Lesbian Book Review
Dr. Lillian Faderman
In 1992, the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association picked "Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers" by Dr. Lillian Faderman, as their non-fiction book of the year. This award is made for books “of exceptional merit relating to gay/lesbian experience.” (American Libraries. Sept. 1992, pgs. 704, 715; this is the official publication of the American Library Association). This book also won a prestigious, gay Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) in 1991. (The Advocate, 8-17-99, pg. 74. The Advocate is the leading gay news magazine, the gay equivalent of Time or Newsweek.) Faderman is convinced that lesbianism, both in its causes and in its various manifestations, is created by social factors, rather than being of biological origin:
“As will be revealed in the pages of this book, in the debate between the ‘essentialists’ (who believe that one is born a lesbian and there have always been lesbians in the past just as there are lesbians today) and the ‘social constructionist’… my own research has caused me to align myself on the side of the social constructionists.” (Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, pg. 8; NY: Penguin, 1991)
Especially in chapters eight and nine of this book, Dr. Faderman gives numerous examples of women who were completely heterosexual, but who actually chose to become lesbians. On page 207, Dr. Faderman gives one such example:
“As one radical feminist, who divorced her physician husband in 1974 to become a lesbian, characterized it, lesbianism was seen to be ‘the only noble choice a committed feminist could make.’” (Ibid., pg. 207)
Another noted lesbian, Rita Mae Brown (author of the best-selling lesbian book, "Rubyfruit Jungle" and a former lover of tennis pro Martina Navratilova) also declares her lesbianism as a choice:
“I became a lesbian because the culture that I live in is violently anti-woman. How could I, a woman, participate in a culture that denies my humanity? To give a man support and love before giving it to a sister is to support that culture, that power system. “ (Ibid.,)
Dr. Faderman then makes the most telling point from her research:
"In this respect, the 1970’s offer a prime example of sexuality as a social construct. It was demonstrated in that decade how the spirit of an era could influence sexual behavior in large numbers of people at least as much as those other factors that had long been regarded as determining sexuality.” (Ibid.)
Lesbians are made, not born, a lesbian singer at “womyn’s” festivals and music concerts recalls, “We know about ten women who were straight before they came to the concert” and became lesbians “about two weeks later. The concert just blew their minds.”(Ibid., pgs. 220f)
Other well-known gays are aware of Faderman’s research. Dr. Simon LeVay, a research scientist who has claimed that gay male brains are different from heterosexual male brains, notes Faderman’s views:
“Faderman believes that sexual orientation is a product of life experiences—in Odd Girls she takes the time to cite no less than eleven scientific studies that repudiate a physiological basis for homosexuality.” (City of Friends, by Simon LeVay and Elisabeth Nonas; Cambridge, MA; The MIT Press, 1995, pg. 193)
Faderman and PFLAG
In the February 6, 1996 issue of The Advocate, Dr. Faderman criticizes PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays) for their public “born gay” stance. PFLAG is made up mostly of parents of “gay” children. These parents are desperate to be told that they did not make parenting mistakes, which caused their children to become gay. (The Advocate, 2-6-96, pg. 72)
Dr. Faderman’s column elicited a surprising response from Sandra Gillis, at that time, Executive Director of PFLAG:
“If Lillian Faderman had ever
bothered to read PFLAG’s latest
publication, Why Ask Why: Addressing the Research on
Homosexuality and Biology, before slamming PFLAG in her Latest
column,
she might have realized that we are echoing each other’s words, not
‘parting company.’
Despite Faderman’s claims, PFLAG has approached
the biological research on homosexuality with reservation. We
have outlined three primary concerns: We take the possibility of
the abuse of scientific research seriously; we are concerned that
some of the research oversimplifies our understanding of human
sexuality and may tend to limit our understanding of the cultural
and social factors that shape all human sexuality…”
If there are “cultural and social factors that shape all human sexuality,” then one is not born gay; various factors can cause changes in human sexuality (a fixed, “sexual orientation” is an incorrect term).
In another Advocate column (4-29-97, pg. 80), Dr. Faderman lists a number of prominent lesbians: Jill Johnston wrote the lesbian classic, Lesbian Nation. Holly Near is a lesbian folk singer. Jan Clausen founded a lesbian magazine. But what else do they have in common? They have all spontaneously fallen in love with men!
Identity Politics
Dr. Lillian Faderman has “won the prestigious Monette/Horwitz Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation for her life contributions to gay and lesbian history.” ( The Advocate, 6-22-99, pg. 127). Note Faderman’s Analysis of the dishonest “identity politics” used by gay activists:
“And we continue to demand rights (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, domestic partnerships, the right to marry), ignoring the fact that human sexuality is fluid and flexible, acting as though we are all stuck in our category forever and thus we need to assure its livability. Is a movement even possible if we don’t operate under this fiction of the consistency and inevitability of identity?……………………………………………………………………………. The narrow categories of identity politics are obviously deceptive. They hide the complex, multifaceted nature of human beings. But the undeniable successes of identity politics have made life easier for many of us…That being so, how can we not feel dis-comfort or loss or annoyance when anything or anyone reminds us how simplistic and unstable the notion of identity truly is?”(Ibid.)
Faderman’s Fears
In an interview with the lesbian magazine, Lesbian News, Dr. Faderman lays out her point of view on fluid sexuality and its future implications:
“I must confess that I am both elated and terrified by the possibilities of ‘a bisexual moment.’ I’m elated because I truly believe that bisexuality is the natural human condition. But I’m much less happy when I think of the possibility of huge numbers of homosexuals (two thirds of the women who identify as lesbian, for example) running off to explore the heterosexual side of their bisexual potential and, as a result, decimating our political ranks.” (The Advocate,9-5-95, pg. 43)
"The concept of gay and lesbian identity may be nothing but a social construct, but it has been crucial, enabling us to become a political movement and demand the rights that are due to us as a minority. What becomes of our political movement if we openly acknowledge that sexuality is flexible and fluid, that gay and lesbian does not signify ‘a people’ but rather a ‘sometime behavior’?”(Ibid.)
In other words, when the public learns the truth about the myth of “born gay,” then what will happen to “gay identity politics?”
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