THE FEMININE

VIEWPOINT

by and about women

Compared to the male homosexual, the lesbian has a very easy time of it indeed, at least as far as persecution by a hostile society is concerned. Unless she chooses to deliberately advertise her anomaly by adopting a pattern of behavior that would be no more acceptable in a heterosexual than a homosexual, she is allowed to live a reasonably normal life, without the constant fear of exposure and the ensuing ridicule, ostracism and legal prosecution which makes. the lives of so many male homosexuals such a horror.

The reasons for this are many and varied, beginning, perhaps, with the difference in the reaction of society toward the "tomboy" and the "sissy". A boy with a gentle, non-aggressive nature and a fondness for girlish pursuits is looked upon with scorn and contempt, and made an object of ridicule by adults and contemporaries alike, but a girl who is something of a roughneck, who can climb trees, play ball, give a good account of herself in a fight and in general hold her own with any boy her size on the block is admired and envied. This paradoxical attitude on the part of society is a natural consequence of the age-old belief in the superiority of the male over the female, so it follows that masculine, or "manly" attributes and proficiencies are considered admirable regardless of which sex possesses them, while "feminine" characteristics, particularly in a male, are considered a mark of inferiority. So while a girl may take pride in her boyish traits, a boy is made to feel guilty and ashamed of his girlish characteristics. This alone has a profound influence on the future behavior of the individual. Then there is the matter of modes of dress. To the average heterosexual, it may not seem that it would require much sacrifice on the part of anyone to conform with the prevailing customs regarding attire for his sex, but for the person who feels like a fish out of water every moment he is forced to wear the conventional garb of his sex, it can be a very real hardship. Here again the lesbian who prefers masculine attire has all the best of it as compared to her male counterpart, for not only has she, in all probability, been wearing the same kind of rompers and coveralls and blue jeans as her brothers since she was old enough to creep; within recent years, particularly since World War II, it has become so commonplace for women to wear trousers, sport short haircuts, use a minimum of makeup and wear low-heeled shoes (and walk with a more "manly" stride as a result) that there is very little, if any, stigma attached to such practices, whereas a male must always wear strictly masculine garb in public or he is inviting arrest. This small freedom which lesbians who prefer masculine attire enjoy (there are many who do not, just as there are a great many male homosexuals who have no desire whatsoever to wear feminine clothes) has a far greater effect on their lives as a whole than most people might expect, for they are able to indulge a natural inclination without fear, while the inability to do so is a constant irritant to many males who would be much happier in a more feminine costume. And a small frustration, endlessly repeated, can, and does, so incalculable damage to the personality.

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