Men and Lesbianism

It has long been assumed -- beginning in antiquity and running right up to a recent episode of Friends -- that straight men fantasize about lesbian sexual encounters. Lesbian images appear in Penthouse and Playboy and in advertisements for clothing and scotch. But although these images are omnipresent, they have received very little critical or academic attention.Men and Lesbianism draws from a multitude of sources and time periods to fill this gap. It reconfigures Freud's question: "What does a woman want?" into "What does a man want from women who want other women?" or, even, "What does a man want from a women that he can get only as a woman?" The answers may complicate the mission of those in lesbian studies who are committed to finding an "authentic" lesbian culture. Some of the contributors tackle the legacy of salacious imagery created by men, while others address the connections between male constructions of female homoeroticism and lesbian self-representation. All remind us that the male interest,in lesbianism is more complex than mere voyeurism.The collection also explores examples of sexual ambivalence in both art and recent popular culture images. From Rodin to Austin Powers, men have had a complex and sometimes unarticulated fascination with lesbianism. This issue of GLQ helps place these phenomena in the larger context of gender and sexuality constructions.Ladenson, Elisabeth is the author of 'Men and Lesbianism' with ISBN 9780822364993 and ISBN 0822364999.