ABSTRACT
If a portrait gallery of lesbian celebrities were assembled it would include many more individuals than I have been able to profile (or even name) in this book. But my intent was never to produce an inventory of glamorous, courageous, and talented women who can be paraded as evidence of lesbian accomplishments and serve as inspirations to ordinary lesbian folk. Nor will I now conclude with a blanket characterization of the transformations of popular culture that the public figures who would be included in such a pantheon might effect. After describing diverse encounters between lesbians and celebrity culture, a retreat to generalizations seems not only unwise but also would require revision almost as soon as they were pronounced. Indeed, the only conclusion that seems justified is that lesbian celebrity is, mercifully, unpredictable and variegated. This does not imply, however, that no common motifs recur when the topic is studied. A number of these have been examined in preceding chapters, and these concluding comments will deal with connections between several that are dealt with in different contexts.
