First line into Dorthy Allison’s work, Conceptual Lesbianism, and realized right away that I had indeed

read this before, in Dr. Wilson’s class. Allison’s reference to the letter she was reading, “I’m not yet a
lesbian” cites the peculiarity to the statement, using the analogy, “maybe she thinks of lesbianism as a
trip she’s always planned to take – like a day trip to Coney Island.” The statement itself, made me laugh,
but Allison’s further putting it into context made me laugh even harder. Further in she makes a
comparison with the homosexual male community when she points out, “Nor could I imagine such a
letter from a male writer wherein he would define himself as not yet a faggot.” She further goes on to
cite how men’s movement theorists would not express conceptual homosexuality as a focus of
heightened sensitivity. She points out this is just one of many misconceptions about lesbianism, much
like the conclusion that lesbians are “young, healthy, middle-class jocks who can sing.” Odd, the
lesbians I know all seem to age, just like the rest of us, but none the less this is the general population’s
perception of lesbians.

Allison’s work further goes into people’s misuse of terms in describing a feminist, automatically labeling
feminists as being lesbians. Some seen this as beneficial, associating themselves as feminists with
lesbians, while others seen it in just the opposite light, wanting nothing to do with lesbianism while
taking their feminist stance. This type of behavior strikes me as add when the feminist goals of a
heterosexual woman, should be the same as the feminist lesbian woman. Unfortunately many woman
involved in feminist movements wanted nothing to do with those feminists that describes themselves as
Lesbians, further dividing and segregating their numbers. I honestly can’t see this as conducive to
reaching the overall goals of feminism.

Oddly there were many in the feminist movement that began to inappropriately adopt the word lesbian
to mean some sort of ultimate feminist, when they had no desires to be a lesbian, in the practicing
sense, but to simply adopt the title, further adding to the confusion surrounding the issue. Being a
feminist does not automatically make one a lesbian, nor does being a lesbian automatically make one a
feminist. Even though many men claim to be lesbians on the inside, they certainly lack the anatomical
correctness to actually be one, but there is nothing stopping a man from being a feminist.