Comments on: Sexual Fluidity in Females

By: Alexa

Alexa — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:47:12 +0000

Path, I suspect you’d find this to be true in the UK, for example, as well as Scandanavia and perhaps some other of the more progressive western European cultures. Perhaps it might be fair to suggest that it isn’t the case in Asian and Far Eastern cultures? I don’t know for sure because I haven’t studied this to the extent the author has, obviously. I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but thus far, she has not indicated whether or not she believes this is a solely western phenomenon or not.

I’d also wonder if it is was more a function of the fact that any overt expressions of sexuality are more restrictive in those cultures to begin with than anything else, especially for women. Perhaps those women do experience the same feelings and whatnot, but aren’t as free to express them as they are in western cultures. We do know, for example, that there are lesbian, bisexual and polyamorous women in those cultures. I think it’d be unrealistic to assume that they don’t experience these same feelings on one level or another.

You do raise an interesting point, though, to be sure.

By: path

path — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:01:49 +0000

This is based on research/work with US women. Women from other parts of the world i.e. China, India do not appear to have this kind of “fluidity”, and appear to be as rigid as men in the US. I think it is the culture of growing up in the US, which is surprisingly sexist that contributes to this phenomena. Hence you find a lot of girls while growing up in the US, having sleep-overs, bathing together etc., which does not usually seem to happen in middle class families outside the US. Hence this appears to be a US thing, but of course, for most Americans, there is some kind of implicit thinking that if it is in the US,then since the US is the world, it must be true for the whole world.

By: Thoughts on books and flowing waters | lazy geisha

Thoughts on books and flowing waters | lazy geisha — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:27:37 +0000

[...] another perspective is all it takes to help us find our own way. My friend Alexa wrote a post here about a book called Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire by Lisa Diamond. [...]

By: nina aoki

nina aoki — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:43:37 +0000

This falls perfectly in line with an assertion I have made for several years now. I have said on many occasions (and in many different venues) that a good 80% of “straight” women could be convinced to play with the other team given the right set of circumstances.

It’s an incredibly true statement — and one which has proved itself in my own life time and time again.

This is a book which every woman should read I think — and one I plan to purchase this weekend.

Women need good guides to navigating their sexuality, because if we consider how we’re raised and the kinds of pressures society places upon us, in reality from the moment we grow breasts, it’s often incredibly difficult for a woman to deal with her feelings, especially those feelings of attraction towards other women.

Most women of a certain age group have never been given the right opportunity to explore these feelings — while I believe that these things are much more accepted and open to younger women. In some ways this is a generational thing in terms of experience — but I believe the feelings are universal.

I hope to read more of your thoughts on this in the future.

nina