Strength She's Shining Through"
.
CaringBridge
. Retrieved
May 19,
2021
.
- ^
Beaty, Thalia (May 21, 2021).
"
'Head lesbian,' singer and feminist, Alix Dobkin, dies at 80"
.
Associated Press
. Retrieved
May 22,
2021
.
- ^
Ring, Trudy (May 19, 2021).
"Lesbian Music Legend Alix Dobkin Dies at 80"
.
The Advocate
. Los Angeles, California
. Retrieved
May 23,
2021
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (1979).
Alix Dobkin's Adventures in Women's Music
. New York: Tomato Publications.
ISBN
9780934166003
.
OCLC
5958887
.
- ^
Dobkin, Alix (2009).
My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement
(1st Alyson Books ed.). New York: Alyson Books.
ISBN
9781593501075
.
OCLC
423597901
.
External links
[
edit
]
- Alix Dobkin
- Ladyslipper Music: Alix Dobkin
- Queer Music Heritage: Alix Dobkin
- Papers of Alix Dobkin, 1973?2004 (inclusive), 1979?1995 (bulk): A Finding Aid, Schlesinger Library, Harvard University
- Audiotape collection of Alix Dobkin, 1975?1995: A Finding Aid, Schlesinger Library, Harvard University
- Alix Dobkin interviewed by Sarah Dunn, April 2, 2011, Special Collections, Smith College
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