The Ladder: A Lesbian Review, November 1964, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 1-28

The Ladder, November 1964, Vol. 9, No. 2

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purpose of the Daughter of BILITIS

A WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING THE INTEGRATION OF THE HOMOSEXUAL INTO SOCIETY BY:

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Published monthly by the Daughters of Bilitis, Inc., a non-profit corporation, 1232 Market Street, Suite 108, San Francisco 2, California. Telephone: UNderhill 3-8196.

NATIONAL OFFICERS, DAUGHTERS OF BILITIS, INC.

PRESIDENT--Cleo Glenn

VICE-PRESIDENT--Del Shearer

RECORDING SECRETARY--Agatha Mathys

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY--Marjorie McCann

PIBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR--Phyllis Leon

TREASURER--Del Martin

THE LADDER STAFF

Editor--Barbara Gittings

Fiction and Poetry Editor--Agatha Mathys

Production--Joan Oliver, V. Pigrom

Circulation Manager--Cleo Glenn

THE LADDER is regarded as a sounding board for various points of view on the homophile and related subjects and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the organization.

CONTENTS

Cover photo: Ger van B., by Rora. (See page 9)

Back cover photo by Kay Tobin

Copyright 1964 by Daughters of Bilitis, Inc., San Francisco, California

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HUMAN BEHAVIOR:

an inventory of scientific findings

by Bernard Berelson and Gary A. Steiner New York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964. 712 pages. $11.00

The authors of this large book have undertaken the enormous task of examining the increasingly abundant literature in the behavioral, sciences, and then of selecting hypotheses, empirical findings, generalizations and principles that have borne fruit to become part of our heritage of knowledge about man' s behavior. We must keep in mind that there are about 9,000 articles in psychology and 2,5000 in sociology summarized for PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS and SOCIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS each year! There are many more in each field that are not abstracted. I mention these figures merely to give a vague notion of the task facing anyone or any group seeking to condense knowledge and to translate scientific findings into prose that communicates, to the non-specialist. In one sense, the presumption that the task can be done is almost arrogant; that the work has been done at all, and done well, is a display of devotion, courage and erudition. Lesser men would have given up in despair or never tried.

The selection process, while undoubtedly tedious, was aided partly by the fact that much of the literature in psychology, sociology, anthropology, sociometry, and social psychology is heuristic and speculative--not yet tested or not presented in testable, ways. These behavioral sciences deal with such complex phenomena, human behavior, that their lack of precision and of adequate tools for measurement renders them readily vulnerable to criticism. The hard core of verifiable ideas is limited partly by the sophistication of the research methods available to the researcher. This limitation has often resulted in over-researching the picayune and under-reporting of the socially significant. This poverty has been a reflection of these disciplines during this century. But what has been of significance on a relatively firm basis has been clearly, carefully, and succinctly presented by Berelson and Steiner. The authors present, altogether, 1045 findings. As they cautiously remark: "Not all absolutely true, not all final or definitive--but certainly among the best-established generalizations of this scope. Taken together, these findings reveal a good deal about the subjects studied in the behavioral sciences, the ways in which they are studied, and the kind, of knowledge that emerges" (p. 659).

The book is, as the subtitle tells, an inventory of scientific findings. Little attention is given to theory, and consequently there is no systematic viewpoint stretching across the span of topics, from such things as optical illusions to

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Moreover, the reader need not be a teacher, researcher, or formal student to understand and appreciate the writing, which is marvelously free of jargon without losing the force or finesse of the findings. This is not to say that students in the field of human behavior will not profit from the book, for the range covered is wide enough to hit some hiatus in almost anyone' s knowledge. Findings are grouped under these categories: behavioral development; perceiving;' learning and thinking; motivation; the family; face-to-face relations in small groups; organizations; institutions; social stratification; ethnic relations; mass communication; opinions, attitudes, and beliefs; the society; culture.

Mentions of conformity to and deviance from dominant culture themes are scattered throughout the book. There is no focal emphasis on patterns of sexual deviation, but statements made by the authors and quotations from other writers are such that sex variations are placed in the perspective of cultural relativity common to anthropology and sociology. Ford and Beach (PATTERNS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR) are cited frequentl? in this context, as are Kinsey and other well-known authors. Homosexual behavior is acknowledged as being different from the statistical norm but is not treated as being pathological or socially dysfunctional. Specific references to homosexuality are not meant to constitute a systematic presentation of the topic, but there are statements of interest.

For example, in a general discussion of physiological needs, the authors report that a high percentage of women whose ovaries have been removed show little or no change in sexual desire (p.49); that hormones administered artificially have little effect on men whose sexual motivation is low (ibid.); that when homosexuals are treated with hormones of their own sex, homosexual interest is likely to be increased rather than reversed if there is any effect at all (ibid.).

In an interesting reference to a study in experimental psychology, the authors report that "when looking at interesting or pleasant materials, as compared to neutral ones, the pupil dilates measurably. Conversely, looking at distasteful or disliked materials produces contraction" (p. 103). In particular, acknowledged male homosexuals were differentiated from "normals" simply by their differential pupillary response, to photographs of male homosexuals versus female pin-ups (pages 103-104). The simplicity of such a tool for discriminating between hetero- and homosexuals reveals one of the limitations of the book: namely, the lack of critical analyses of

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Another example which leaves unanswered questions occurs in a discussion of repression and "reaction-formation," as mentioned frequently by Freud, relative to paranoia and homosexuality. Gardner (1931), Strakosch (1934), and Sears (1943) are referred to in this discussion which concludes that "Far fetched as these connections may seem, homosexuality, both overt and symbolic, is far more often observed in paranoid patients than in the psychiatric population as a whole" (p. 285).

Attention is also drawn to some of the important findings in learning and psychotherapy. In discussions of experimental studies of conditioning, we are told that desired responses can presumably be taught and extinguished without the respondent's awareness, as subjects showed who were used in experiments without realizing they were subjects (p. 143). A nod, a smile, and other nonverbal reinforcements can be instrumental in conditioning and reconditioning responses. Berelson and Steiner point out that "such findings clearly speak to the question of how social conformity can occur without intentional compliance, or intentional influence, for that matter. Within the behavioral sciences, they have also provoked serious questions about how much significance can be placed on what people say and do not say in experimental, clinical, or other interview settings where the investigator himself may be influencing the subject's speech in the direction of his own hypothesis or bias, via such selective reinforcement" (p. 145) Berelson and Steiner refer to other studies which dispute the finding that verbal conditioning can occur without the subject's awareness, and they conclude: "...the role of awareness is an unresolved and lively issue in the theoretical literature. But many of the practical implications of verbal conditioning hold whether the process occurs with or without awareness--e.g., the possibility that psychotherapists confirm their own theories by reinforcing appropriate statements made by patients" (p. 147).

Referring to Eysenck, well-known behaviorist from England, and to other contributors, the authors firmly state "there is no conclusive evidence that psychotherapy is more effective than general medical counseling or advice in treating neurosis or psychosis," (p. 287). Types of patients, time required to "recover," and a few other variables are mentioned in the summary of studies seeking to evaluate psychotherapy, including psychoanalysis. The evidence is meager and research methods need refining; hence, one of the glaring conclusions

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Berelson and Steiner include empirically derived conclusions from studies in sociology and social psychology that are concerned with the impact of group sanctions and the effect of the group on the individual. These findings might be considered of value to the homophile subculture in view of problems faced by those who deviate from the dominant cultural expectations. In most societies, for example, the young learn sexual practices and sexual mores from their peers more than they do from adults (p. 301). Deviant members of a group are more likely to change their behavior to meet the standards of the modal members of the group than vice versa (p. 332). Members of a group generally perceive the group's opinion to be closer to their own opinions than it actually is (p, 336). When an individual is strongly attached to a group and in close, frequent contact with It, his behavior and beliefs are most resistant to change, and at the same time the group can exercise strong control over him (p. 337). The more compatible the members of a group, are in personality, skills, status, norms, the more understood and accepted are the group's procedures for action and the more effective and satisfying will be the performance of group tasks (p. 353). When change is desired, Influencing people as group members rather than as Isolated individuals is more effective (p. 354).

In a further refinement of small-group analyses, the authors draw generalizations from the literature about two-person and three-person groups. Groups of two are characterized typically by high tension and emotion, high exchange of Information, high potential of deadlock and instability, high differentiation of role with one person the active initiator, the other the passive controller (with veto), and "mutual tolerance" as necessary for survival (p. 360). These traits

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These are only a few illustrations of the depth and range of items reported in this extremely useful reference book, and I have selected these few as having some relevance to the audience of this Review. It is safe to say that if you have any interest in what science has to report about human behavior in individual or collective form, this book will be a fascinating and informative source. It will provide you with some conclusions and will stimulate you to search for more

-Reviewed by Marvin E. Wolfgang

(Dr. Wolfgang is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.)

ROAD OP THE WORLD

Sisters of loneliness, sisters of exile,
such loves are mine.

Bracelets of silver, ceramics and leather,
light voices, high laughter,
brief kisses of wine.

In each lovely face I find a reflection,
my sisters my lovers,
half-walking dreams, moving
to approach me swiftly,
come to my side.

Drifting in patterns
blowing sand, dead sand,
come to me, love for me,
at noon by a tide.

(All others absorbing in flashes of brilliance
one will stand firmly,
to quietly question the scope of my dreams.)

Listening to streams
of melody flowing
from the pain of our bruises our sorrows,
or fears,
come wrap me in velvet,
clothe me with color,
bed me with fragrance of perfume and tears.

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Reach for me quickly
for I go with the morning.
(Sunrise shall find me,
shall trap me, shall bind me,
laving in softness,
drowning in song.)

Tell me I err
to walk thus, so proudly,
shout that I'm wrong.

Or join my gay fantasy,
softly, extravagantly,
planning the victory
(or weeping in loss),
turning to share with loveliness there
where nothing but beauty shall sleep with
the dawn.

Laugh with me lie with me, cry with me,
share with me sorrow,
share with me exile,
share with me wonder
wandering ever
whatever, wherever
forever lost on the road of the world.

J. J.

Notes from Abroad

Thanksgiving from Indonesia

(Editor's note: This letter is a sequel to "Isolation In Indonesia" which was published in our June issue. The writer is pictured on this month's front cover.)

I have such heavenly news to tell you If I could only find the right words That I am no longer alone, that I have suddenly found friends! It began with a secretary that I met, fun-loving Rora. I made friends with her and she confessed quite soon that she was a lesbian--and thought of herself as the only one tool We became vast friends (but just friends) and decided to room together, which we did. We had, of course, a million things to talk about.

Rora knew some male homosexuals, a whole gang of them, to whom she introduced me. They couldn't believe our lesbianism because we look so "dead normal whereas they look, very feminine. They amused and shocked me at the same time. They are so very feminine that I wondered how they could hold their jobs, (And they all have good jobs and are from the best of

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But I have more wonderful news to tell you--just listen. At a party I made, acquaintance with another woman, married and the mother of a little son. (I didn't know at the time.) She was no beauty, but had a very interesting face: narrow, with sharp features and sparkling cat-green eyes. She was as interested in me as I was in her. Well, I liked her at first sight, and my roommate Rora liked her too and invited her to come and see us. She came--and didn't leave again!... She told her husband her discovery that she was gay and Interested in women. (She has more courage and honesty than I had.) Their marriage wasn't a happy one, but she had stayed with her husband for appearance-sake and for her little son.

I was her first experience, the first woman in her life. She was as ignorant as I was some 15 years ago. I loved her so much I didn't do anything to win her for me. I wanted her to know, herself first and to accept all consequences--without any influence from me. I let her fight her struggle alone, watching her powerless from a distance and sharing her; pain and despair with all my heart. Hetty, that is SHE, came out of her struggle true to herself and went home to tell her husband her decision.

Her husband didn't like it at all. He hated losing her for it would detract from his reputation and career, so he said. But Hetty made her decision and moved in with me and is; now getting a divorce. She gave up her son, because she doesn't think it wise to let him grow up among women only, which was very hard and painful for her to decide. Fortunately he is a very Independent and easy-going little fellow (age7) and doesn't ask questions. She sees him frequently after office hours so that he may tell her all his experiences of the day.

And all this happened in such a short time. I can't believe it myself not being alone anymore. Rora doesn't want to leave us and is looking for a partner of her own--but talking her time. And now Hetty, Rora, and I are busy decorating our new home.

If I had any inclination to leave this country and to try my luck somewhere else, I am sure I don't feel so any longer. I am sure there are more of our kind here, hundreds, thousands, - and I want to detect them and give them at least our friendship and understanding and the enlightenment they so badly need. I know, of course, of so-called women-clubs, mostly high society, where they literally "commit" lesbianism just for the fun of it, but I didn't mean those women. They are just bored with too much time and money and too little to do. Their hobby is maintaining young girls, preferably art students, as their so-called protegees. Of course they

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I can't say how grateful I am for my subscription renewal from an anonymous donor. Thanks so much, also from the others here who enjoy THE LADDER as much as I do. We don't need anything as much as reading, which is the only way to increase our knowledge and understanding. So...if you should have any reading matter to spare (second-, third-, fourth-hand, it doesn't matter!), would you please cast it on a ship. on its way hither?? It would be so very welcome! You would laugh if you could see us and the boys, raiding each other's bookcases for something to read, and begging the one going abroad to please not forget to bring some of "our" books. (Which they usually didn't forget, but were ashamed to buy, the soft-heads!) We are so very grateful to own a book, no matter if we've already read it.

Do you really think that excerpts from my letters could be anything to others? I can hardly believe it. Of course you have my permission to publish excerpts from my letters and neither Hetty nor Rora has any objections, for we just don't care what people would think of us if they should know. We are not ashamed nor afraid of anything.

Would you give our love to all our sympathizers? And tell the world that we are happy being ourselves and no distorted convention-victims anymore! Thank you again for everything. I can't specify, it's just: everything!

- Ger van B.

WILL YOU SHARE WITH GER ?

At this time of year, as you give thanks for abundance often taken for granted, will you share a book or two? Ger van B. has shared with you her own earnest longing for books on the homophile theme. "Our" books are simply not available in her own country. As Ger explained in the letter published in June: "Even books and other reading matters are hard to get and because our money has no value abroad we can't order anything ourself. We are dependent on what the bookstores are allowed to import. And that is not much--mostly textbooks and very rarely a few pockets." Ger does not take books for granted. She has appealingly described her hunger for them. Won't you respond by mailing a qualityy book with a homophile, element (new or used, hardcover or paperback, non-fiction or fiction) to: BOOKS FOR GER. Postal Box 8432, Philadelphia 1. Pa., 19101. A DOB member in Philadelphia has offered to box and forward the books to Ger in Indonesia. Donations of postage stamps to help with the mailing will also be welcome! More correspondence from Ger will appear in December LADDER.

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Mrs. Freeman & Mrs. Morley

Being in fact some little known facts of the life of Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744), and Anne (1665-1714), Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, 1702-17l4.

by Vern Niven

Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, was one of the most powerful women in English history, and she dominated the life of "Good Queen Anne," one of the most important queens in the colorful royal history of England

Traditionally, there is often a power behind the throne, and this power is assumed to be a woman; but when the throne is occupied by a woman, one might expect the power to be a man. An exception to this was the clearly lesbian influence that Sarah exercised over Anne during their long and intimate relationship. The fact that these women married and produced children is of little significance in view of the times in which they lived.

Sarah's sister, Frances, was one of the astounding beauties of all time and was a maid of honor to the first Duchess of York (Anne's mother). Sarah was left at home alone with servants during her formative years while her mother accompanied Prances to Court. A few years later Sarah also went to Court long enough to have her mother tossed out and to cement her own position in the dual household--all this while still a child.

From the time Sarah was fourteen and Anne was nine, they were fast friends. The colorless Anne naturally turned toward the vivacious, enterprising older girl. Anne was motherless by this time and her father was neglectful. Her older sister, Mary (who became Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1689-1694, joint sovereign with her cousin-husband William III, Prince of Orange), was consumed with personal interests another girl--and--no one except Sarah Jennings paid attention to the young Princess Anne.

Mary's pursuits as well as the nature of Anne and Sarah's relationship, are described by biographer Louis Kronenberger:

"The nature of Anne's feeling for Sarah is too intense to ignore, yet not altogether easy to define. For it is complicated by the whole atmosphere of Anne's girlhood. Her sister Mary, for example, was involved in a friendship with Frances Apsley in which Mary acted the wife and Frances the husband, and in which Mary wrote to Frances as follows: 'I have sat

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"At exactly the same time Anne played husband to Frances's wife. (*) Some of this derives from the way very young girls of the period--and very young princesses even more--were kept apart from men, and hence given to inventing a life with them, Often, too, they played male roles in Court theatricals (Anne and Frances addressed each other by name taken from Lee's 'Mithridates'). (*Frances playing wife--Ed.)

"So much might be no more than adolescent transferences coupled with period romanticism. Yet almost three years after her marriage at fifteen, Mary could still write to Frances protesting Frances's inconstancy, and urging her to 'take heed...for ' tis dangerous to vex a lover and a woman.'And a grown-up Anne writes, from time to time, with peculiar intensity to Sarah, displaying more than ordinary affection. Indeed, Anne's attitude toward women was remarked upon soon after her deaths. Allowing for the current tendency to ferret out and stress sexual abnormality, one still has a sense of something in Anne's emotions that suggests the abnormal."

It is worth noting that William of Orange (William III of England) is known to have been a homosexual. Here was a remarkable situation: Anne was inclined toward lesbianism, her sister Mary leaned in this direction as well, and Mary's husband was an acknowledged homosexual.

Early in their friendship Anne and Sarah adopted pseudonyms to allow themselves the privilege of written communication as coequals. Anne became Mrs. Morley, and Sarah, befitting her pushy personality, was Mrs. Freeman

Sarah, helped by Mary of Modena (Anne's new, young stepmother), married John Churchill. This marriage is historically regarded as a love match on his part and an ambitious move on Sarah' s. John Churchill was to be England's greatest soldier in a period (the Restoration) filled with greats: Dryden the satirist, Pepys the diarist, Wren the architect, Purcell the composer, Milton the poet, Bentley the scholar, Newton the scientist. The marriage of John and Sarah was done in secret in 1677 or 1678. John's role as soldier took him away from his bride for a great deal of time. Yet even after the marriage was known, the Churchills remained a part of the household of the Duke and Duchess of York and the Princess Anne.

As the years passed, Anne and Sarah were thrown together again and again--whether by accident or by design cannot be known now. By 1684 Sarah's connection with Anne was not only close but official. In 1683 John Churchill had been sent by King Charles to Denmark to conduct Danish Prince George to England "to fall in love with Anne." George dutifully arrived and married Anne on July 28, 1683. He is remembered as

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a decent, untroublesome, completely boring man with no faults except "drink and dullness." George and Anne moved into an establishment named the Cockpit, and Sarah was appointed one of Anne's ladies of the bedchamber.

An unusual relationship existed in this household. Anne continued to look up to Sarah, even though Sarah was actually in Anne's service and received no small salary for the job. In turn the dull George also came to look up to Sarah.

In early 1685 King Charles died and James, the Duke of York, became James II, King of England. John Churchill, already a colonel, became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber and an English peer, Baron Churchill of Sandridge. James's rule was short.

"His Catholicism frightened the staunchly Protestant English, and William of Orange (whose wife was Anne's sister, Mary) gathered German troops against James. John Churchill defected to join William. Then orders were sent to arrest Sarah. Cleverly, Sarah anticipated this. She and Anne slipped away from their quarters and fled by coach. It must be remembered that James.II was Anne's father, which says a good deal for the hold Sarah had on Anne. As one biographer describes it: "Sarah's great influence over Anne for the first time occasioned fateful action,"

After a brouhaha of actions and reactions, James, who had withdrawn, was declared to have vacated the throne,and William of Orange and Mary were jointly named King and Queen of England, (This joint ascendancy meant that Anne was one more place removed from the throne.) William was grateful to John for his support and created him Earl of Marlborough. Sarah was happily reinstalled with Anne in the Cockpit.

Anne soon made a permanent enemy of her sister, now Queen Mary. The Queen's revenge was directed at Sarah Churchill. Anne refused to give Sarah up and the sisters' quarrels were hot and heavy. This only served to unite Sarah and Anne. Their long intimacy now (in 1692 when Anne was 27 and Sarah 32) became clearly a physical relationship, if it had not always teen so Anne, faced with the terror of separation from Sarah which Sarah herself suggests on behalf on Anne, writes in one letter; "If you should ever do so cruel a thing... from that moment I shall never enjoy one quiet hour. And should you do it without asking my consent...I will shut myself up and never see the world more." And later: "If' it be possible I am every day more and more yours."

For a few years Anne was in royal disfavor and consequently so were the Marlboroughs. However, Queen Mary died, and "sickly" William ruled alone. Anne was now in line for the throne. Court notables who had avoided Anne began to pay her much attention, and Sarah too was again in the limelight.

As a conciliatory gesture only, William made Anne welcome at Court. In 1702, William died, and Anne was crowned Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. To all intents and purposes this made Sarah and her husband the rulers--for Anne belonged to

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Sarah almost entirely. The list of honors bestowed upon both John and Sarah Churchill would fill a page. Sarah was named, among other things, Comptroller of the Privy Purse.

For four years Sarah was the favored one. Then politics caused Anne and Sarah to quarrel. Into the breach moved an obscure cousin of Sarah' s. Abigail Hill, a "waiting woman" to the Queen. Ironically, it was Sarah who had got Abigail her position. The day came when Abigail was plainly Anne's favorite and Sarah was left out. The circumstances surrounding this displacement read like low comedy. Sarah's foolish mistake was that in the face of highly preferential treatment, she ceased to shower Anne with the attention to which Anne had become accustomed. When Sarah at last realized the situation and investigated, she found that "Abigail had for a long time--during the afternoon while Prince George spent hours with the Queen."

The Whigs gleefully pamphleteered the new "love" of Anne's to the nation in this ditty:

Whereas Q_____A_____ of great renown Great Britain's scepter swayed.

Besides the Church, she dearly loved A dirty Chamber-maid

There was a brief period of reconciliation between Sarah and Anne. During this uneasy reconciliation, Sir John Vanbrugh wrote to Lord Manchester: "The Queen's fondness for the other lady is not to be expressed." And when Sarah left Anne's side, Abigail was sent for by Anne. During a time when John Churchill was away at war,Sarah again made a bid for Anne's attention She was part of Anne's life briefly after Prince George died, but this did not last. Soon after the death of George, Sarah and Anne officially and actually broke forever.

Anne herself died not long after. Sarah continued for years in and out of royal favor, and, ever energetic, lived to be 84. No further lesbian interest is recorded for Sarah. Yet, it is curious that her remarkable will left an unusual share of her fortune to Grace Ridley--her" first woman."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kronenberger, Louis. MARLBOROUGH'S DUCHESS: A STUDY IN WORLDLXNESS . N.Y., Knopf, 1958

Sergeant, Philip W. DOMINANT WOMEN+ London, Hutchinson, n.d.(1938)

Marlborough, Duchess of. MEMOIRS OF SARAH? DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH+ Edited by William King, N. Y., Dutton, 1930

Colville, Mrs. Arthur. DUCHESS SARAH: BEING THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE TIMES OP SARAH HENNINGS? DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH... London and N. Y., Longmans, Green, 1904

Hopkinson, M.R. ANNE OF ENGLAND+ N. Y.,Macmillan, 1934 Brown, Beatrice Curtis. ALAS, QUEEN ANNE + Indianapolis, Bobbs, n.d.(1928)

Garde, Noel I. JONATHAN TO GIDE+ N. Y., Vantage, 1964

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Focus on fashion

Pants are proper! The running debate among top fashion designers on both sides of the Atlantic has at last subsided. With help from HARPER'S, VOGUE, and the NEW YORK TIMES, the ayes have it! This season you can wear pants absolutely anywhere --which means dandy pants for town and fancy pants for evening. You can choose from knickers, britches, jumpsuits, pantsuits, pant-shifts, etc. Combine with a champion-swimmer hairdo sleeked back behind your ears and a cropped coat. An inside contact reports that fashion artists are being told to draw their panted women to "look like lesbians." But who can be sure what that means?

Let's review what fashion experts were saying about pants. "Enough women wear pants now--mentally, I mean" (Geoffrey Beene)." I've worn pants for years and they are not comfortable" (Nando Sarmi)." I adore them. It's a way of life I understand"(Eloise Curtis)." Enough is enough... Pants are not yet for '21' or the Automat" (Anne Klein). " It's such a definitive fashion statement" (Stanley Herman), " There is not enough variety of sizes to accommodate all our little derrières" (Trigere). Mrs. Vreeland of VOGUE sidestepped the whole controversy: " No matter what a woman wears she's always a woman....My dear,we are all women underneath."

The Sunday, Sept. 20th N. Y. TIMES explored the His-is-Hers trend. They quote fashion philosopher James Laver:" Emancipation of women must ultimately mean the emergence of a matriarchal society. In such as age.male and female costume will invariably come so close as to be nearly identical." In the same article, Debbie Turbeville of HARPER'S BAZAAR declares: "There is a chic about women wearing men's clothes. ...A really independent woman should be able to get her clothes anywhere. Why does it have to be a woman's shop?"

What every lesbian knows about the status of women in our society, was discussed with sensitivity by Paul Johnson, writing in the English magazine NEW STATESMAN for July 24, 1964. Mr. Johnson explains that "fundamental issues of human freedom" --for women--lie behind the topless dress controversy. He notes that the topless dress began as a gimmick intended to make the low-cut gown seem less daring, therefore more tempting, to the inhibited buyer. The press went along with the gimmick for the sake of lively copy. Then to the astonishment of designers, topless dresses actually began to sell well in the stores where they were available. Consequently, new social and moral questions have to be faced squarely.

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Mr. Johnson, who did research on the subject, says a majority of the women wearing the topless dresses are "perfectly ordinary housewives and working girls...." Yet officials (all male and all in offices geared to defending the status quo) line up to a man to denounce such exposure. For example, the prosecuting counsel in a ease in California, speaking of a pretty girl who had worn a topless bathing suit", accused the girl of "throwing filth in the faces of the police and the public." Nudists, strip-tease artists, and call girls also hate the topless trend for the threat it poses to their special monopolies. Test cases are reportedly being contrived.

But, Mr. Johnson points out, if such exposure be a crime of indecency, then it is so because of the view that women's breasts are obscene. We admire the philosophical level to which Mr. Johnson carries the controversy: "The obscenity, if any exists, must and can only lie in the eyes of the beholder. What the law is in fact saying is that women must not expose their breasts because men are obscene. And here we come to the heart of the matter. The law is made by men and for men; the woman is, as it were, incidental to it. "She is regarded more in the nature of an instrument, an impersonal property, without legal conscience of her own, whose significance consists solely in the way men react to her... The interests of the woman are rejected as irrelevant. The law, being entirely masculine in orientation, cannot conceive that a woman may wish to show her breasts without any other motive than that she is proud of them.... Here...we have a very simple and straightforward issue of personal liberty, which goes straight to the heart of the continued subjection and subordination of women in our society.... Women have got the. vote and much else of the formal impedimenta of equality; they have yet to break through the social mould which still treats them as objects rather than persons. A silly season stunt--or a revolt of the still-inferior sex?"

Since you put it that way, Mr. Johnson, we're almost tempted to buy a topless dress tomorrow.

- Melanie

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Lesbiana by Gene Damon

294. A CANDLE IN THE SUN--by Marguerite Steen. Doubleday, 1964.

George, a writer, has been unhappily married for years. When he falls in love with Lucian he decides to divorce Blythe. Complications begin when he finds that Blythe has a female lover, Oggie. The portrayal of Oggie is: no white-wash. But Oggie is a gentleman, and there is very subtle propaganda for lesbians. A good book, worth buying.

295. HONEY FOR THE BEARS--by Anthony Burgess. Norton. 1963, 1964.

Despite the critics' huzzahs, this book is a flop as the satire it was touted to be. English antique dealer Paul Hussey and his American wife Belinda slip into Leningrad to sell dresses (illegally, of course) to the Russians. During the voyage, Belinda is confined to her bunk with a rash (which proves to be psychosomatic). Events cause Paul to be separated from Belinda almost on arriving in Russia, and Belinda is hospitalized for the rash. This puts her into the hands of Dr. Sonya Lazurkina, a gentle and very kind lesbian. All of this is ideal, since Belinda has long been secretly carrying on with various women. After several less than funny adventures, Paul leaves Russia, without Belinda (who is staying with Sonya) and very much in doubt of his own normalcy since it seems he too has been fighting the "urge" for some time. The long letter which Belinda sends to Paul to explain her feelings for Sonya is delightful, and" this alone more than makes up for some of the asinine aspects of the book.

296. THE BITTER FRIENDSHIP--by Rosemary Timperly. London, Robert Hale, 1963.

A detailed study of the intertwined lives of two women, Carol and Astrid, from age 8 until the death of one. Their relationship is far from usual. While it never becomes overt, the affair is so intense it can only be described as lesbian. When they are 12 and 13, Astrid falls violently in love with a mannish (though heterosexual) teacher, and the chapters about this period are the most moving. The author has a talent for describing the emotions and behavior of young girls.

297. THE JUMPING OFF PLACE--by Caret Rogers. Dial, 1962.

This many-people novel of life in a state asylum during the 1920's was rightly considered a male homosexual title by most reviewers. However, it also contains one of the most fascinating uses of lesbianism as a plot device I've ever read. A special treat--a clever and sympathetic approach, and a lulu of a surprise to the reader.

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298. MISS BANNISTER'S GIRLS--by Louise Tanner. Farrar, Straus, 1963.

The subtitle--"An Acidulous Novel"--is a just description. Louise Tanner, wife of Edward Everett Tanner of AUNTIE MAME fame (alias Patrick Dennis), writes of a reunion of graduates of an exclusive girls' school. In the premise of the group, taken from the class prophecy, we find this entry: "Juliet Barton. Nickname: Jojo. Future: First woman to do fifteen rounds with Joe Louis and live to tell the tale." Each girl is accorded a chapter, and each flits in and out of the other chapters. Jojo is painted in a much less malicious light than the majority of the girls. Good, if only because comic novels which touch on lesbianism are so few and far between.

SPECIAL REPORT

"INVASION OF PRIVACY"

The Mattachine Society's 11th Annual Conference was held at "The Precarious Vision" in San Francisco on August 29, 1964. It was filmed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. for future television viewing in Canada.

The topic "Invasion of Privacy" was considered from the legal standpoint by W. E. "Dane" Mohler, Jr., of the Frank C. Wood law firm in Los Angeles. The Rev. Canon Robert Cromey, rector of St. Aden's Episcopal Church, spoke on the moral and religious aspects of privacy. A presentation of slides and description of bugging devices were given by Robert J. Durksen, Mattachine's Public Relations Director.

According to Hal Call, president of the Mattachine Society, "Invasion of Privacy" was chosen as theme for the conference because of the ominous growth of spying on the private lives of individuals, in defiance of guarantees in our Constitution. The problem includes not only the illegal searches and seizures often made by law enforcement agencies, but also the unlawful tactics used by private investigators. So great is the threat that the Federal Government has taken steps to combat it. Attorney General Robert Kennedy has appointed an official to study police practices and to hear complaints by civil liberties groups, as a new adjunct activity of the Department of Justice. Mr. Call reported also that Congress is considering the appointment of a committee whose function would be the preservation of privacy and civil liberties.

The afternoon program was opened by the showing of a cartoon film, "The Great Rights," designed to remind Americans that the privileges and rights we take for granted could be lost if we fail to understand and support the Bill of Rights.

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Rev. Cromey noted that there is little reference in Christian theology to privacy. Yet the life of prayer and private meditation is considered important to man's spiritual being. At the same time a mature person must be able to participate in the corporate life of society--his public and private lives should nourish and balance each other.

Rev. Cromey admitted that the Christian church has failed to come to terms with Eros. Whether erotic love, heterosexual or homosexual, is sinful depends on two considerations, he believes. The first is one's individual conscience in relationship with God. The second involves the concept of creation something of the givingness of life. If homosexual commitment is capable of engendering and deepening love, then the church cannot automatically say homosexuality is sinful.

"There can be no nurturing of love without intimacy, and intimacy needs privacy," said Rev. Cromey.

So-termed "surveillance equipment" designed to eavesdrop on private conversations was illustrated by slides with commentary by Mr. Durksen. These devices include: wireless microphones operating on standard FM band that can pick up conversations as far as a mile away; voice-actuated switches which turn on a tape recorder when someone speaks and turn it off when silence ensues; FM receivers in autos, working on car batteries; amplifiers that pick up barely audible sounds; brief cases that have hidden recording equipment. Some other spying gadgets are long-range telescopes, cameras using infrared film which requires no light, and two-way mirrors (often used by police in public toilet facilities).

"This is just a glimpse of the many devices that are available," warned Mr. Durksen. "There are many others we are not hearing about."

Mr. Mohler declared that "if the right of privacy is lost, we lose the cornerstone of freedom. "He added that he was appalled by the general lack of concern for this basic right.

"A man's home is supposed to be his castle," said Mr. Mohler in referring to the Fourth Amendment; which protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. Until recently this right was seldom tested in this country, but now it is a frequent issue in jurisprudence because the right is constantly infringed upon. Prior to 1960, the Fourth Amendment applied to federal jurisdiction only, there being but 14 states having a similar law. But since 1960, when the Supreme Court said courts could no longer allow these violations, evidence so obtained has been excluded from trial proceedings.

Mr. Mohler said that if the police won't recognize the right to privacy, the courts generally will. But, he pointed out, "we have a long way to go in California," where the police can still make a search without a warrant if there is "probable cause"--which can and often does mean "without cause." The U. S. Supreme Court says warrantless search may be made

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Mr. Mohler also pointed to the Fifth Amendment which secures the privacy or sanctity of a person's mind by protecting him from being forced to incriminate himself.

"We must fight the wholesale rape of our sanctity," he urged.

- Del Martin

Cross-current

The NATIONAL CAPITOL AREA CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION issued last August a resolution suggesting that "the Federal Government end its policy of rejection of all homosexuals on that ground alone" from employment by the government. The resolution offers a forceful rebuttal to the three principal arguments given by the government to support its view that homosexuals are unsuitable employees: 1) the presence of a homosexual in an office is detrimental to morale and efficiency; 2) homosexuality is immoral and hence is ground for disqualification; 3) homosexuals have greater susceptibility to coercion through blackmail. Argument number 2 is the one most often relied on by the government. The resolution reflects the thinking of the NCACLU only and not that of the national AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, which has the resolution under consideration. Any change in the position of the influential national ACLU will be reported in THE LADDER.

The government transcript is now available of the DOWDY HEADINGS on HR 5990, the bill which would require every organization raising funds in the District of Columbia to "show to the satisfaction of the District Commissioners" that funds solicited "will benefit or assist in promoting the health, welfare, and morals of the District of Columbia." The bill is apparently directed primarily against the WASHINGTON MATTACHINE SOCIETY. Officers of this homophile organization testified extensively under heavy questioning about the nature of the aims and activities of their group. The transcript of this Congressional subcommittee probe makes fascinating reading. You won't put it down once you're into it! The mention of DOB by a Congressman comes as a surprise. The transcript may be obtained free of charge by writing to Room 445, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D. C.

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DRUM Magazine subtitled"Sex in Perspective," is the new and impressive achievement of the JANUS SOCIETY of Philadelphia. DRUM contains 34 pages of articles, pictures, reviews, news, etc. The magazine's title is derived from Thoreau's statement: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." We welcome DRUM to the ranks of homophile monthly magazines! (Subscription is $4.50 for one year, with reduced rates for "longer term subscriptions. Mail to: Janus Society, 34 S.17th St., Philadelphia 3, Pa.) Recent issues of the exurban magazine BUCKS COUNTY LIFE have contained prominent articles on homosexuality with special reference to the Janus Society and it's philosophy.

SEPIA Magazine for September carried a special article on homosexuality. While the treatment is cursory, the concluding sentence speaks as one minority to another: "But how can society continue to ignore a group which already numbers in the millions?"

The San Francisco LEAGUE FOR SEXUAL FREEDOM has been founded as runner-up to a similar League in New York. Pounder Ernest Barry has been certified by two court psychiatrists as sane, but a "dissenter." The Leagues will work to legalize prostitution, end censorship, liberalize divorce laws, and repeal state laws against alleged perversions. They affirm respect for sexual freedom as a fundamental civil liberty. In New York, RANDOLFE WICKER climbed on the League's soapbox in Washington Square to speak extemporaneously to a sizable crowd on the subject of homophile rights. He has since spoken in smaller meetings held by the New York League.

NAOMI JACOB, English novelist with over 50 books to her credit, died on August 27 at the age of 80. Miss Jacob was renowned for her collar-and-tie appearance and her shingled hair. "I just find men's clothes are more practical and more economical," she declared. Her book ME--AND THE SWANS was reviewed-by Gene Damon in the May 1964 LADDER.

Over 500 jurists from 54 countries attended the ninth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON PENAL LAW in The Hague last August. The influential group adopted a resolution which said that homosexual behavior between consenting adults should not be prohibited by criminal law.

Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has been in an uproar over BOBO, its prize gorilla. Bobo is handsome and healthy and supposedly in the heyday of the flesh. Yet he won't look at his flirtatious bride Fifi, who would consent willingly to her prescribed role. Aphrodisiacs and even pornographic movies have been seriously suggested for Bobo by his well-wishers. Oddly enough, down at the zoo in San Francisco, keepers were

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Author and social philosopher JOSEPH WOOD KRUTCH, in a lead article for SATURDAY REVIEW (May 9, 1964.) entitled "Confessions of a Square," got pretty steamed up over "fashionable writers" who "persuade us to believe that the world is different from what our own experience tells us that it is." He concludes: "Their most pressing problems are not mine.... Many of our unhappy geniuses defend homosexuality, (From that we are sometimes prone to assume that homosexuality is what has made them genuises. Perhaps it is only what has made them unhappy," That's a neat turn of phrase, but to each his own "experience," Mr. Krutch!

Postscripts to the DOB NATIONAL CONVENTION held last June at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in New York: Reporters from both the NEW YORK TIMES and the HERALD TRIBUNE covered the event, taking reams of notes from the speeches and cornering various speakers and DOB representatives for statements. The TIMES report (appearing in the widely read Sunday edition, June 21) played up the fact that some of our speakers disagreed with "the prevailing medical view that homosexuality is a disease." Thus, in a 5 inch, single column item tucked away on a back page. the TIMES made a rare departure from its usual. touting of the disease and/or social menace theories, (In a coming issue, THE LADDER will discuss the articles published by the NEW YORK TIMES on the subject of homosexuality.)

The most disappointing postscript to our convention concerns a TV panel discussion of lesbianism which was to have been broadcast on convention eve. Del Martin, DOB Treasurer, and another DOB member were to have appeared on New York's popular, LES CRANE SHOW+ The show was ordered canceled by the legal department of WABC -TV, with no reason given.

And finally, the strangest postscript to the DOB convention. The most inaccurate and oblique press notice came from Dorothy Kilgallen, who wrote in her widely syndicated column for the following. Monday: "There are conventions all over town, as the newspapers have duly reported, but nobody mentioned the one held over the weekend at a very proper East Side hotel. It was a conclave of ladies with crew cuts." Her comment was obviously not based on first-hand observation. But if Miss Kilgallen looked for us on the East Side, that must be why she never showed up. Better luck next time!

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READERS RESPOND

In my opinion the September Issue of THE LADDER is the best of 1964 so far. It has more intellectual content and vigor. I prefer the photographic covers to the art-work ones, since the slick cover lends a more sophisticated feature to the magazine. Perhaps art-work should be confined to the interior pages. It would be good to have illustrations for some of the original fiction.

It requires great Ingenuity to overcome the incompatibility of imaginative, art and fiction, and the more prosaic analytical and non-fiction sections. It is similar to making a successful transition from "Die Walkure" to the "Goldberg Variations." It can be done, certainly, as it has been done in the large commercial magazines--but still, one can never answer easily the question of professional -appearing journal versus popular magazine. I note that no fiction appears in the September issue, and certainly this issue seems the best constructed. Now the next problem will be to add the, dimension of fictional material and art -work without losing the consistency and content of the September issue.

I was Interested in "The Church and the Homosexual," and I would be interested in the LAVENDER LEXICON mentioned as having been distributed at the conference, since I have difficulty following what seems to be purely urban jargon. I have had no contact with many terms and phrases employed in the fictional material. It might be well to publish a glossary of terms in your magazine. I could not quite follow the interesting scintillations in Paula Christian's "Optical Illusion" appearing in the February Issue, because of a lack of local vocabulary.

I sympathize with G. van B. of Indonesia, who wrote in your June issue: "It is so very much in our isolation."

--M. W., Pennsylvania

I don' t think the brief report of DOCTORS' NEWS CONFERENCE (page 22 of the October LADDER) did full justice to Dr. Sam Nelken's quietly penetrating contribution. Dr. Nelken, a psychiatrist, objected to the injustice of linking promiscuity and crime to homosexuals. He suggested that homosexuals could be helped to feel happier by inducting heterosexuals to stop persecuting them. When asked whether he knew of any homosexuals who; were not emotionally disturbed, he replied: Being a psychiatrist I wouldn't be particularly likely to." And when others on the panel spoke disparagingly of a "homosexual lobby," Dr. Nelken asked "Why not?" He indicated that

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-F. C., California

I must offer you a pat on the back for turning out THE LADDER, one of the finest magazines I've seen in a long time. Both the creative and expository material are excellent, and consistently so. All concerned may well be proud!

C. S., New Mexico J

To the San Francisco Chapter of Daughters of Bilitis:

I was most happy to receive your check for $90 covering the award which was made to me from the Blanche M. Baker Memorial Scholarship Fund by the San Francisco Chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, Inc. This sum will be used towards my tuition and books this semester at San Francisco State College.

I was pleasantly surprised, and not surprisingly, pleased to learn that I was the recipient of your scholarship. I am in hopes that some day I shall be in a position to contribute to your scholarship fund, thus expressing my gratitude to your organization for this service you have given me and enabling others like myself to continue their education.

It would be considered a great honor by me if you were to, send a news release to the "Golden Gator" stating that I had received your award. My husband, Ron, and I were delighted with the three copies of your magazine, THE LADDER, which were enclosed with your check. We are very much interested in your organization and we plan to attend a Wednesday night open house soon. Meanwhile, we are publicizing your organization and its scholarship fund among our friends.

Thank you for the honor you have accorded me in selecting me as the recipient of your scholarship.

- Elizabeth B. Goodman.

Editor's note: DOB is now raising funds for the 1965 scholarship awards. The total fund each year is allotted in equal parts to the DOB chapters, which receive the applications for scholarships and select recipients, for the available awards. The larger the total fund, the larger the individual awards can be. Donations are welcome! Please send to; Blanche M. Baker Memorial Scholarship Fund, in care of DOB headquarters.

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THE LADDER (Sept.) is very serious this time--almost has a scholarly stink, which is fine with me. Lots of solid stuff!

- L.V., Washington, D. C.

I congratulate you for your review of LAW LIBERTY, AND PSYCHIATRY, The following incident illustrates the author's claim that psychiatric power is employed by the state.

Earlier this year, CORE leader Herbert Callender tried to arrest Robert F. Wagner, Mayor of New York City. Callender's action was based on the law that allows a citizen to make a "citizen's arrest." He contended that Wagner was guilty of a felony: Misappropriating public funds by permitting racial discrimination on city construction jobs. Callender was arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to Bellevue Hospital for "mental observation." He was released in time to face a court hearing.

This minority leader made a reasoned and dramatic gesture of protest Why wasn't he jailed to await his hearing? The use by officials of psychiatric power against a detained man cast a slur on his mentality and on his action group. Social deviance was thereby punished in a mental hospital even before court action. Popular acclaim of the labels "disturbed" and "sick" for social deviants lends support to sinister government "observation" of mentality. Homophiles take heed!

- B. A., New York

I thought the write-up on homosexuality in LIFE Magazine was clever. The pictures and headings were" excellent for getting the attention of the biased person who, if he or she read the article, was exposed to some sane and objective material.

- R. B. W., Pennsylvania

I have just seen your September 1964 issue of THE LADDER and I am convinced that your magazine is now becoming one of the leading homophile journals. The quality of your material is unsurpassed. Ann Aldrich can gripe no longer.

I was especially pleased by the photograph "September Sea" on the front cover. Scenes like this will do more than many words to convince both homosexuals and non-homosexuals that homosexual people are actually human.

THE LADDER is full of hope and new faith for the homophile movement.

- W. D. A., Washington, D. C.

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DAUGHTER of BILITIS

INCORPORATED

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CONTRIBUTIONS are gratefully accepted from anyone who wants to support our work. We are a non-profit corporation depending entirely on volunteer labor. While men may not become members of Daughters of Bilitis, many have expressed interest in our efforts and have made contributions to further our work.

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS and San Francisco Chapter: 1232 Market St., Suite 108, San Francisco 2, California.

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SHE GOES FOR IT!

She goes to a bookstore near her university to buy THE LADDER. Our magazine rates a place in quality bookstores around the country! Single-copy price will stay 50¢ even after the subscription rate increase (from $4 to $5 a year) goes into effect on Jan.1st. Whether YOU subscribe or buy your copy each month, why not get a Christmas gift subscription for a friend or for a professional person who would be in what our magazine has to say? For order blank, see inside this back cover.

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