China to save an aging father and underage brother from a conscription that took no cognizance of such conditions. For centuries she has been revered as an example of filial piety. On her return, laden with a grateful emperor's bounty, she married.

In a day when religious belief is tepid and foreign armies reduce to rubble only the villages of distant lands, it is easy to claim Joan of Arc as a lesbian. But an examination of the record will not support this idea. It is amply clear that her cropped hair and male attire were both symbols of and sacrifices to her mission. Furthermore, in the seventy charges brought against her at her trial, she is accused (charges eight and nine) of having left her parents to live in a house of ill fame, and to have attempted to force a man to marry her. The 54th charge accuses her of refusing the service of women and "initiating men into the most secret intimacy of her private life." Considering the breadth of the other 67 charges and the unflagging determination to destroy her, surely a charge of masquerading for the purpose of seducing women would

have been introduced if it had not been too far fetched for even her

accusers.

An 18th century folksong tells us of "Sweet Polly Oliver" who stole her brother's clothes and ran off to war. Alas, it was in order to be near the young Captain she loved.

George Sand dressed as a man and may have had a brief lesbian relationship, but her energies were devoted to one affair after another with the male literary and musical lions of her time.

Throughout the centuries, from Sappho, who had no delusions about male entities in female bodies, through Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman (Queen Anne and the Duchess of Marlborough), to Colette, there have been enduring and influential lesbian relationships. The point to be stressed is that, except where idle curiosity or a known traumatic experience are the incentives to such relationships, no matter how feminine in dress or mannerisms one of the partners may be, her lesbianism is no less a fact than her lover's.

WOMEN

A CONTEST ESPECIALLY FOR YOU!

Win a choice of the following books:

Jane Race

SEX VARIANT IN LITERATURE by Jeannettee H. Foster SEXUAL DEVIATIONS IN THE FEMALE by Louis S. London, M.D. THE GARDEN a novel by Katherin Perutz

The rules for this contest are simple:

1. Send us the name and address of a friend who might be interested in a membership to ONE, along with the title of the book of your choice.

2. Upon the receipt of her membership fee, we will send you your free book.

Send all particulars and inquiries to:

ONE INCORPORATED

2256 Venice Boulevard

L.A. 6, Calif.

19