The termsapphism has been used since the 1890s,[8] and derives fromSappho, a Greekpoet whose verses mainly focused on love between women and her own homosexual passions.[9] She was born on the Greek islandLesbos, which also inspired the termlesbianism.[10][11]
Sappho's work is one of the few ancient references to sapphic love. Her poetry, significant in quality, is a rare example offemale sexuality separated fromreproduction in history.[12][13]
The termsapphic encompasses the experiences of lesbians and bisexual women, for example, among otherplurisexual andmultiromantic individuals.[14][15] Asexual and aromantic women who are attracted to a woman are also sapphic.[16][17]
Using the term more broadly, some sapphic individuals may be non-binary.[18][19] There are also equivalent terms for relationships between men (Uranian,Achillean[20]) between a man and a woman (Dionian, duaric), and involving at least one non-binary person (diamoric orenbian).[21][22]
Sapphic is also used inLGBT literature for works involving at least one relationship between women, regardless of whether they are lesbian or not.[23][24][25]
^Breetveld, Robin Rose (2023).Bisexual (Un)belonging: Exploring the Socio-spatial Negotiation of Plurisexual Individuals in LGBT+ and Queer Spaces (doctoral thesis).University of Kent.doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.105513.
^Klein, Ula Lukszo (2023). "Sapphic Relations". In Eron, Sarah; Aljoe, Nicole N.; Kaul, Suvir (eds.).The Routledge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Literatures in English. Routledge. pp. 287–298.doi:10.4324/9781003271208-30 (inactive 14 December 2024).ISBN978-1-003-27120-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
^Dyer, Harriet (2021).The Little Book of LGBTQ+: An A–Z of Gender and Sexual Identities. Summersdale Publishers.ISBN978-1-78783-974-8.
^Nygård, Ida Sofie Sverkeli (2021).Sapphic Representations in Contemporary Young Adult Literature (master's thesis). Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.hdl:11250/2992128.
^Hackett, Robin (2004).Sapphic Primitivism: Productions of Race, Class, and Sexuality in Key Works of Modern Fiction. Rutgers University Press.ISBN978-0-8135-3347-6.
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