A Guide to the ‘Lesbian Masterdoc,’ the Influential PDF in Sapphic Spaces

The ‘Lesbian Masterdoc’ has been an influential piece of literature since its publishing in 2018 that nearly every sapphic on the internet has read. 

Originally published by Tumblr user Anjeli Lux, known as Cyberlesbian, who wrote the ‘Lesbian Masterdoc’ while trying to figure out her sexuality in high school, it quickly rose to popularity on the social media site. While the original Google Doc is no longer accessible, the document has been downloaded as a PDF and re-uploaded so often that it is fairly easy to find. 

The document itself functions as a guide to help people figure out if they are a lesbian. It explores lived experiences with compulsory heterosexuality (often referred to as comphet) and how it is not equal to attraction to men. Compulsory heterosexuality refers to the struggle that many lesbians experience as they attempt to separate how they truly feel about men from how they are expected to feel, which causes many lesbians to believe they are attracted to men. 

Due to this emphasis on lived experiences rather than queer theory, it is easier for the everyday person to find, understand, and internalize in a way that is beneficial to each individual’s understanding of their sexuality. 

The document has been making its way into the public eye, with both Reneé Rapp and Kehlani bringing it up in recent interviews. Kehlani credits it with helping them realize they were dating men out of compulsory heterosexuality rather than out of attraction, saying in an interview, “When I had to list and analyze why I was still dating men, none of it had to do with being in love.”

While not a perfect tool, it is helpful to many young sapphics as they try to explore their sexuality in a world where women’s sexuality is often defined by their relationships with men.