A diverse and lively anthology of popular lesbian and bisexual
authors writing about the multifaceted phenomenon of coming out.
The paradoxical central beauty and flaw of this anthology is the
construct of "coming out" itself. Larkin (ed., Gay and Lesbian
Poetry in Our Time, not reviewed, etc.) acknowledges in her
introduction that coming out can refer to anything from a first
embrace to a political statement. The most successful essays tell
an actual story. Karla Jay's "First Love" at summer camp stands out
as particularly hilarious and poignant. Heather Lewis's blunt,
devastating story spans her first experiences with women as a
12-year-old and her father's sadistic attempts to have her "cured."
Cheryl Boyce Taylor captures the open, innocent sensuality she and
her childhood girlfriends shared juxtaposed against isolation and
threats of violence that pepper her adult lesbian life. Some
writers gloss over or shirk the actual moment of coming out to
write more generally about lesbian identity - the stuff of standard
gay/lesbian anthology fare. A few essays lack cohesion; several
authors submitted stories in a stilted, amateurish, journal-entry
format that detracts from their evocative material. The book as a
whole may have arrived 15 years too late, when coming out is less
the cutting-edge issue for queer people, having been supplanted by
more topical concerns, such as gay marriage, "postgay" theories,
and hate-crime legislation. However, lesbian readers will
appreciate these reminiscences for the voyeurism: a bird's-eye view
of an admired writer fumbling and breathless in her first embrace.
The most profound insight here comes from seasoned lesbian writer
and activist Jill Johnston: "Should it ever cease to be necessary
to come out, a lesbian or gay identity would itself cease to
exist." An uneven but enjoyable collection of original reflections
on the notion of the process of coming out and its continued
necessity. (Kirkus Reviews)
The act of "coming out" has the power to transform every aspect of a woman's life: family, friendships, career, sexuality, spirituality. An essential element of self-realization, it is the unabashed acceptance of one's "outlaw" standing in a predominantly heterosexual world.
These accounts -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- encompass a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences. From a teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must come out to her young sons at the risk of losing them -- from the cautious academic to the raucous liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Extending from the 1940s to the present day, these intensely personal stories in turn reflect a unique history of the changing social mores that affected each woman's ability to determine the shape of her own life. Together they form an ornate tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century..
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