Salmon Girls

Blostlandic Fisherwomen inspecting her catch, 1975

Salmon Girl or (Blostlandic: Lax Flicka) is a Blostlandic slang term for lesbians & women who adopt masculine tendencies most often associated with fishermen and the fishing industry.

Becoming popular in the 70s because of the growth of women in the fishing industry and the simultaneous emergence of the queer power movement in Blostland, Salmon Girl would quickly be adopted as a popular name for the existing subculture of lesbians and women. As of the modern day the term has become a normalized symbol of both queer and female pride.

History

The origin of the term is unknown however the most famous use of it is in the 1972 edition of the Blostlandic National Fishers Union's newspaper "Dagens Fångst" where the writer comments on the growth of women in the fishing industry by saying every girl he meets in nowadays is a "Salmon Girl" its from there that the term would spread to the whole of Blostland and start to become more broad in its meaning.

By the mid 70s the term would start to be adopted by gay and female communities with the subtle derogatory nature of the term being canceled out by the wide spread use of the word in both groups. While the term would refer to both a gay or straight masculine woman there would be some animosity between the straight and gay Salmon girls over the usage of the word. This conflict exists even now however the feud has largely been settled as Queer Blostlanders have become more accepted by society.

Characteristics

Described as united effort by queers and women to "Destroy the male gaze and what is expected of women in society with the fishing aesthetic." by Queer newspaper "The Quill" the characteristics of Salmon Girls while at first more of a generalization have become a realized effort by women to subvert gender norms in Blostlandic society.

Fashion

Salmon Girl fashion in its inception was simply the coopting of the aesthetics of fishermen for women, as time went on however it would begin to develop on its own. The main tenets of Salmon Girl fashion in the modern day is masculinity, utility, and independence; finding its roots in the aesthetics of fishermen the masculinity aspect is the most prominent with the bulk of the fashion being men's clothing. As for utility it is more of a reaction to the flowery nature of women's clothing, by making Salmon Girl clothes about the function instead of the look they are going against that. While masculinity and utility are more pyhsical, independence is more about the mindset of what clothing Salmon Girls wear, this is seen as a part of moving away from the importance of the male gaze.

Gender Roles

Because of the masculine influence in Salmon Girl culture, it is inherently subversive putting women in a masculine role directly disconnected from the standards expected of a woman. This allows Salmon Girls to be independent of male desires putting their own wants above that of society's. The queer element is especially strong in this part of Salmon Girl culture as it allows Queer women to express their love for women in a more conventional way.