WOMEN'S DESIRE, LESBIANS' SEXUALITY: Jennifer Vanasco

at the Independent Gay Forum:

..."Fluidity is not a fluke," sexologist Lisa Diamond told the Times. Of the women who told Diamond that they were lesbian, only one-third reported attraction solely to women. The other two-thirds felt genuine, periodic attraction to men.

This means that, if we were all honest in our labeling, the majority of women would need to call ourselves "bisexual" or "queer," instead of "straight" or "gay," as we do. The research says that there are far more women attracted to people of both sexes than there are women who are attracted to only one sex. If only one-third of lesbians are completely women-centered when it comes to desire — and only two percent of the country is lesbian — then that is a tiny number, about 2 million.

Of course, being a lesbian is about more than desiring other women. It is also about a female-centered culture, about consensus building, about emotional bonds with other women. That is what we mean, usually, when we talk about a lesbian "community" — and why lesbian communities often have such a different feel than gay male ones.

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Labels: desire, gender differences, lesbians, women

posted by Eve at 5:32 PM VOTE