ABSTRACT
The terms by which lesbianism and lesbian desire are commonly understood seem to be problematic: it is no longer adequate to think them in terms of psychology, especially given that the dominant psychological models—psychoanalytic ones—are so problematic in thinking femininity. Psychoanalytic theory is one of the heirs to the tradition. If Sigmund Freud and psychoanalytic theory can act as representatives of the first and dominant understanding of desire as a lack, then Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari can be seen to represent the second broad trajectory. There are a number of features of lesbian theory and characterizations of lesbian desire that, consequently, author likes to avoid. In the first feature, author sidesteps the sentimentality and romanticism so commonly involved in thinking lesbian relations. Second feature, author likes to avoid seeing lesbian relations on a binary or polarized model: this means abandoning many of the dominant models of sexual relations between women.
