Bringing the U-Haul: Embracing and Resisting Sexual Stereotypes in a Lesbian Community

Abstract

I examine the rules of sex and dating in a midwestern white middle-class lesbian community. I interview participants and describe how they comply with these rules, which largely (though not entirely) correspond with stereotypes of white middle-class female sexuality. The participants also describe how through the community rules they resist heterosexual norms of sexuality, which primarily means resistance of stereotypical male sexuality. The women seem unaware of the ways in which they participate in the process of creating and reifying these rules within their community, perceiving themselves instead to be completely ignorant of them. I examine these patterns within the context of the lesbian ‘sex wars’, concluding that the legacy of lesbian feminism has remained surprisingly strong in this community.

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