Gay until graduation
Ask a Homo: Lesbians Until Graduation
Welcome back to “Ask a Homo,” Outward’s no-judgment answer service for all your questions on LGBTQ politics, culture, etiquette, language, and other queer conundrums. This week, June Thomas ponders the lesbians until graduation phenomenon: What execute Kinsey 6 lesbians believe about women who own a more flexible sexuality?
If there are questions you’ve been dying to request a member of the real rainbow coalition, this is your chance. Deliver your queries—for publication—to slateoutward@, and please put “ASK A HOMO” in the subject line. Note that questions may be edited.
Other Questions Asked of Homos:
Why do gay people contact themselves queer?
Are gay weddings different from straight ceremonies?
Why do gay men sometimes call each other she?
What’s the deal with tops and bottoms?
Why do lesbians wear so much flannel?
What’s the deal with the homosexual lisp?
Should a straight person frequent a gay bar?
Copy LinkShareShareComment
Brace Scholar Cohen ’08 Presents “Gay Until Graduation”
Brace Fellow Rachel Cohen ’08 believes that a woman may change her sexual orientation multiple times in a lifetime. This past Tuesday, Cohen delivered her Brace Fellow presentation, “Gay Until Graduation,” which focused on modern concepts and issues related to lesbian women. She began, “Lesbian. The word evokes a picture. At Andover, it might be a picture of&#;me. Anywhere else, it might be of two girls making out, or Britney Spears and Madonna.” Over the past decades, open lesbianism has consistently increased. According to Cohen, guys find it “hot,” girls detect it “a satisfying alternative,” and the media was fast to pick up on the craze, particularly on TV with shows such as “The O.C.” “Sex and the City,” and “The ‘L’ Word.” According to Cohen, 14% of women possess engaged in some kind of sexual relationship with a girl by their late teens. She attempted to talk to why women get lesbians, citing the emotional differences between men and women, the lack of equality in heterosexual relationships, and violent male sex d
Lesbian until graduation?: Exploring the stigma against fluid sexuality
The stigma against women’s sexuality is staggering. Despite great strides that have been made toward visibility and acceptance for queer and sexually empowered women, gay women are often pegged as “fake” or are accused of betraying their fellow lesbians if they decide they like men, too.
Consider, for instance, a hypothetical freshman girl: she comes to school for the first time, unsure of her place in this tight-knit campus community. How will she be seen by others? The allure of labeling herself in decree to feel more connected to her peers can be overwhelming, especially for someone struggling to define herself in a place where solidarity is so highly venerated.
This young woman goes to a party and makes out with a girl for the first time; she is surprised to find that she likes it. As she explores this attraction, she may then touch pressured by lesbians, her friends and even men to explain her sexuality concretely. Human attraction is not something that can be defined in terms of black and white, though.
Once upon a time in middle university, I came out to my mother as double attraction. Like many girls that age who have non-hetero tendencies, I had a mother who didn’t obtain it. It’s normal to experiment with other girls, she told me. She clearly thought I was having make-out sessions with my girlfriends and was just confused, too immature to get that this was just practice before the boys arrived. I should’ve been so successful to have friends who would make out with me! Instead, my exposure ledger was all but a blank slate till late into high college. Still, I knew that there was something unlike about me, virginal or not.
Research on human sexuality is pretty limited. The evidence we do contain suggests women are “sexually fluid” creatures, which sounds like some kind of secretion issue but actually refers to a mix and match approach when it comes to the sex of our lovers, and not necessarily in equal proportion. I’m a member of this community. My sexual timeline can be clearly broken into “gay” and “not-so-gay” sections. Among my friends, many of whom are femi