TRANSFORMING LESBIAN SEXUALITY

Women are objectified and sexualized by the media and the economy, so that they live in a culture of sex. Lesbians are excluded from the mai nstream sexual and appearance norms for women, yet are affected by the se norms, including the association of sex and violence against women. The word sexuality has been used to connote both sexual orientation a nd sexual activity, and it is argued that this dual meaning illustrate s the dominance of patriarchal definitions of women's sexuality. This article discusses methodologic issues in understanding who is a lesbia n and presents various models or dimensions for understanding who is i ncluded in research about lesbians. It asks the question ''What is sex ?'' and reviews the implications of this question for lesbian sexual a ctivity. This question has implications for a collorary question: ''Wh at is a lesbian relationship?'', and the article discusses the implica tions of this question on various forms of sexual and nonsexual relati onships among lesbians.