A Woman Like That

by Larkin, Joan

• ISBN13: 9780380976980
• ISBN10: 0380976986
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-09-21
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

This collection of literate, intensely personal stories -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- illuminates the breadth and variety of experiences known as "coming out". The authors -- many of them well-known artists, writers, activists, and critics -- ranging in age from twenty to seventy, are from all classes and races and from all across America. From the teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must risk losing her young sons -- from the cautious academic to the raucous, liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Together they offer a vision that is witty, courageous, and memorable, a rich tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
Joan Larkin
This Song Is Dedicated to the One I Love	1	(11)
Bertha Harris
Widows	12	(6)
Judy Grahn
Mad for Her	18	(10)
Jill Johnston
First Love	28	(14)
Karla Jay
Novelties	42	(5)
Joan Nestle
The Secret Agent	47	(23)
Jane DeLynn
My Debut	70	(4)
Blanche McCrary Boyd
Red Light, Green Light	74	(16)
Beatrix Gates
A Vision	90	(7)
Rebecca Brown
Richard Nixon and Me	97	(13)
Heather Lewis
Cherry Picker	110	(7)
Chrystos
Born Queer	117	(18)
Judith Katz
What Comes First	135	(5)
Holly Hughes
House of Corals	140	(12)
Cheryl Boyce Taylor
Bride of Christ	152	(10)
Mary Beth Caschetta
The Coming Out of a Gay Pride Child	162	(15)
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins
Easter Weekend	177	(7)
Minnie Bruce Pratt
Pot Luck	184	(11)
Cynthia Bond
A Letter to Some Lesbians Who've Been Out for a Long Time	195	(10)
Mariana Romo-Carmona
Waking UP	205	(7)
Jacquie Bishop
Banditos	212	(4)
Eileen Myles
Coming Out...or Going More Deeply In?	216	(9)
Margaret Randall
Sequins in the Mud: A Cover Girl Comes Out	225	(7)
Karin Cook
Mind and Body	232	(16)
Wendy W. Fairey
Always Coming	248	(9)
Letta Neely
This Girl Is Different	257	(8)
Tristan Taormino
Picture This	265	(11)
Cecilia Tan
Layers of the Onion, Spokes of the Wheel	276	(15)
Pat Califia
Freedom Rings	291	(4)
Kanani Kauka
Together Alone	295	(9)
Eva Kollisch
Diary of a Mad Lesbian	304	(7)
Leslea Newman
Contributors	311