> Gad, Liza, that was FAB. You brought it ALL back for me. I hadn't seen it
> since it first came out. But spot on to everything.
>
> I don't recall anyone in my circle at the time--musicians, nonacademic
> bi's, lesbians-- saying that they liked it. Everyone hated it. They didn't
> like the idea that this narrative was being presented to the mainstream
> audience. They feared that it would be interpreted as proof that sexual
> orientation wasn't genetically determined and, of course, reinforcement for
> the already circulating fantasy that if a lesbian just gets laid by the
> right MAN she would see the error of her ways. Oh and I know that some
> were pissed about the scene were her les friends treat her as some sort of
> outcast. More stereotyping, they thought, more reason for people to
> believe that lesbians are only lesbians because they hang with lesbians
While I, of course, agree that the notion of getting laid properly as a cure for lesbianism is repulsive, I don't understand the stubborn allegiance to the assertion (and it is an assertion -- there is precious little science to back it up) that sexual orientation is genetically determined.
Why is this such an appealing prospect to so many?
--
Joseph Noonan jfn1 at msc.com