No Man’s Land: The Herstory of Lesbian Intentional Communities as a Manifestation of the Pastoral Dream

Although not a well-known part of Oregon’s past, intentional communities, also called communes, have a long history in Oregon dating back over one hundred and fifty years. Oregon communalism reached its peak in the 1970s when there was a huge growth in lesbian intentional communities, particularly in Southern Oregon. These communities developed as a result of the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and the radical wing of the women’s movement. However, there was another factor at play. Besides thinking about communalism and women’s liberation, the women were also harkening back to a long-held component of American cultural mythology: the pastoral ideal. Pastoral idealism, or the idea that a better, more egalitarian, and spiritually pure life is possible in the countryside, has been a driving force in the writings of authors such as Thoreau, Frost, and Jefferson and in cultural movements such as the migration to the suburbs. Although the members of communities such as OWL Farm and Cabbage Lane were attempting to isolate themselves from the patriarchy that was American culture, their writings demonstrate continued engagement with the idea that in the countryside, it was possible for them to create a simpler, more spiritually pure, and egalitarian life. In other words, even while advocating a separatist lifestyle, they engaged with American culture. In doing so, these women inextricably linked themselves to the past and future of America and must be seen as part of America’s history of idealism, communalism and activism.