Out in the Mountains Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America, by Lllllan Faderman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Moira Among the numerous reports of hate crimes and the steady climate of homo- phobia, I found Lillian Faderrnan’s book, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, a ray of light. It reaffirmed my sense that homo- sexuality is not an affliction, not some twist of nature, but for many such as my- self, a direct expression of my nature. It also enabled me to see how far we have evolved in looking back through the twentieth century. Ms. Faderman starts with a quote from William Cullen Bryant’s essay for the Evening Post, written in 1843, which de- scribes two “maiden” women and their love relationship. “In their youthful days, they took each other as companions for life, and this union, no less sacred to them than the tie of marriage, has sub- sisted, in uninterrupted harmony, for 40 years...They slept on the same pillow and had a common purse.” I found in reading Odd Girls, a time when women’s love for each other was not questioned. We are given many ex- amples of women whom she documents as having “romantic relationships.” For those of us who have searched for our sisters before, many of these women are familiar. Faderman documents the pressure many lesbians felt to keep hidden, never ex- pressing what to them was natural, and therefore leading very lonely existences. In reading their accounts I realized how much freedom our time allows us. A woman named Jackie, who lived in New Orleans in the ‘50’s tells about her en- counters with the police. “They would ask if I was a man or a woman. They could arrest a woman for impersonating a man, so you had to be sure you were wearing three pieces of woman’s clothes...Any woman wearing pants was suspect.” That pressure to remain hidden remains with us today. I think of the ta- boos that keep me from kissing my lover in public, in a place as unimportant as a hardware store. 0 For me, always questioning and ex- ploring, this book is a great resource. Faderman has researched a great wealth of infonnation. Feeling the connections through the ages and hearing the per- sonal struggles has given me a better un- derstanding of my self and the de- termination to continue in believing. None of our rights have come easily, without a fight or without exposing the misinformation. As lesbians we have both the uphill struggle of defining our- selves as women and as women who love women. We still have to be guard- ed, have to be careful who we open our- selves to, but by reading Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, one can sense how far we have come and fell the unity among women as a growing force that will not back down or go away. Once again I sa- lute those brave women who have come before me and carved this hard path we now tread upon. I am grateful to Lillian Faderman for this much needed tribute to lesbian life. V y The Passion of Pearls... SUSAN MCKENZIE MS January 5 Bingo Night ELLEN KmscHNER CSW 8'30 p'"" R I CSW January 10 Women’s Buffet Dance MARIORE OBUN Buffet by Dinner to Go a7'm0“”C9 $5 .00 5-9 p.m. tbejommg Oftbetrpmctwes January 15 Pasta Night-All you can eat and the opening of $5 .95 6-9 p.m. THE January 16 Juice Bar - 18 & Older ’ $3.00 cover 9 p.m. WOMEN S Smoke and alcohol free THERAPY CENTER January 18 Ladies Lounge Dance A Feminist Therapy Practice $100 7-10 p 'm' January 26 Men’s Night V $1.00 7-10 p.m. 2 Church Street Burlington, Vermont P 1 3 5 Pearl St. W 8607454 x Burlington, Vermont (,3;