ABSTRACT
The sense of alienation that leads to a vulnerability in the direction of sexual deviance may find its roots in many sources, but what seems to be conspicuous is the feeling of estrangement. The lesbian may mask her sexual deviance behind a socially prepared asexuality. The discovery of their homosexuality usually occurred very late in adolescence, often even in the years of young adulthood, and the actual commencement of overt sexual behavior frequently came as a late stage of an intense emotional involvement. The cultural content of this community has been described in the past with irony, but more recently with a sense of affirmation, as the "gay life." The most common image of the lesbian is probably that of a pseudoman, a woman who, in her biological inability to be a man, is a caricature of masculinity. For most, the inclination to speak aloud their feelings and desires becomes something of a constraint in forming friendships with other lesbians.
