am Homosexual" before Janet can feel enough at ease to drop even a few oblique hints. There are several ways it can be done with ease, however. A discussion of a few novels in which a homosexual plays some part is one

way,

If Janet has a few male homosexual friends, they might help her to meet people. Homosexual women Janet already knows may have a few friends. they could introduce to Janet; she in turn could introduce her own friends, thus helping the circle to widen.

Through fear of being discovered, timidity, guilt feelings, and a host of other reasons, Janet may make no such attempts either to meet people or to get to know them better. Instead, Janet sits at home, night after night, reading, knitting just killing time.

Or Janet may and frequently does have a number of heterosexual friends with whom she mixes socially. This group usually doesn't know of Janet's homosexuality, although there may be a select few in whom she has confided. If Janet is satisfied with purely heterosexual friends, then there is no problem.

Too often, however, there is a feeling of having to pretend. Janet must avoid mentioning certain topics and put up with her friends' joking (and serious) attempts to find a suitable man for her. It isn't that Janet doesn't like these friends, only that she can't be quite herself.

This is not to say that if Janet's social circle was homosexual, homosexuality would be the main con-

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versational topic. The group would probably have the same interests as her heterosexual friends, with perhaps a little more discussion of "gay" life, novels, etc. Mainly, it's the feeling of having her position understood and not condemned. This is especially important if Janet is living with another girl and wishes to avoid unintentional embarrassment by well-meaning friends who don't know the situation.

What is the answer? The suggestion offered earlier-making a more concentrated effort to get to know people might be one step. Or Janet may busy herself with other things. to forget her craving for congenial people. She may associate almost exclusively with heterosexuals. An oftenmentioned idea is that of a social club. -something like community centers, or the Army canteens during the War. There Janet could meet people in a casual, homey atmosphere. A wider variety of women would come than would patronize bars; there would be no aura of something vaguely undesirable or sordid.

Some people say this is impractical —that by the nature of our laws and social mores, such a place couldn't succeed. Perhaps it is hopeless, but Janet and others like her have probably never investigated the possibilities of such an idea. I hope for the sake of Janet-and all the Janetsthat they try, for without some effort on their part, Janet and other homosexual women will never have the opportunity to meet the kind of people with whom they want to associate.

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